Introduction to the study of literature

Definition of literature

-The word literature is derived from the Latin term litera which means letter.

Because literature deals with ideas, thoughts and emotions of man, literature can be said to be the story of the
man. Man’s loves, griefs, thoughts, dreams and aspirations coached in beautiful language is literature.

In order to know the history of a nations spirit, one must read its literature. Hence, it is, that to understand the
real spirit of nation, one must “trace the little rills as they course along down the ages, broadening and deepening into
the great ocean of the thought of which men of the present source are presently exploring.”

Brother Azurin, said that "literature expresses the feelings of people to society, to the government, to his
surroundings, to his fellowmen and to his Divine Creator”. The expression of one's feelings, according to him, may be
through love, sorrow, happiness, hatred, anger, pity, contempt, or revenge.

For Webster, literature is anything that is printed, as long as it is related to the ideas and feelings of people,
whether it is true, or just a product of one's imagination.

In PANITIKANG PILIPINO written by Atienza, Ramos, Salazar and Nazal, it says that "true literature is a piece of
written work which is undying. It expresses the feelings and emotions of people in response to his everyday efforts to
live, to be happy in his environment and, after struggles, to reach his Creator."

Why We Need to Study Philippine Literature

We can enumerate many reasons for studying literature.

Here are but a few:

We study literature so that we can better appreciate our literary heritage. We cannot appreciate something that
we do not understand. Through a study of our literature, we can trace the rich heritage of ideas handed down to us from
our forefathers. Then we can understand ourselves better and take pride in being a Filipino.

Like other races of the world, we need to understand that we have a great and noble tradition which can serve
as the means to assimilate other cultures. Through such a study, we will realize our literary limitations conditioned by
certain historical factors and we can take steps to overcome them. Above all, as Filipinos, who truly love and take pride
in our own culture, we have to manifest our deep concern for our own literature and this we can do by studying the
literature of our country.
Literature and History

Literature and history are closely interrelated. In discovering the history of a race, the feelings, aspirations,
customs and traditions of a people are sure to be included., and these feelings, aspirations, customs, and traditions that
are written is literature. History can also be written and this too, is literature. Events that can be written down are part
of true literature. Literature, therefore, is part of history. Literature and history, however, also have differences.
Literature may be figments of the imagination or events devoid of truth, that have been written down, while history is
made up of events that really happened.

Literary Compositions that Have Influenced the World. Among them are:

1. The Bible or the Sacred Writings: This has become the basis of Christianity originating from Palestine and Greece.

2. Koran: The Muslim Bible originating from Arabia.

3. The Iliad and the Odyssey: These have been the source of myths and legends of Greece. They were written by Homer.

4. The Mahab-harata: The longest epic of the world. It contains the history of religion in India.

5. Canterbury Tales: It depicts the religion and customs of the English in the early days. This originated from England and
was written by Chaucer.

6. Uncle Tom's Cabin: Written by Harriet Beecher Stowe of the US. This depicted the sad fate of slaves; this became the
basis of democracy later on.

7. The Divine Comedy: (by Dante of Italy) This shows the religion and customs of the early Italians.

8. El Cid Compeador: This shows the cultural characteristics of the Spaniards and their national history.

9. The Song of Roland: This includes Doce Pares and Roncesvalles of France. It tells about the Golden Age of Christianity
in France.

10. The Book of the Dead: This includes the cult of Osiris and the mythology and theology of Egypt.

11. The Book of the Days: This was written by Confucius of China. This became the basis of the Christian religion.

12. One Thousand and One Nights or The Arabian Nights: from Arabia and Persia (Iran). It shows the ways of
government, of industries and of the society of the Arabs and Persians.
General Types of Literature

Literature can generally be divided into two types; prose and poetry. Prose consists of those written within the
common flow of conversation in sentences and paragraphs, while poetry refers to those expressions in verse, with
measure and rhyme, line and stanza and has a more melodious tone.

I. PROSE

There are many types of prose. These include novels or biographies, short stories, contemporary dramas,
legends, fables, essays, anecdotes, news, and speeches.

a. Novel. This is a long narrative divided into chapters. The events are taken from true-to-life stories .. and
spans a long period of time. There are many characters involved. Example: WITHOUT SEEING THË DAWN by
Stevan Javellana.
b. Short story. This is a narrative involving one or more characters, one plot and one single impression.
Example: THE LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER by Carlos Bulosan.
c. Plays. This is presented on a stage, is divided into act and each act has many scenes. Example: THIRTEEN
PLAYS by Wilfredo M. Guerrero.
d. Legends. These are fictitious narratives, usually about origins. Example: THE BIKOL LEGEND by Pio Duran.
e. Fables. These are also fictitious and they deal with animals and inanimate things who speak and act like
people with events that can mold their ways and attitudes. Example: THE MONKEY AND THE TURTLE.
f. Anecdotes. These are merely products of the writer's imagination and the main aim is to bring out lessons
to the reader. It can be stories about animals or children. Example: THE MOTH AND THE LAMP.
g. Essay. This expresses the viewpoint or opinion of the writer about a particular problem or event. The best
example of this is the Editorial page of a newspaper.
h. Biography. This deals with the life of a person which may be about himself, his autobiography or that of
others. Example: CAYETANO ARELLANO by Socorro O. Albert.
i. News. This is a report of everyday events in society, government, science and industry, and accidents,
happening nationally or not.
j. Oration. This is a formal treatment of a subject and is intended to be spoken in public. It appeals to the
intellect, to the will or to the emotions of the audience.

II. POETRY
There are three types of poetry: narrative, lyric and dramatic.

A. Narrative Poetry: This form describes important events in life either real or imaginary. The different
varieties are:
1. Epic. This is an extended narrative about heroic exploits often under supernatural control. It may
deal with heroes and gods.

Two kinds of epic poetry are the popular or ancient, and the literary or modern.

The ancient or popular epic is often without a definite author and is of slow growth; the modern is
with a definite author.

2. Metrical Tale. This is a narrative which is written in verse and can be classified either as a ballad or a
metrical romance.
Examples of these are simple idylls or home tales, love tales, tales of the supernatural or tales
written for a strong moral purpose in verse form.
3. Ballads. Of the narrative poems, this is considered the shortest and simplest. It has a simple
structure and tells of a single incident. There are also variations of these: love ballads, war ballads,
sea ballads humorous, moral, historical or mythical ballads.
B. Lyric Poetry: Originally, this refers to that kind of poetry meant to be sung to the accompaniment of a
lyre, but now, this applies to any type of poetry that expresses emotions and feelings of the poet. They
are usually short, simple and easy to understand. The types of lyric poetry are as follows:
1. Folksongs. These are short poems intended to be sung. The common theme is love, despair, grief,
doubt, joy, hope and sorrow.
2. Sonnets. This a lyric poem of 14 lines dealing with an emotion, a feeling, or an idea. Can be an Italian
or Shakespearean.
3. Elegy. This is lyric poem which expresses feelings of grief and melancholy, and whose theme is
death.
4. Ode. This is a poem of a noble feeling, expressed with dignity, with no definite number of syllables
or definite number of lines in a stanza.
5. Psalms. This is a song praising God or the Virgin Mary and containing a philosophy of life.
6. Awit. These have measures of twelve syllables and slowly sung to the accompaniment of a guitar or
banduria.
7. Corridos. These have measures of eight syllables and recited to a martial beat.
C. Dramatic Poetry
1. Comedy. The word comedy comes from the Greek term "Komos" meaning festivity or revelry. This
form usually is light and written with the purpose of amusing, and usually has a happy ending.
2. Melodrama. This is usually used in musical plays with the opera. Today, this is related to tragedy just
as the farce is to comedy. It arouses immediate and intense emotion and is usually sad but there is a
happy ending for the principal character.
3. Tragedy. This involves the hero struggling mightily against dynamic forces; he meets death or ruin
without success and satisfaction obtained by the protagonist in a comedy.
4. Farce. This is an exaggerated comedy. It seeks to arouse mirth by laughable lines; situations are too
ridiculous to be true; the characters seem to be caricatures and the motives undignified and absurd.
5. Social Poems. This form is either purely comic or tragic and it pictures the life of today. It may aim to
bring about changes in the social conditions.