LITERATURE REVIEWER

“Good luck fellow Thomasians! Nawa’y sapian tayo ng CHARACTERISTICS OF LITERATURE

espiritu ng kasipagan at potential.” – Den Urbz, 11 STEM 31
1. Universality
LITERATURE - Relation, extension, or applicability to all
2. Permanence
- Artistic expression of human nature and
- Quality of literature lasting or remaining
significant human experience in words of charm
unchanged indefinitely
and power
3. Artistry
- Literature is an art; art is expression
- Entails all the elements of being creative
- Literature is a skill; a creative process by man
4. Suggestiveness
- Language: medium of Literature - Brings thoughts or feelings into mind
BASIC LITERARY TYPES AND FORMS 5. Intellectual value
- Makes you read and analyze the piece
1. Poetry 6. Spiritual value
a. Lyric: songs, anthems and hymns, sonnet, - Elevates the spirit by bringing out the moral
elegy, ode, simply lyric values
b. Narrative: ballad, metrical tales, metrical
romances and epics ELEMENTS OF POETRY
c. Dramatic: tragedy, comedy and dramatic
- Sublime: Quality of greatness. A personal
monologue
moment of literary and artistic importance.
2. Prose
- Common qualities:
a. Fiction: short stories and novels
a. Usage of figurative language
b. Nonfiction: essay, biography, criticism
b. Rhythm: a regular pattern of movement
WHAT IS LITERATURE BY TERRY EAGLETON or sound
c. Rhyme: correspondence of sounds
1. Can be fiction or non-fiction between words
- Fiction factor is debatable
 Iex: the book of Genesis in the Bible TRADITION OF POETRY
can be non-fiction to others
- Awit or song: lyrical poetry
2. Transforms language and deviates it from
- Bugtong or riddle: uses Talinghaga or a
everyday speech (Russian Formalists)
metaphor to give clue to the answer
- LITERARINESS: defamiliarizing,
- Sawikain or proverb: wisdom or beliefs
estrangement
important to Filipinos
3. Application of linguistics
- Epiko or epic: long, episodic narrative,
- Uses literary devices like style, mode, text ,
chanted poems normally with an epic hero.
etc.
- Must have a form (Stalinism) SPANISH CONTRIBUTION
- In this case, form is more important than
meaning - Dramatically altered Philippine literary
4. Has objective and unbiased value tradition
5. Ideologies affect literature - Baybayin writing for the Tagalog was
- Everyone’s mode of reception will differ suppressed.
6. In the end, Eagleton concludes that literature  Blasphemous according to Spanish
will always be too subjective to be given Friars because of the supernatural
meaning creatures present
  Replaced old heroes with Jesus FORMALISM
Christ
- Payson - Taking into consideration the pattern
 popularized by Gaspar de Belen and inherent in the literary text itself
discounting any outside interference
perpetrated by Mariano Pilapil
- Francisco Baltazar (Balagtas) - Includes grammar, syntax, etc.
 Wrote Florante at Laura (Albania) - Two schools:
mirroring the Philippines 1. Russian Formalism
 Echoing the rise of the new middle  Defamiliarization: make things
class = educated but not Spanish strange
- Illustrados  Literature as a science and
 National writing identity concentrating on form rather than
- Revolutionary Writing content
 Traditional Philippine poetry never 2. New Criticism
went away and evolved and  A poem should be treated as
adapted: became Romantic primarily poetry and should be
regarded as an independent and
 Iex: Pag-ibig sa Tinubuan Lupa
self-sufficient object
AMERICAN CONTRIBUTION  Close reading or explication is the
distinctive procedure of the New
- New educational system Critic
 English as a medium  Principles are fundamentally
- Free verse verbal: literature is conceived to be
 Poetry that does not rhyme or have a special kind of language
a regular meter  Distinction between literary genres
- New criticism
is not essential
 Emphasized close reading: careful
interpretation of a passage
- Angela Gloria and Jose Villa POETIC ELEMENTS
 Pushed new ideas in form and
1. Genre and Subgenre
content
2. Subject and Theme
REGIONS AND REGIONAL CULTURE - Subject (explicit image): stated clearly
- Theme (implicit idea): implied but not
- There is no one Filipino culture plainly expressed
 Unique cultural landscape 3. Diction
 Different languages and traditions - Basics:
determined by geographical and  Denotation: what the literal
linguistic regions meaning is (dictionary meaning)
- Imperial Manila  Connotation: what the meaning is
 Bienvenido Lumbera according to a particular cultural,
 Center of Power Outside: emotional, psychological,
“Periphery” affecting the centre sociological context
- We need to De-Center  Abstract: characteristics we know
 For regions to contribute to through our intellect
Philippine culture through its  Concrete: characteristics we know
unique voice and style through our senses
 - Word-play: 5. Rhythm/ Prosody
 Onomatopoeia: words that sound like  Rhythm: strong, regular, repeated
that which they describe (iex: Boom!) pattern of movement or sound.
 Repetition: the repetition of entire lines  Prosody: use/study of patterns of
or phrases to emphasize key thematic rhythm
ideas.  Meter: The rhythmical pattern of
 Parallel Structure: a form of repetition stressed and unstressed syllables in
where the order of verbs and nouns is verse.
repeated (iex: "I came, I saw, I  Types of meters:
conquered.”) a. Iamb (Iambic) - weak syllable
- Style: Syntax arrangement of words followed by strong syllable
 Formal: a language designed for use in b. Trochee (Trochaic): strong syllable
situations in which natural language is followed by a weak syllable.
unsuitable c. Anapest (Anapestic): two weak
 Standard: lingua franca and in their syllables followed by a strong
public discourse. syllable.
 Colloquial: ordinary or familiar d. Dactyl (Dactylic): a strong syllable
conversation followed by two weak syllables.
 Vulgate: texts created for the use of the e. Spondee (Spondaic): two strong
common people syllables. A spondee usually
 Slang: non- appears at the end of a line.
standard words and phrases in a given 6. Rhyme/ Rime
language. - Words thus corresponding in sound.
 Dialect: a regional variety of language - Rhyme Scheme: Pattern of Rhymes
distinguished by features of vocabulary,  Alliteration: the repetition of initial
grammar, and pronunciation sounds on the same line or stanza.
 Jabberwocky: nonce words-made up (iex: Big bad Bob bounced bravely)
 Assonance: the repetition
4. Parts of vowel sounds (iex: Tilting at
 Stanzas: series of lines grouped windmills)
together and separated by an empty  Consonance: the repetition of
line from other stanzas consonant sounds (iex: And all the
 Verse/Lines: Verses are writing air a solemn stillness holds)
arranged with a metrical rhythm. Lines 7. Persona
unit of language into which a poem is - The Mask
divided - The identity of the author is hidden by the
 Refrain: verse that is repeated at disguise /aspect he or she wears.
intervals throughout a song or poem - “Who is the speaker?”
 Iex: 8. Form
a. couplet (2 lines)  Ode: it is usually a lyric poem with
b. tercet (3 lines) an elaborate stanza pattern
c. quatrain (4 lines)  Elegy: it is a lyric poem that mourns
d. cinquain (5 lines) the dead.
e. sestet (6 lines)  Sonnet: it is a lyric poem consisting
f. septet (7 lines) of 14 lines and, written in iambic
g. octave (8 lines) pentameter.
  Ballad: it is a narrative poem e. Synecdoche
(musicality). Organized into - Use of part to stand for a whole, the whole
quatrains or cinquains. for a part, the species for a genus, and vice
 Shape poetry: poetry written in the versa
shape or form of an object - Iex: The hired hand of the landlord is very
 Blank Verse: Any poetry docile and industrious
that does have a set metrical f. Hyperbole
pattern but does not have rhyme - Use of intentional overstatement or an
 Free Verse: Poetry that does not exaggeration of fact or possibility
rhyme or have a regular meter - Iex: Cry me a river
9. Medium g. Litotes
- How is it being presented or - Understatement that asserts an affirmative
relayed/communicated? by negating its contrary
- Medium influences how the message is - Iex: He’s not the brightest man in the world
perceived h. Irony
10. Tone - Disassembling or hiding what is actually the
- attitude of poem communicated to case
audience - 3 kinds:
11. Imagery a. Verbal Irony: speaker says one thing
- Senses: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory and means the opposite
- Synesthesia: sense impression relating to b. Irony of Situation: when a situation
one sense or part of the body by turns out to be completely of what is
stimulation of another sense or part of the expected
body. c. Dramatic Irony: when a reader or an
12. Figures of speech audience knows something that a
- Expressions that use words or phrases to character in a story or play does not
achieve effects beyond the ordinary know
language i. Paradox
a. Simile - Statement that appears to be logically
- Specific comparison between two dissimilar contradictory
elements using words “like” and “as” - Iex: And death shall be no more; Death,
- Iex: Reason is to the faith as the eye to the thou shalt die
telescope j. Oxymoron
b. Metaphor - Combination of two incompatible elements
- Use of word or phrase denoting one kind of - Iex: crashing silence, tayo (HAHA JOKE)
idea suggesting a likeness between the two k. Allusion
- Iex: She is a rose to me - Use of reference to without explicit
c. Personification identification to a literary or historical
- Giving human qualities to inanimate objects person, place, event or another literary
and abstract ideas work
- Iex: The sky wept - Iex: Suffer not yourself to be betrayed by a
d. Metonymy kiss (Patrick Henry)
- Use of a word or phrase to substitute to l. Apostrophe
another for which it bears a significant - Use of direct address to a person, inanimate
relation as the effect for the cause object or an abstract idea
- Iex: She is an avid reader of Shakespeare
 - Iex: Hello darkness, my old friend. I’ve come TYPES OF NOVELS
to talk to you again.
m. Allegory 1. Picaresque novel- an episodic, often a satirical
- defined as a one to one correspondence work about a rouge or a rascal (Don Quixote of
Cervantes)
between a series of abstract ideas and a
series of images or pictures presented in 2. Epistolary novel- a kind of novel told a story in
the form of a story or a narrative letters or included letters as a means of
n. Pun communication
- use of a word or phrase so as to emphasize 3. Novels of Manners- novels that reflect the
or suggest its different meanings era’s preoccupation with propriety and
- the use of words that are alike manners
4. Bildungsroman- novel that depicts an
- iex: I hate tacos! Said no Juan ever
individual’s coming-of-age through self-
FICTION discovery and personal knowledge
5. Realist novel- a novel that places a strong
- a form of narrative that is primarily emphasis on the truthful representation of the
imaginative
actual
TYPES OF FICTION ELEMENTS OF FICTION
A. Short Story- narrative fiction that generally has 1. Characters
singular plot - Fictional representation of a person, usually
B. Novel- extended piece of narrative fiction but not necessarily in a psychologically
TYPES OF SHORT STORIES realistic way
- Types of character:
1. Folktale- contemporary version of an old, even  Protagonist- the story’s principal
ancient, oral tale that can be traced back character
centuries through many different cultures.  Antagonist- someone or something
a. Fable: short tale often involving animals or in opposition of the protagonist
supernatural beings which aims to teach a - Types of characters:
moral. a. Round-well developed and closely
b. Fairytales: stories written for children that involved in the action and responsive to
usually involves imaginary creatures and it
magic b. Dynamic- growing and changing in the
c. Myths: anonymous stories reflecting the course of action
religious and social values of a culture or c. Static- remaining unchanged
explaining the natural phenomena, often d. Flat - opposite of a round character.
involving gods and goddesses This literary personality is notable
for one kind of personality trait or
TYPES OF SHORT STORIES ACCORDING TO LENGTH
characteristic.
1. Short story: less than 1,500 words 2. Characterization
2. Sudden fiction: fewer than approximately 1, - The way a writer provides all kinds of details
500 words about characters' physical traits,
3. Flash fiction: fewer than approximately 1,000 personalities, motivations, actions, and
words responses.
4. Micro fiction: approximately 250 words or less - Kinds of characterization:
 a. Direct Characterization- the author 5. Setting
simply tells the reader about a - Background against which the action of a
character's traits work takes place: the historical time, locale,
b. Indirect Characterization- the author season, time of day, weather, and so on.
shows the characters in action and 6. Atmosphere
invites readers to discover their traits - Tone or mood of the story, often
through their words and choices. established by the use of language
3. Plot - Emotional aura that determines that
- The way events are arranged reader’s expectations about a work
- Freytag’s Pyramid Plot Structure: 7. Theme
1. Exposition: the author presents the - Central or dominant idea in the story
information about the characters or 8. Style
setting that a reader or viewer will - The way the author uses language
need to understand the subsequent - Two kinds:
action a. Formal diction-characterized by
2. Rising Action: stage during which elaborate, complex sentences; a
action builds intensity learned vocabulary; and a serious,
3. Climax: point of greatest tension or objective, detached tone
importance, where the decisive b. Informal diction- consistent with
action of a story takes place everyday speech, characterized by
4. Falling Action: the intensity of the slang, contractions, and colloquial
action subsides expressions, shortened word forms,
5. Resolution/Denouement: draws incomplete sentences, and a casual,
the action to a close and accounts conversational form
for the remaining of the loose ends 9. Tone
4. Point of view - The attitude of the author or narrator
- The vantage point from which events are toward the subject matter, characters, or
presented audience
- Types of POVs
a. First person- the “I” or “we, can be the LITERARY TECHNIQUES
major or minor character 1. Flashback
b. Third person – (he, she, they) a narrator - departure from chronological order that
who is not a character in the story presents an event or situation that occurred
narrates the events. before the time in which the story’s action
 omniscient (all-knowing): the take place
type of narrator that moves at 2. Foreshadowing
will from one character’s mind - introduction early in a story or situation,
into the other characters, or objects that seem to have no
 limited omniscient: the special importance but in fact are later
narrator that focuses only on a revealed to have great significance
single character’s experience 3. Stream of consciousness
 objective (or dramatic point of - form of narration controlled not by external
view): remain entirely outside events but by the thoughts and subjective
the character’s mind impressions of the narrator
OTHER LITERARY TERMS AND CONCEPTS - Major works:
 Tagalog Poetry, 1570-1898:
1. Motivation: the reasons behind a character’s Tradition and Influences in its
behavior Development
2. Epiphany: a moment of illumination of the
 Philippine Literature: A History and
character Anthology
3. Conflict: struggle between opposing forces  Revaluation: Essays on Philippine
4. Dramatic irony: occurs when a character Literature
perceives less than readers do  Writing the Nation/Pag-akda ng
5. Deus ex machine: Latin for “god out of the Bansa
machine”: any improbable resolution of plot
involving the intervention of some force or 4. Virgilio Almario
agent from outside the story - National Artist for Literature (2003)
NATIONAL ARTISTS FOR LITERATURE - Aka Rio Alma
- Poet, literary historian and critic, who has
1. Cirilo Bautista revived and reinvented traditional Filipino
- National Artist for Literature (2014) poetic forms
- A poet, fictionist and essayist with - Wrote children’s literature through the
exceptional achievements and significant Aklat Adarna
contributions to the development of the - Headed the National Commission for
country’s literary arts. Culture and the Arts as Executive Director,
- “Foremost writer of his generation.” (from 1998-2001)
- Major works: - Major works:
 Summer Suns (1963)  Makinasyon
 Words and Battlefields (1998)  Peregrinasyon,
 The Trilogy of Saint Lazarus (2001)  Doktrinang Anakpawis
 Galaw ng Asoge (2003)  Mga Retrato at Rekwerdo
 Muli
2. Lazaro Francisco  Sa Kandungan ng Lupa
- National Artist for Literature (2009)
- Developed the social realist tradition in 5. Alejandro Roces
Philippine fiction - National Artist for Literature (2003)
- “Master the Tagalog Novel” - Country’s best writer of comic short stories
- Major works: - Known for his widely anthologized “My
 Ama Brother’s Peculiar Chicken.”
 Bayang Nagpatiwakal - Was a guerilla during the 2nd World War
 Maganda Pa Ang Daigdig
 Daluyong 6. F. Sionil Jose
- National Artist for Literature (2001)
3. Bienvenido Lumbera - Forefront of Philippine writing in English
- National Artist for Literature (2006) - Wrote consistent espousal of the
- Poet, librettist, and scholar aspirations of the Filipino–for national
- Bagay poetry: a landmark aesthetic sovereignty and social justice
tendency that has helped to change the - Major works:
vernacular poetic tradition  The Pretenders
 Tree
 THE HAIYAN DEAD by Merlie Alunan

The Haiyan Dead is an example of a free verse poem that makes use of the stream of consciousness technique.
Stream of consciousness is a narrative device that attempts to give the written equivalent of the character's
thought processes (in this case, in the mind of the persona in the poem), either in a loose interior monologue, or
in connection to his or her actions. Stream-of-consciousness writing is usually regarded as a special form of
interior monologue and is characterized by associative leaps in thought and lack of some or all punctuation
(wikipedia.org).

What is commendable about The Haiyan Dead is that it exhibits the marriage of form and content. Form was
utilized to exactly convey the meaning of the text. The poem has the water as the central imagery and its free-
flowing characteristic is highlighted by the employment of stream of consciousness and the use of free verse.
The haunting of the past by one’s memory of the dead also takes into account the idea of water, by virtue of its
fluidity, as symbolic of human emotions—as emotions like water can be contained, controlled, managed but not
utterly repressed. Said to be the first organizing principle, emotions are what primarily triggers memory
(Orneisten, 1991) and the ocean and the sea referred to in the poem serves as the symbolic repository of
feelings and thoughts of the persona—same with rhetoric that all water goes in and out of the ocean. The
water’s association with the great deluge which did not only account for Biblical stories—like the story of
Noah—but also for the myths across all cultures including the Philippines makes an explanation for the
normality of human suffering. We remember how in the poem, there is indifference on the part of God in seeing
all these catastrophes happening right before His eyes. As what the scholar Mircea Eliade notes, the result of
chaos is cosmos; destruction is necessary for new beginnings (Eliade, 1954). This idea of life-death-life cycle
parallels with the vision of moon that undergoes several phases, and the idea of water based on its function in
many cultures—upon birth, one is baptized with water and upon death, one is washed by water before burial.
Water is life, it increases the potentiality of life and at the same time it has the power to take life as well.

The Haiyan Dead was written in memory of the victims of typhoon Haiyan/Yolanda which hit the Philippines in
November 2013. It was one of the most intense tropical cyclones on record and the deadliest in the Philippines,
having accounted for the killing of at least 6,300 people (wikipedi.org). Using strong imagery and clever play of
words, The Haiyan Dead poems shifts reference by juxtaposing the actions of the living and the dead, which
hence asks the ultimate question of who are “the real dead” after all.

A. CLOSE-READING

do not sleep. The poem’s opening lines right away depict a feeling of
restlessness. It can be understood in two ways. One, by
looking at the first line as the continuation of the title, it
could mean that the victims are restlessly haunting the
dreams of the living, or the people who the victims left
behind. Or two, by reading the opening line for as it, it
could be understood as an invitation on the part of the
reader to enter a certain nightmare. Similar to a
“beware sign,” the reader is forewarned to “not sleep”
and open his eyes to bear witness to this gruesome
scenario.
They walk our streets / climb stairs of roofless “Walk,””climb,” and “looking” are very intense action
houses / latchless windows blown-off doors / words that further point out to the feeling of
they are looking for the bed by the window restlessness. This constant action of the “they” or the
dead ones, as imagined by someone who remembers
them definitely comes in the form of haunting. By the
use of irony, the dead are depicted as very much alive
 and active, at least in the mind of the persona. The
mention of roofless houses, latchless windows and
blown-off doors which suggests violence could very
much describe the aftermath of the catastrophe.
cocks crowing at dawn lizards in the eaves These grim atmosphere is juxtaposed with the image of
cocks crowing which signifies the coming of a new day.
With the suggestion of a sun rising up soon, what
should be implied is a feeling of hope, but the poem
says otherwise. The use of juxtaposition here and in
other parts of the poem only heightens the dramatic
situation. Juxtaposition is the act or an instance of
placing two or more things side by side often to
compare or contrast or to create an interesting effect
(Merriam-webster.com).
they are looking for the men / who loved From this mass of dead people, the persona tries to
them at night the women / who made them flesh out characters by portraying the Haiyan dead as
crawl like puppies / to their breasts babes possibly someone else’s wife, lover, husband, mother
they held in arms / the boy who climbed trees or someone else’s child. But on a second thought, the
the Haiyan dead / are looking in the rubble very close resemblance of the dead with the actions of
for the child the living may point out the fact that the “Haiyan dead”
are not the actual dead people but the living ones that
come to resemble the dead in a post-apocalyptic scene.
It could be that the Haiyan dead are in fact the “living
dead”—the ones who felt lifeless after their loved ones
had been killed by the disaster and are now in the act of
retrieving the corpses.
they once were the youth/ they once were / To whom the pronoun “they” refers to in these
the bride with flowers in her hair red-lipped passages still remains vague. Generally, the images
perfumed women / white-haired father gap- paint a vibrant, lively atmosphere indicting the
toothed crone / selling peanuts by the church presence of pulsating life force. These details also
door /the drunk by a street lamp waiting / for illustrate how life was before in this small village.
his house to come by the girl dreaming However, the very mention of they once were somehow
retains a phantasmal and eerie atmosphere that
suggests that everyone else has a ghostly appearance—
may that refer to the actual dead imagined as living, or
the living now appearing like the dead.
for his house to come by the girl dreaming / The use of the word “dreaming” and the mention of the
under the moon the Haiyan dead are / “moon” further suggest the idea of nightmare as the
looking for the moon washed out / in a poem’s motif. A motif is a distinctive feature, or a
tumult of water that melted their bodies thematic element in a literary composition (Merriam-
webster.com). The moon here is the silent witness to
the disaster, as its image also disappears with this mass
of bodies. It is quite symbolic of the eye of God which
then resembles the idea of apocalypse wherein
everyone is equal before Him. Here, the young and the
old, the rich and the poor, the men and women are all
equal. Death in, other words, is the great leveller.
they are looking for their bodies that once / Still, the question remains: who are “they” in these
moved to the dance to play / to the rhythms lines? The use of juxtaposition in this poem truly blurs
of love moved / to the rhythms of love moved the line between the realm of the living and the realm
/ in the simple ways--before wind / lifted sea of the dead. Also, the imagery in these lines portrays a
and smashed it on the land-- / of breath talk strong presence of violence juxtaposed with a mellow
words shaping / in their throats lips tongues / word like “poem.” It can be said that the sea can both
the Haiyan dead are looking / for a song they inspire love and fear. In its serene moments, the sea
used to love a poem / a prayer they had stirs people to write poetry, but in its wrathful episode
raised that sea had / swallowed before it the sea compels someone to utter a prayer out of fear
could be said of being swallowed alive.
the Haiyan dead are looking for / the eyes of Looking for the eyes of God suddenly blinded suggest a
God suddenly blinded / in the sudden murk feeling of indifference—why was God not present the
white wind seething / water salt sand black time we are asking help from Him? The poem obviously
silt--and that is why / the does not provide us with an answer but with a though-
provoking question that seems to point out on the
existentialist notion on the normality of human
suffering. We are left only with the consolation that
chaos will eventually lead to cosmos. That there is after
all value to suffering only if we seek out its salutary
qualities: “transforming pain from a negative condition
to an experience with a spiritual content” (Eliade, 96).
Haiyan dead will walk among us endlessly But is it also possible that the ending lines which
sleepless— suggest a feeling of guilt which leads to the eventual
seek for justice may however point to the fact that,
considering the normality of suffering, God is not to be
blamed but us? Could it be that the ending lines serve
as a biting commentary on local authorities’
incompetence in handling relief efforts? The fact that
the dead will walk among us endlessly sleepless surely
puts on a feeling of guilt, as the memories of the dead
continue to hunt our imagination. Perhaps, it is better
to say that the lines serves as a precaution that we
should learn from our mistakes from the past in order
not exactly prevent natural disasters to happen, but to
be more prepared and vigilant. The poem could
somehow lead us to the examination on how Filipinos
handle big catastrophes.

THIRD WORLD GEOGRAPHY by Cirilo F. Bautista

Third World Geography is an example of a free verse poem or open form poetry. A free verse poem follows natural
speech by doing away with traditional poetic techniques namely, meter (a verse’s basic rhythmic structure) and rhyme
(the repetition of similar sounds in words, usually at the end of a verse lines). However, the disciple of free verse poetry
can be found in the internal pattern of sounds, the use of associations, images, symbols and metaphors which thus make
it essentially a legitimate poetic form.

Third World Geography primarily employs the use of allegory. An allegory is a poetic device that conveys hidden
meanings through symbolic images or figures. The use of allegory in this poem aids in the depiction of the socio-
economic and historical situation of the Philippines, in particular, during the time of Martial Law (1972-1981) under
Marcos administration.

What is Martial Law? Simply put, Martial Law means military takeover. Martial Martial Law happens when the
president (head state) provides power to the armed forces to have a direct control on the civilian functions of the
government. Martial Law is usually declared as an immediate response to emergency like territorial invasion, major
disaster or massive civil disorder. In democratic societies, Martial Law is temporarily used to address urgent concerns.
Why did Marcos declared Martial Law? In September 21, 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos declared Martial Law under
Presidential Proclamation 1081. The said proclamation suspended the civil rights and imposed military authority in the
country. Marcos defended the declaration stressing the need to quell the rising wave of violence allegedly caused by
communists. Marcos intends to eradicate the roots of rebellion and promote a rapid trend for national development.
For Marcos, Martial Law is a strategic approach to legally defend the Constitution and protect the welfare of the
Filipinos from the dangerous threats posed by Muslim rebel groups and Christian vigilantes who place a risk to national
security. Marcos explained that martial law was not a military takeover but was then the only option to resolve the
country’s dilemma on rebellion. The emergency rule, according to Marcos’s plan, was to lead the country into what he
calls a “New Society” or “Bagong Lipunan.”

What are the implications of Martial Law in the Philippines? In the time of Martial Law, curfews are imposed. More
importantly, there is the suspension of civil rights particularly of the habeas corpus which resulted to several cases of
unlawful detention. Press freedom in the Philippines also suffered its biggest blow. Upon the declaration of Martial Law,
Marcos immediately ordered the closure of all news organizations and the arrest and interrogation of publishers,
editors, journalists, and broadcasters identified to be critical against the government. Publications of newspapers were
suspended, and radio and television broadcasts went off air.

What was the state of the Philippine Literature and the Arts during Martial Law? The protest motif in Literature in the
1970’s coincided with the upsurge of student activism. Students of local universities were flushed out of secluded
classrooms by pill boxes and tear gas as they get to become more aware of the current socio-political and economic
issues. The literary writers just like the journalist during the troubles days of Martial Law felt the dictatorial impinged on
some basic rights of the individual. This as well as the deteriorating economic conditions of the country, was hardly at
all, conducive to writing. Overall, the time of Martial Law saw the proliferation of politically motivates so-called
committed or protest literature. Writers became more conscious of the political milieu, the poverty, the curtailment of
freedom, social inequities, the tyranny of the rich, the widening gap between the haves and the have-nots (Dimalanta
and Mata, 1993).

In the Arts, particularly in the field of film, the decades that defined the fascist ruling of Marcos saw the upsurge in
quality and worth of materials. These include among many others Maynila sa Kuko ng Liwanag; Himala; Ganito Kami
Noon, Paano Kayo Ngayon? Oro, Plata, Mata; Itim; Insiang;Kisapmata and Sister Stella L. Between 1974 to 1985, the
Filipino film industry yielded a harvest of fine and significant products that has prompted certain critics and historian to
speak of the new golden age of Philippine cinema. Writers and directors were likewise part of the anti-dictatorship
movement and were often under the scrutiny of the government which implemented strict censorship even prior to the
film’s production. In spite of these challenges, the time of Martial Law gave rise to movies that depict serious content
that altogether construct realities that invite analysis and reaction (Lumbera, 2010).

A. CLOSE READING

The term “third world” refers to a developing nation in Asia,

Africa and Latin America. The term usually suggests poverty
Third World Geography and low level of industrial development which is in oppose to
“first world” or highly developed nations (Wikipedia.org)

The title Third World Geography therefore tries to outline the

typical features or facets of a developing country.
 These lines make use of personification. Here, the Philippines
is being compared to a sick, sad person. The phrase “sits
A country without miracles heavy” and the word “rotting” indicates the dismal condition
sits heavy on the map, it is experiencing. “Without miracles” emphasises
furthermore that the disease that inflicted it is something that
thinking of banana trees rotting is irremediable, or without cure (like cancer). The image of
the quintessential “banana trees” illustrates the place’s
in the sunlight.
tropical atmosphere but it could be a reference to the term
“banana republic.” In political science, a banana republic is a
politically unstable country with an economy dependent upon
the exportation of a limited-resource product, e.g. bananas,
minerals, etc.

Functioning as an allegory, “the man” being referred to in the

poem is former president Ferdinand Marcos who is
The man who watches over it responsible for the Martial Law period which is considered as
has commandeered all hopes, one of the darkest times in Philippine history. The term
“commander” refers to his being the head of the state. On
placed them in a sack, the other hand, the verb “commandeered” works in similar
vein with the term "maneuvered" which means to move
and tied its loose end.
skilfully or carefully. Here, the man performed a “trickery” or
“manipulation” that led to the misfortune of the Philippines.
The historical context of the poem suggests that this “trick”
refers to Marcos’ declaration of Martial Law which legalized
his tyrannical actions. “Placed in the sack” suggests an act of
plunder as the Marcos family had been accused of their
amassing of ill-gotten wealth. These resulted to the “hopes”
of people being lost—that of their trust of the government
and a dream of a better, progressive Philippines. The word
“tied” indicates violence or “suppression” or “silencing” of
voices who clamoured for Marcos’ oust.

He goes around carrying it The following lines recall Rudyard Kipling poem about the
Philippine–American War entitled The White Man's Burden:
on his back. The United States and the Philippine Islands (1989). American
imperialists understood the phrase "The white man's burden"
to justify imperialism as a noble enterprise of civilization. The
title and themes of "The White Man's Burden" ostensibly
justify Eurocentric racism based on the Western idea and
ideal of industrialisation as the way to civilise the Third World
(wikipedia.org). Here, Marcos is positioned as the native elite
who merely supplanted the Philippines’ former colonial
masters (Spain and the U.S.). The lines only indicate that
Marcos is the new face of oppression.

In other words, Marcos justifies Martial Law using the idea of

“New Society” or “Bagong Lipunan” in pretense. Motivated by
 greed, what seems to be a “benevolent act” of “serving” and
“saving” the Philippines on the part of Marcos is nothing but a
continuation of the selfish interest of Spain and US on the
Philippines over its resources. The vision of the “New Society”
project does not resonate obviously with the plummeting of
the economy during his term, pinpointing to rampant
corruption and abuse of power as the primary cause.

Here, the author made use of “feathers” to indicate a sense

of denial—whether that pertains to his denial of
When asked what is inside, acknowledgement of is grave offense, or his denial of the
he says, “Just a handful of feathers, voices that rallies against his actions.

just a handful of feathers.” The one asking perhaps is the international community to
whom he denies his atrocities to the people. In the
international scene, the Philippines on the surface level is
seen as a place of discipline and order as attested by the
presence of organic unity especially in the areas of health and
social service, and of course arts and culture—The Lung,
Health, Kidney, and Heart Centres, The Film and Cultural
Centre of the Philippines, etc.

Here, the persona lends us with a sarcastic tone to further

point out the denial of Marcos towards all things said against
That’s how light the burden him. In an act of giving a smirk rather than a smile, the
of government is in peace time– persona contemptuously put into question Marcos definition
of “peace.” Peace here is not something that the persona
any tyrant can turn it into a metaphor. associates with silence as silence does not necessarily indicate
the presence of peace. The term “Peace time” like the term
“salvage” (to “salvage” actually means “to save”) is a
misnomer for the act of summary execution made to those
who oppose Marcos. Victims of summary execution are
called desaparecidos, which in Spanish literally means
“disappeared.” The same word had been used in other Latin
countries which experienced the same situation.

“A tyrant can turn into metaphor” only implies that those

who oppose Marcos (the journalists, writers, artists) cannot
speak directly about him and they should find creative ways
to make their message get across the masses. It’s a paradox
that the time of Marcos is also the golden age of Philippine
Arts, particularly Philippine cinema because the condition was
put better to use by film makers whose oeuvres exhibit the
use figurative language.

The evident shift of referral in these lines tries to indicate the

extent of oppression from the national down to the personal
level. The greed of those who are in power directly results to
You kneel on the parched earth the hunger of many ordinary citizens. Evidently, the
inequitable distribution of wealth results to a wide gap
and pray for rice. Only the wind between rich and poor. When an ordinary farmer “kneels on
hears your useless words. the parched earth and pray for rice” it only indicates that
there is famine and miracle is his only hope. This idea of
actual “famine” parallels with the moral malaise of those who
are in the authority which can be aptly described as the
experience of “spiritual drought.” The disintegration of the
society’s moral fibre is indicated by the lines “Only the wind
hears your useless words “which thus illustrate the
callousness of those who had plundered the country of its
people’s wealth.

“To get up from the page” may refer to the efforts of writers,
journalists, artists, and concerned citizens to revive the
The country without miracles country from its present state by voicing out the ugly truth
tries to get up from the page, which they hope will shackle the consciousness of the entire
country. While the said line may sound optimistic, the
but the bold ink and sharp colors concluding lines prove otherwise with the use of the words
“hold it down.” The “bold ink” and “sharp colors” is in deep
hold it down.
contrast with “hold it down” which suggests the idea of being
muted or silenced, or suffocated. Similar to the garish
marquee lights of advertising, what is being announced in the
world by the bold sharp, colors (which reverberates Imelda
Marcos ideal of “the true, the good, and the beautiful) is the
admirable image of the Philippines. The poem only tells us
that as long as we keep on with our denials, as we get blinded
by these false advertisements, we will never progress.
SWEET SUMMER by Cyan Abad Hugo