Art & Literature
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The Cinema
The first films shown in Manila in 1904 were French and Italian, with Spanish subtitles. In 1912 an American director made a film on the life of the national hero…
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The Press
The history of the press in the Philippines dates back to 1637. The early newspapers, in Spanish, were subject to very strict censorship. The first newspaper entirely written in Tagalog…
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Prose Writing Tagalog
There was a revival of the novel at the beginning of the 20th century, and Tagalog writers strove to make their mark by an original style. Lope K. Santos and…
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Poetry Tagalog
At the beginning of the 20th century Tagalog writers rediscovered the excellence of their language for writing poetry. Jose Corazon de Jesus, a strong personality, established the genre of the…
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Prose Writing American Colonial Period
In spite of the increasing self-confidence of literature in English during the period of American control authors writing in Spanish continued the tradition. Poets like Jesus Balmori, Flavio Zaragosa-Cano and…
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Poetry American Colonial Period
Poetry in English came into its own only with the Commonwealth. The lyricism and psychological realism of Jose Garcia Villa, allied with his mastery of the language, established his reputation…
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Prose Writing Spanish Colonial Period
Jose Rizal (1861-96) is the greatest figure not only in the Spanish-language literature but in the history of the Philippines. He studied medicine at the University of Santo Tomas and…
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Poetry Spanish Colonial Period
Religious lyrics written by ladino poets or those versed in both Spanish and Tagalog where used to teach Filipinos the Spanish language. Fernando Bogonbanta’s Salamat nang Walang Hangan (Unending Thanks)…
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Drama
The traditional theatre of the Philippines took a variety of forms, the most popular of which was the carillo, a shadow theatre using figures of papier-mâché; performances were usually given…
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Early Literature
The early literature of the Philippines, both oral and written, was usually sung or chanted. It took a great variety of forms, and was used to accompany not only religious…
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