LIT 111

LIT 111

Monday, October 14, 2013

1. PHILIPPINE LITERATURE




Literature are written works collectively, especially those of enduring importance, exhibiting creative imagination and artistic skill (Funk and Wagnalls).
Literature comes from the Latin word literature meaning writing; literatus which means learning; and thus is literate for learned. It is both oral and written work characterized by expressive or imaginative writing, nobility of thoughts, universality and timeliness.
The best way to understand human nature fully and to know a nation completely is to study literature.
Literature appeals to man’s higher nature and its needs–emotional, spiritual, intellectual and creative. Like all other forms of art, literature entertains and gives pleasure; it fires the imagination and arouses noble emotions and it enriches man by enabling him to reflect on life by filling him new ideas. Literture nourishes our emotional lives.Literature broadens our perpectives on the world.
The study of literature engages you in the kinds of problem solving important win a variety of fields, from philosophy to science and technology.One of the purposes of a college introduction to literature is to cultivate the analytic skills necessary for reading well.


POETRY

Like all other literary types, poetry presents a “heightened awareness of reality,” but it is poetry that features “language charged to the nth degree.” By that Paul Engle meant that poetry maximizes the power of language and transmits an intensified artistic experience–chiefly through suggestion, figurative language, imagery, condensation, and sound.

To Robert Frost, poetry is the “only permissible way of saying one thing and meaning another.” Whatever the poem wants to say, it expresses in a manner that appears to be “the only right way of saying it in the context of the realities it has started with” (Cirilo Bautista). In poetry the words are so well-arranged such that one delights in repeating the lines–there appears to be no other way of saying them. Just by the sound alone, one derives pleasure from a poem. Apart from the idea one derives from poetry, one then also goes through an experience wrought by the language, music, and imagery that interlock in a poem, such that one recites the lines over and over to savor the poetic experience. The content (what the poem says)and form (how the poem expresses its main idea) of the poem have become one.

PROSE
Prose drama-a drama in prose form. It consists entirely of dialogues in prose, and is meant to be acted on stage.

Essay-a short literary composition which is expository in nature. The author shares some of his thoughts, feelings, experiences or observations on some aspects of life that has interested him.

Novel-a long fictitious narrative with a complicated plot. It may have a main plot and one or more subplots that develop with the main plot. Characters and actions representative of the real life of past or present times are portrayed in a plot. It is made up of chapters.


Short story-a fictitious narrative compressed into one unit of time, place, and action. It deals with a single character interest, a single emotion or series of emotions called forth by a single situation. It is distinguished from the novel by its compression.


legend is a story that is purported to be historical in nature but has no substantiation. It also describes anything that inspires a body of stories or anything of lasting fame or importance.


fables- A usually short narrative making an edifying or cautionary point and often employing as characters animals that speak and act like humans. A story about legendary persons and exploits.



anecdote-a short account of a particular incident or event, especially of an interesting or amusing nature.

a short, obscure historical or biographical account.

biography-an account in biographical form of an organization, society, theater, animal, etc.

such writings collectively.
the writing of biography as an occupation or field of endeavor.



news- Information about recent events or happenings, especially as reported by newspapers, periodicals, radio, or television.
oration- A formal speech, especially one given on a ceremonial occasion. A speech delivered in a high-flown or pompous manner.


myhtodology-A body of practices, procedures, and rules used by those who work in a discipline or engage in an inquiry; a set of working methods: the methodology of genetic studies; a poll marred by faulty methodology. The study or theoretical analysis of such working methods. The branch of logic that deals with the general principles of the formation of knowledge.



parable- A simple story illustrating a moral or religious lesson.

INGREDIENTS OF PROSE:

1.Characters-are the representation of a human being; persons involved in a conflict.

Round character-is a dynamic character who recognized changes in the circumstances; is fully developed character, with many traits shown in the story.
Flat character-also known as the stock or the stereotype character who does not grow and develop; a flat character is not fully developed and do not undergo changes.

protagonist-the main character antagonist-a foil to the character


2. Setting-the locale and period in which the events occur. A stoyr must take place in space, time, and therefore must have setting. But the importance of setting varies greatly from story to story. The setting gives immediacy to the story, can lend atmosphere to a story and can enter directly to the meaning of a story.



3. Conflict-the struggle of complication involving the characters; the opposition of persons or forces upon which the action depends in drama and fiction.
Internal Conflict-occurs when the protagonist struggles within himself or herself; the protagonist is pulled by two courses of action or by differing emotions.


Interpersonal conflict-pits the protagonist against someone else.
External conflict-person against society

4. Point of View- the writer’s feeling and attitude toward his/her subject; determines who tells the story; it identifies the narrator of the story.

CLASSIFICATION:

First person- the narrator uses the pronoun “I.” S/he could be a participant or a character in his own work; the narrator maybe the protagonist, an observer, a minor character, or the writer himself/herself. 

Third person- the writer is mereky an observer and uses pronoun in the third person.

Omniscient-the narrator sees all; s/he can see into the minds of characters and evne report everyone’s innermost thoughts.

5. Tone/Mood- the attitude or mixture of attitude taken by the writer toward his work.

6. Symbolism- stand for something other than themselves, they bring to mind not theri won concrete qualities, but the idea or obstruction that is associated with them.

7. Theme- the author’s comment regarding the subject

8. Plot-a causally related sequence of events; what
happens as a result of the main coinflict is presented in a structured format; is the sequence of events which involves the character in conflict.

POETRY- is a word of Greek origin. It comes from a verb with means “to make, to create”. A poem is “something made or created”. The poet is the creator and language is the material out of which s/he creates his/her work of art.



NARRATIVE- is a form of poetry which tells a story, often making use of the voices of a narrator and characters as well; the entire story is usually written in metred verse. The poems that make up this genre may be short or long, and the story it relates to may be complex. It is usually dramatic, with objectives, diverse characters, and metre. Narrative poems include epics, ballads, idylls and lays.



BALLAD- A narrative poem, often of folk origin and intended to be sung, consisting of simple stanzas and usually having a refrain.

METRICAL TALE-Analysis of verse into metrical patterns.

EPIC-poetry celebrating the deeds of some hero

LYRIC POETRY is a comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a single speaker presents a state of mind or an emotional state. Lyric poetry retains some of the elements of song which is said to be its origin: For Greek writers the lyric was a song accompanied by the lyre. is a comparatively short, non-narrative poem in which a single speaker presents a state of mind or an emotional state. Lyric poetry retains some of the elements of song which is said to be its origin: For Greek writers the lyric was a song accompanied by the lyre.

sonnet was originally a love poem which dealt with the lover’s sufferings and hopes.

elegy is a formal lament for the death of a particular person the term elegy is also used for solemn meditations, often on questions of death

ode is a long lyric poem with a serious subject written in an elevated style 
lullabies soothing song with which to lull a child to sleep. 

dramatic monologue a speaker, who is explicitly someone other than the author, makes a speech to a silent auditor in a specific situation and at a critical moment. Without intending to do so, the speaker reveals aspects of his temperament and character

Prose poetry is poetry written in prose instead of using verse but preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery and emotional effects.

 character sketch-a brief description or portrayal of a person's character, qualities, etc

soliloqy - A dramatic or literary form of discourse in which a character talks to himself or herself or reveals his or her thoughts without addressing a listener.

Sunday, October 13, 2013

11. STUDENT OUTPUT








111. CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS



NCR


1.Edilberto K. Tiempo




Amador Daguio (1906-1983) since I started this blog several months ago
but never got around to write about him until now. See, there’s a time
for everything.




Starting January 2012, every third Sunday of the month, Mel U of The Reading Life
(whose blog has been an inspiration in my book blogging experience) and
I engage in a joint venture that involves featuring Filipino writers
venture. We hope you could participate in this endeavor.
and their works. We welcome anyone who is interested to join us in thi
s

So far, we have featured the following writers and their works:

1. Dead Stars and A Night in the Hills by Paz Marquez Benitez
2. Servant Girl and Magnificence by Estrella Alfon

Today,
we talk about Amador Daguio and his short stories. I was supposed to
write only about his “The Woman who Look out of the Window”, which I
of his memorable poems, simply because I utterly admire the author. If
will, but I will also talk about his “The Wedding Dance” and a couple
I’m asked for my top five favorite Filipino short story writers, Daguio
will most likely rank my first
.


Daguio
(1912-1966) is a poet, fictionist, essayist, critic, and playwright. He
was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. (Mel U has been to Vigan, which is
Vigan! It’s my dream holiday, for crying out loud!) Anyway, Daguio wa
near Laoag, a fact that naturally got my mind green with envy. I mean
,s not raised in Laoag but grew up in Kalinga, formerly a subprovince (now a
his short stories.
separate province) of Mountain Province, which became the setting of most o
f

Remarkably,
while living there, Daguio was in close contact with the place, the
people, and the language. It is no wonder he wrote perceptively and
Dance and The Woman who Looked out of the Window. For him, the Filip
intimately about people in the mountains in his stories The Wedding ino
ife, customs, traditions, and folklore, for “
writer should draw inspirations from native elements, like the Filipino
lwe
might be able to achieve something at least more worthy of ourselves
that what is merely a ridiculous aping of what is foreign to our own
”. Here’s one of his poems, Man of Earth, as an example (which has been taken up well in my high school):
feeling and though
t


Pliant is the bamboo;
I am man of earth.
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do you have to whisper?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

If the wind passes by,
Must I stoop, and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

“in the suffering and miseries of his lonely and repressed boyhood...
and the struggles of poor people [around him]”. His ultimate dream was
think I really like the works of this writer because I share with him
“to translate the beauty, immensity, and depth of the Filipino soul”. I
his love for our country.

Here’s one of his poems I like, To Those of Other Lands, which is written in the context of events that happened during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines:

Though I may speak the English language,
Let me tell you: I am a Filipino,
I stand for that which make my nation,
The virtues of the country where I was born.

I may have traces of the American,
Be deceived not: Spain has, too, her traces in me,
But my songs are those of my race

Would you prove the courage of our blood?
The frank disdain of the man who is free?
We might have had chains, but of the spirit never;
Beyond us we see time, leveler of all.

Mistake not our seeming softness to you.
If we bow, it is not that we are slaves,
If we feed you, our hearts are in the offer,
Our giving not mere service of the lips.

Simple our manners? Our fathers gave the graces,
Our hearts pure as the hills, clear as the seas,
I tell you not of greed nor of accumulation,
We have washed off these stains of the West.

Look through us then, beyond what you think,
Know us, understand us; we, too, have our pride.
If you give us flowers, we exchange pearls;
We greet you sincerely; acclaim what we have.

Technically,
Daguio belongs to the “emergence period” (1935-1945) in Philippine
literature when the period said to have been the more productive,
in English. During this period, writers were already consciously and
producing distinctive work in the half century of Filipino writing
purposefully write stories that reflect the Filipino way of life,
nd the environment. At the same time, Filipino writers were able to gai
including our values and traditions as well as the tropical climate
an full control of of the English language, using it successfully as an
would have loved to go back to the past and see the period for myself.
effective literary medium. There were writing groups and awards formed. I

However,
most unfortunately and very sadly, the Japanese occupation  in
1941-1945 brought the flowering of the literary creativity in the
Philippines to an abrupt close. There was so much fear during the
ut of course, good ‘ol Daguio joined the resistance and secretly wrote
occupation that writers could not think; survival was a priority.
Bpoems, later compiled into a publication called Bataan Harvest. To Those of
friend of another writer in resistance, Manuel E. Arguilla, who is fro
Other Lands is one of his works during the Japanese occupation. He was a clos
em La Union and who wrote another of my favorite short story, How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife. I hope Mel and I could feature him
in the succeeding readings in Philippine literature
.


The first work by Daguio that I’ve read is The Wedding Dance
when I was in college and I’ve read it twice again within the past
seven years. It’s a bittersweet story of how culture, traditions, are
more important to a man than his love for his wife. It is more like a
e second wedding dance of the man where the dramatic conversation betwe
necessity for the man to leave his wife. The Wedding Dance refers to t
hen him and the wife he is about to leave for another woman who could bear
o experience the climax and taste the bitter end.
him sons. Ah, that’s the crux of the matter, and you should read the story

- See more at: http://www.nancycudis.com/2012/02/filipino-short-stories-3-wedding-dance.html#sthash.PxfqfNsx.dpuf




2.Bienvenido Santos





 3.Alejandro Roces 




4.Nick Joaquin





5. Jessica Hagedorn



6. Gilda Cordero-Fernando 





7. Linda Ty Casper  



8. Lualhati Bautista

9. Manuel Buising




sample works



10. Edgardo M. Reyes



sample works


REGION 1


1.Juan S.P. Hidalgo, Jr

biography





2.Jose Maria Sison




3.Gregorio C. Brillantes



4. Pedro Bucaneg



5. Salvador P. Lopez 



6. Manuel Arguilla



7.Carlos Bulosan




8. Amador Daguio



9.Isabelo de los Reyes



10. F. Sionil Jose


REGION 11

1. Fernando M. Maramag


2. Leona Florentino  


3. Gregorio Aglipay 

4. Emmanuel F. Lacaba 



  biography  




   5. Ines Taccad Cammayo 


  biography 


6. Alfred Yuson 




7. Norman Wilwayco 





  8. Naya S. Valdellon 
9. Ana Marie Villanueva-Lykes 
10. Amado Vinuya    

REGION 111




2. Zoilo Galang




3. Angela Manalang Glo



 biography   


sample work        

4. Rony V. Diaz



5. Virgilio S. Almarino




 biography         








6. Carlo J. Caparas












7. Nicanor Abelardo












8. Marcelo H. del Pilar 












9. Rene Villanueva












10. Jessica Zafra










REGION IV 

1. Alejandro G. Abadilla 




2. Jose Rizal 



3. Jose Dalisay, Jr.  

biography    

sample works    

4. Paz M. Latorena 





5. Paz Marquez Binetez 



sample works         



6. Maximo M. Kalaw 





7. Horacio dela Costa, S.J





8. N.V.M Gonzales 





9. Mars Ravelo 





10. Diosdado G. Alesna



REGION V


1. Ricardo Lee  



2. Diana Agbayani 




3. Abdon M. Balde Jr.





4. Donato Mejia Alvarez



5.Luis G. Dato









REGION VI


1. Dominador I. Ilio 



2. Antonio S. Gabila 



3. Merlie M. Alunan 



4. Stevan Javellana 



5. Peter Solis Nery 



6. John Iremil Teodoro 



7. Bryan Mari Agros





8. Mark Anthony A. Grejaldo 




9. Daisy H. Avellana


REGION VII


1. Cecilia Manguerra Brainard



2. Estrella Alfon



3. Simeon Dumdum Jr. 





4. Gemino Henson Abad





5. Temiskoles Adlawan





6. Cecilia Manguerra Brainard





7. Peter Bacho




sample work

8. Marjorie Evasco



9. Emeniano Acain Somoza Jr, 


 10. Ernesto Superal Ye


REGION VIII

1.Carlos A. Angeles




2. Ramon Escoda 






3.Francisco Soc Rodrigo




REGION IX

1. Martha Cecilia 



2. Cesar Ruiz Aquino



REGION X


1. Joey Ayala 



REGION XI

1. Leoncio P. Deriada 



2. Danny Sillada



Amador Daguio (1906-1983) since I started this blog several months ago but never got around to write about him until now. See, there’s a time for everything.

Starting January 2012, every third Sunday of the month, Mel U of The Reading Life (whose blog has been an inspiration in my book blogging experience) and I engage in a joint venture that involves featuring Filipino writers and their works. We welcome anyone who is interested to join us in this venture. We hope you could participate in this endeavor.

So far, we have featured the following writers and their works:

1. Dead Stars and A Night in the Hills by Paz Marquez Benitez
2. Servant Girl and Magnificence by Estrella Alfon

Today, we talk about Amador Daguio and his short stories. I was supposed to write only about his “The Woman who Look out of the Window”, which I will, but I will also talk about his “The Wedding Dance” and a couple of his memorable poems, simply because I utterly admire the author. If I’m asked for my top five favorite Filipino short story writers, Daguio will most likely rank my first.

Daguio (1912-1966) is a poet, fictionist, essayist, critic, and playwright. He was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. (Mel U has been to Vigan, which is near Laoag, a fact that naturally got my mind green with envy. I mean, Vigan! It’s my dream holiday, for crying out loud!) Anyway, Daguio was not raised in Laoag but grew up in Kalinga, formerly a subprovince (now a separate province) of Mountain Province, which became the setting of most of his short stories.

Remarkably, while living there, Daguio was in close contact with the place, the people, and the language. It is no wonder he wrote perceptively and intimately about people in the mountains in his stories The Wedding Dance and The Woman who Looked out of the Window. For him, the Filipino writer should draw inspirations from native elements, like the Filipino life, customs, traditions, and folklore, for “we might be able to achieve something at least more worthy of ourselves that what is merely a ridiculous aping of what is foreign to our own feeling and thought”. Here’s one of his poems, Man of Earth, as an example (which has been taken up well in my high school):

Pliant is the bamboo;
I am man of earth.
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do you have to whisper?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

If the wind passes by,
Must I stoop, and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

Admirably, Daguio began to see the possibilities for stories and poems “in the suffering and miseries of his lonely and repressed boyhood... and the struggles of poor people [around him]”. His ultimate dream was “to translate the beauty, immensity, and depth of the Filipino soul”. I think I really like the works of this writer because I share with him his love for our country.

Here’s one of his poems I like, To Those of Other Lands, which is written in the context of events that happened during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines:

Though I may speak the English language,
Let me tell you: I am a Filipino,
I stand for that which make my nation,
The virtues of the country where I was born.

I may have traces of the American,
Be deceived not: Spain has, too, her traces in me,
But my songs are those of my race


Would you prove the courage of our blood?
The frank disdain of the man who is free?
We might have had chains, but of the spirit never;
Beyond us we see time, leveler of all.

Mistake not our seeming softness to you.
If we bow, it is not that we are slaves,
If we feed you, our hearts are in the offer,
Our giving not mere service of the lips.

Simple our manners? Our fathers gave the graces,
Our hearts pure as the hills, clear as the seas,
I tell you not of greed nor of accumulation,
We have washed off these stains of the West.

Look through us then, beyond what you think,
Know us, understand us; we, too, have our pride.
If you give us flowers, we exchange pearls;
We greet you sincerely; acclaim what we have.

Technically, Daguio belongs to the “emergence period” (1935-1945) in Philippine literature when the period said to have been the more productive, producing distinctive work in the half century of Filipino writing in English. During this period, writers were already consciously and purposefully write stories that reflect the Filipino way of life, including our values and traditions as well as the tropical climate and the environment. At the same time, Filipino writers were able to gain full control of of the English language, using it successfully as an effective literary medium. There were writing groups and awards formed. I would have loved to go back to the past and see the period for myself.

However, most unfortunately and very sadly, the Japanese occupation  in 1941-1945 brought the flowering of the literary creativity in the Philippines to an abrupt close. There was so much fear during the occupation that writers could not think; survival was a priority. But of course, good ‘ol Daguio joined the resistance and secretly wrote poems, later compiled into a publication called Bataan Harvest. To Those of Other Lands is one of his works during the Japanese occupation. He was a close friend of another writer in resistance, Manuel E. Arguilla, who is from La Union and who wrote another of my favorite short story, How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife. I hope Mel and I could feature him in the succeeding readings in Philippine literature.

The first work by Daguio that I’ve read is The Wedding Dance when I was in college and I’ve read it twice again within the past seven years. It’s a bittersweet story of how culture, traditions, are more important to a man than his love for his wife. It is more like a necessity for the man to leave his wife. The Wedding Dance refers to the second wedding dance of the man where the dramatic conversation between him and the wife he is about to leave for another woman who could bear him sons. Ah, that’s the crux of the matter, and you should read the story to experience the climax and taste the bitter end. The Wedding Dance could be read online.



- See more at: http://www.nancycudis.com/2012/02/filipino-short-stories-3-wedding-dance.html#sthash.PxfqfNsx.dpuf
Amador Daguio (1906-1983) since I started this blog several months ago but never got around to write about him until now. See, there’s a time for everything.

Starting January 2012, every third Sunday of the month, Mel U of The Reading Life (whose blog has been an inspiration in my book blogging experience) and I engage in a joint venture that involves featuring Filipino writers and their works. We welcome anyone who is interested to join us in this venture. We hope you could participate in this endeavor.

So far, we have featured the following writers and their works:

1. Dead Stars and A Night in the Hills by Paz Marquez Benitez
2. Servant Girl and Magnificence by Estrella Alfon

Today, we talk about Amador Daguio and his short stories. I was supposed to write only about his “The Woman who Look out of the Window”, which I will, but I will also talk about his “The Wedding Dance” and a couple of his memorable poems, simply because I utterly admire the author. If I’m asked for my top five favorite Filipino short story writers, Daguio will most likely rank my first.

Daguio (1912-1966) is a poet, fictionist, essayist, critic, and playwright. He was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. (Mel U has been to Vigan, which is near Laoag, a fact that naturally got my mind green with envy. I mean, Vigan! It’s my dream holiday, for crying out loud!) Anyway, Daguio was not raised in Laoag but grew up in Kalinga, formerly a subprovince (now a separate province) of Mountain Province, which became the setting of most of his short stories.

Remarkably, while living there, Daguio was in close contact with the place, the people, and the language. It is no wonder he wrote perceptively and intimately about people in the mountains in his stories The Wedding Dance and The Woman who Looked out of the Window. For him, the Filipino writer should draw inspirations from native elements, like the Filipino life, customs, traditions, and folklore, for “we might be able to achieve something at least more worthy of ourselves that what is merely a ridiculous aping of what is foreign to our own feeling and thought”. Here’s one of his poems, Man of Earth, as an example (which has been taken up well in my high school):

Pliant is the bamboo;
I am man of earth.
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do you have to whisper?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

If the wind passes by,
Must I stoop, and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

Admirably, Daguio began to see the possibilities for stories and poems “in the suffering and miseries of his lonely and repressed boyhood... and the struggles of poor people [around him]”. His ultimate dream was “to translate the beauty, immensity, and depth of the Filipino soul”. I think I really like the works of this writer because I share with him his love for our country.

Here’s one of his poems I like, To Those of Other Lands, which is written in the context of events that happened during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines:

Though I may speak the English language,
Let me tell you: I am a Filipino,
I stand for that which make my nation,
The virtues of the country where I was born.

I may have traces of the American,
Be deceived not: Spain has, too, her traces in me,
But my songs are those of my race


Would you prove the courage of our blood?
The frank disdain of the man who is free?
We might have had chains, but of the spirit never;
Beyond us we see time, leveler of all.

Mistake not our seeming softness to you.
If we bow, it is not that we are slaves,
If we feed you, our hearts are in the offer,
Our giving not mere service of the lips.

Simple our manners? Our fathers gave the graces,
Our hearts pure as the hills, clear as the seas,
I tell you not of greed nor of accumulation,
We have washed off these stains of the West.

Look through us then, beyond what you think,
Know us, understand us; we, too, have our pride.
If you give us flowers, we exchange pearls;
We greet you sincerely; acclaim what we have.

Technically, Daguio belongs to the “emergence period” (1935-1945) in Philippine literature when the period said to have been the more productive, producing distinctive work in the half century of Filipino writing in English. During this period, writers were already consciously and purposefully write stories that reflect the Filipino way of life, including our values and traditions as well as the tropical climate and the environment. At the same time, Filipino writers were able to gain full control of of the English language, using it successfully as an effective literary medium. There were writing groups and awards formed. I would have loved to go back to the past and see the period for myself.

However, most unfortunately and very sadly, the Japanese occupation  in 1941-1945 brought the flowering of the literary creativity in the Philippines to an abrupt close. There was so much fear during the occupation that writers could not think; survival was a priority. But of course, good ‘ol Daguio joined the resistance and secretly wrote poems, later compiled into a publication called Bataan Harvest. To Those of Other Lands is one of his works during the Japanese occupation. He was a close friend of another writer in resistance, Manuel E. Arguilla, who is from La Union and who wrote another of my favorite short story, How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife. I hope Mel and I could feature him in the succeeding readings in Philippine literature.

The first work by Daguio that I’ve read is The Wedding Dance when I was in college and I’ve read it twice again within the past seven years. It’s a bittersweet story of how culture, traditions, are more important to a man than his love for his wife. It is more like a necessity for the man to leave his wife. The Wedding Dance refers to the second wedding dance of the man where the dramatic conversation between him and the wife he is about to leave for another woman who could bear him sons. Ah, that’s the crux of the matter, and you should read the story to experience the climax and taste the bitter end. The Wedding Dance could be read online.



- See more at: http://www.nancycudis.com/2012/02/filipino-short-stories-3-wedding-dance.html#sthash.PxfqfNsx.dpuf
Amador Daguio (1906-1983) since I started this blog several months ago but never got around to write about him until now. See, there’s a time for everything.

Starting January 2012, every third Sunday of the month, Mel U of The Reading Life (whose blog has been an inspiration in my book blogging experience) and I engage in a joint venture that involves featuring Filipino writers and their works. We welcome anyone who is interested to join us in this venture. We hope you could participate in this endeavor.

So far, we have featured the following writers and their works:

1. Dead Stars and A Night in the Hills by Paz Marquez Benitez
2. Servant Girl and Magnificence by Estrella Alfon

Today, we talk about Amador Daguio and his short stories. I was supposed to write only about his “The Woman who Look out of the Window”, which I will, but I will also talk about his “The Wedding Dance” and a couple of his memorable poems, simply because I utterly admire the author. If I’m asked for my top five favorite Filipino short story writers, Daguio will most likely rank my first.

Daguio (1912-1966) is a poet, fictionist, essayist, critic, and playwright. He was born in Laoag, Ilocos Norte. (Mel U has been to Vigan, which is near Laoag, a fact that naturally got my mind green with envy. I mean, Vigan! It’s my dream holiday, for crying out loud!) Anyway, Daguio was not raised in Laoag but grew up in Kalinga, formerly a subprovince (now a separate province) of Mountain Province, which became the setting of most of his short stories.

Remarkably, while living there, Daguio was in close contact with the place, the people, and the language. It is no wonder he wrote perceptively and intimately about people in the mountains in his stories The Wedding Dance and The Woman who Looked out of the Window. For him, the Filipino writer should draw inspirations from native elements, like the Filipino life, customs, traditions, and folklore, for “we might be able to achieve something at least more worthy of ourselves that what is merely a ridiculous aping of what is foreign to our own feeling and thought”. Here’s one of his poems, Man of Earth, as an example (which has been taken up well in my high school):

Pliant is the bamboo;
I am man of earth.
They say that from the bamboo
We had our first birth.

Am I of the body,
Or of the green leaf?
Do you have to whisper?
Do I have to whisper
My every sin and grief?

If the wind passes by,
Must I stoop, and try
To measure fully
My flexibility?

Admirably, Daguio began to see the possibilities for stories and poems “in the suffering and miseries of his lonely and repressed boyhood... and the struggles of poor people [around him]”. His ultimate dream was “to translate the beauty, immensity, and depth of the Filipino soul”. I think I really like the works of this writer because I share with him his love for our country.

Here’s one of his poems I like, To Those of Other Lands, which is written in the context of events that happened during the Japanese occupation in the Philippines:

Though I may speak the English language,
Let me tell you: I am a Filipino,
I stand for that which make my nation,
The virtues of the country where I was born.

I may have traces of the American,
Be deceived not: Spain has, too, her traces in me,
But my songs are those of my race


Would you prove the courage of our blood?
The frank disdain of the man who is free?
We might have had chains, but of the spirit never;
Beyond us we see time, leveler of all.

Mistake not our seeming softness to you.
If we bow, it is not that we are slaves,
If we feed you, our hearts are in the offer,
Our giving not mere service of the lips.

Simple our manners? Our fathers gave the graces,
Our hearts pure as the hills, clear as the seas,
I tell you not of greed nor of accumulation,
We have washed off these stains of the West.

Look through us then, beyond what you think,
Know us, understand us; we, too, have our pride.
If you give us flowers, we exchange pearls;
We greet you sincerely; acclaim what we have.

Technically, Daguio belongs to the “emergence period” (1935-1945) in Philippine literature when the period said to have been the more productive, producing distinctive work in the half century of Filipino writing in English. During this period, writers were already consciously and purposefully write stories that reflect the Filipino way of life, including our values and traditions as well as the tropical climate and the environment. At the same time, Filipino writers were able to gain full control of of the English language, using it successfully as an effective literary medium. There were writing groups and awards formed. I would have loved to go back to the past and see the period for myself.

However, most unfortunately and very sadly, the Japanese occupation  in 1941-1945 brought the flowering of the literary creativity in the Philippines to an abrupt close. There was so much fear during the occupation that writers could not think; survival was a priority. But of course, good ‘ol Daguio joined the resistance and secretly wrote poems, later compiled into a publication called Bataan Harvest. To Those of Other Lands is one of his works during the Japanese occupation. He was a close friend of another writer in resistance, Manuel E. Arguilla, who is from La Union and who wrote another of my favorite short story, How my Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife. I hope Mel and I could feature him in the succeeding readings in Philippine literature.

The first work by Daguio that I’ve read is The Wedding Dance when I was in college and I’ve read it twice again within the past seven years. It’s a bittersweet story of how culture, traditions, are more important to a man than his love for his wife. It is more like a necessity for the man to leave his wife. The Wedding Dance refers to the second wedding dance of the man where the dramatic conversation between him and the wife he is about to leave for another woman who could bear him sons. Ah, that’s the crux of the matter, and you should read the story to experience the climax and taste the bitter end. The Wedding Dance could be read online.



- See more at: http://www.nancycudis.com/2012/02/filipino-short-stories-3-wedding-dance.html#sthash.PxfqfNsx.dpuf