Keshia Crog Gevero

Critical Analysis About Philippine Literature by Frank R. Blake

1. Identify the writer’s thesis and purpose

    

    The author wanted to show the development of Philippine literature throughout the years, explicitly using historical narratives to paint the picture. It is made clear by the article what it is trying to do, and that is to show that literature would always be history, but the events captured and pinned to textuality are not always literature. As we battled and fought to gain independence for our true identity, we gradually lost touch with what our literature truly is and what it was meant to be. It includes the fight to incorporate our language into this very matter. Language is at the heart of any healthy culture—it is the distinct expression of a nation's identity, reflecting its values, beliefs, and practices. As the author introduced, the three main groups that housed the authentic native population of the Philippines—those who essentially started it all, have contributed little to nothing to our present recollection of Philippine Literature. With that said, those observed from the past are still very evident in the Philippines today. It is all an old notion—from religion, certain cultural beliefs, and colonialism. It strengthened Blake's message, which is to establish a single national language that the country deserves and can adopt in its national literature, which is Tagalog. 

2. Analyze the structure of the passage by identifying all the main ideas 

    Analyzing the document reveals that the author introduced the essay by describing the many tribes in the Philippine Islands' native population, divided into three groups. The groups identified as the Mountain Pagan Tribes, the Mohammedan Moros of Sulu and Mindanao, and the Christian Tribes. He explained that although all these tribes, with the possible exception of the Negritos, belong to the same linguistic families, they still hold into their unique languages. However, these languages, for some reason, have contributed little to nothing to what we perceive as deserving of Literature today—artistic and elegant. 

    He then opened the succeeding main idea, all about the pagan tribes. It is said that only a few of their written works existed, so not much is known about them. They possessed a few native languages but were probably not used except for a few short inscriptions. With that said, all other recorded works in regards to the language of this group were printed in Roman type, bearing religious characters, and are mainly used for religious activities. 

    Next were the Moro people, who were said to not be too well-versed with printing, making all their literary monuments be presented in manuscript forms, also bearing similarities with the Arabic alphabet, which is believed to be highly influenced by the Malays of the Malay Peninsula. They use their two distinct languages, Sulu and Maguindanao, to communicate with people amongst the tribes. Because of this, their writings are often classified under four heads, namely, Historical annals, Legal codes, Religious texts, and Writings of varied characters, stories, magic texts, and letters of different dates. 

    Blake then went on to discuss the remaining groups mentioned in the article. Christians were the tribe that held the most contribution to the Philippine Literature out of all the native population. It is because the various tribes, although having distinct languages, all share the same costumes and beliefs, and felt like they could just be one if they wanted to. Probably because by this time, the Philippines was conquered and colonized by the Spaniards, starting the Spanish rule which caused such a major shift in our culture and literature alike. Most written works at this period were religious in nature, with sermons and beliefs authored by priests and overseen by the church. 

    All in all, it is clear how the author organized or structured the article. He started from the earliest record of Philippine Literature and went up from there. It is effective as it showed the exact order in which events occur, making readers more engaged in the piece, as they understand the history behind each text. This method is popular as it is because of this very reason. It assists the reader to see the bigger picture and analyze the literary work more from there. 

3. Has the article been presented clearly, accurately, with order and coherence? Why

    Yes, I would say that the article was presented in a clear-cut manner. The author went right into the topic without any unnecessary information, which I greatly appreciated. I think it also helps that the author knew what he was doing, and he had his purpose in mind during the whole process. He chronologically organized his points based on how events occurred in the past and how they shaped our literature today. It is effective, and it made me, as a reader, understand and appreciate his work. However, it was really difficult for me to grasp what his thesis was in the article. It was clear what we wanted to portray, yet he failed to write, what I think, is the most crucial part of the paper, which was his thesis statement. Although I appreciated his direct way of leading us into the paper, the lack of introduction and the most important element that is supposed to sit on that part is frustrating. So, it threw the whole thing under the bus. 

4. How is Philippine literature presented by the author? 

    The author presented the Philippine literature in a chronological manner, which in my opinion, is the best way to provide viewpoints, as well as pieces of evidence, in an article dedicated to literature. The article is a true example of what is meant by the phrase, 

    ‘Literature is history.’ As a reader, I found the article very meaningful, and I appreciated its sympathy for national significance. It included many interplays of the tribes’ ideas and affairs in a harmonium of text, aesthetics, and grammar. He also took his time to present various excerpts and examples to further solidify his point in the article. Blake started it off strong and straightforwardly, and I personally appreciated it. While I understand how other people would find it overwhelming, I found it amusing how he did not want to waste his readers’ time and went straight into it. Although he failed to provide a clear thesis statement, it was still evident what his purpose for the whole thing was. You can literally tell how much research he took to make this article informative and understandable, all in ten pages. 

5. Discuss the significant developments in the history of Philippine Literature from precolonial to colonial periods according to Blake. 

    As previously stated, Blake opened his article by introducing the native groups of the Philippines in Pre-colonial times. It was the first recorded literary period of the Philippines, which is a crucial step we had to take to get to where we are now in terms of our literature. According to him, they have contributed little to no significant impact or development to Philippine Literature regarding elegance and artistic values. Tribes of this time shared the same linguistic families but are ultimately one, as they shared the same moral compass and oral traditions. Moros of this time derived their learning materials from Arabic and Malay sources, taking pride in their Arabic and Malay erudition. With that said, it had a rich culture and managed to thrive, albeit marginally, even after Spanish colonialism. With that said, a vital part of it did fade away after the colonizers took an interest in the expanse of our rich lands and ultimately reformed our course of culture and literature while they tried to seize it. 

    After this, the author discussed the colonial period of the Philippines and how it significantly affected our literature. At the time of conquest and conversion to Christianity, the existing literature of the philippine ethnic groups was primarily oral, as it consisted mainly of epics, legends, ballads, riddles, and proverbs. Everything at the period of conquest became political, and religious beliefs had a profound influence on early colonial legal theory. It was highly influenced by the Roman Catholic church and was sanctioned by priests and the rulers of the time. It was the time of the Christian tribes, where the Philippines was colonized for so many years, that many different cultural aspects were added to our traditional norms today. Because of such major cultural shifts, Blake emphasized the importance of having a national language for the identity of our literature, which is Tagalog.