»º•INTRODUCTION•º»
The history of a nation
can be learned in its constitution, its laws and its political statements. But
to know the history of a nation’s spirit, you must read its literature. For in
literature you can discover how the people of a nation have reacted to the
events around them. In the stories, essays and poems contained in this volume,
you will read the dreams, anxieties, joys and problems of the Filipino in the
past seventy-five years. By reading this development of Philippine Literature
you will review what has happened to the Filipino since 1900.
But
literature offers much more than a mere personalized history. For an important
quality of art is to share with others the intense realization of a human
experience. Through this sharing, you may recognize your own experiences. You
may learn what you are or how you have become what you are. You may even learn
what you might be in the future. Philippine literature shows you how the
Filipino differs from others. Yet in a sense the Filipino writer is linked with
all the other writers of the world. For in explaining or questioning human
experience, writers are never alone. Philippine Literature in English is really
a part of the literatures of the world.
A
further quality of literature is that the expressions used should be memorable.
The language should be clear and forceful so that the ideas strike the reader
with almost the same force with which they struck the writer. The early
Filipino writers had difficulty in expressing themselves since English was a
language new to them. The marvel is that they learned this language so quickly
and with such facility.
Philippine
literature in English reveals the spirit of the Filipino. Gradually this
literature has learned to express the deepest of human experiences in words
that create memorable images. You may divide Philippine Literature in English
into many types and numerous periods. But for our purposes, we shall consider
three stages through which the literature has passed.
