LIT: AMERICAN-JAPANESE COLONIAL

american occupation in the PH

• crisis phase: december 10, 1898 - october 31, 1899

• US formally acquired the PH from spain with the signing of the treaty of Paris on Dec 10 1898

• Spanish-American war ended in December 1898 when spain sold the entire PH archipelago to the US for $20 million

• US declared military rule in the PH on dec 21, 1898

• American’s involvement in the PH started in the morning of may 1

Commodore George Dewey

• american flotilla commanded by him sailed into Manila bay without losing a single sailor

• sank a spanish squadron that was anchored there

President Willim McKinley

• that he did not even know where the Philippines was located (within 2,000 miles) when he first heard of the victory.

• implemented “benevolent assimilation” where US would control the Philippines temporarily while it oversaw the transition to self-rule and independence

William H Taft

• set up local government bodies and system of universal public education

• did little to reform the land tenure system, which gave a few wealthy landlords control over the rural areas where most Filipinos lived.

• Filipino nationalists suspected the United States of postponing independence indefinitely while exploiting the islands' economic resources and using their country as a military base.

• A 1910 editorial in a Manila journal summed up the first decade of American colonial rule as "10 years of bitter deception."

Emilio Aguinaldo

• led a separate catholic nationalist rebel movement

• captured in march 1901 and pledged allegiance to the US

changes brought by American Colonization

• english was introduced as the official language

• education system reformed

• port, rail, and road building programs were initiated

• war damaged settlements rebuilt

• western architecture / urban planning forms were introduced as part of “national development” process

american system of education

• One important policy introduced by the Americans was the American system of education.

• had pervasive and far reaching influence on the lives, culture, and way of thinking of Filipinos during and even after the colonial period.

• the “greatest contribution” of American colonial rule in the Philippines.

3 significant changes in PH literature during American era

1. imitation (1900-1910): english was introduced, seen as a common language for Filipino writers and literature imitated American models

2. self discovery (1910-1924): writers gained mastery of english & explore original themes

3. growth (1925-1941): genres flourished with original and socially conscious (focused on themes of independence & societal concerns)

Literary forms

1. poetry: free verse allowed for more flexible writing

2. novels: novels in tagalog, iloko, hiligaynon and sugbuanon developed

3. short stories: became popular with many published in newspapers

4. plays (sarswela): seditious plays, using form of the sarsuwela, were mounted

5. folklore: interest in the Filipino mythology and folklore resurged

poetry, sarswela, shorty and novel were among the literary genres that flourished throughout american period.

3 languages mainly used

• filipino & spanish: used in writing during first year of the american period

1. english : became the primary language of education

zoilo galang

• wrote “the child of sorrow”

• first english novel written by a filipino

manuel arguilla

• wrote “how my brother leon brought home a wife” and other short stories

• won first prize in commonwealth literary contest

ishmael amado

wrote “bulalakaw ng pag asa” one of the earliest novels that dealth with the theme of american imperialism in the philippines

francisco arcellana

• writer, poet, essayist, critic, journalist, teacher

• forerunner in the lyrical prose-poetic short story forms development

• short stories:

  • frankie

  • the man who would be poe

  • death in a factory

  • the other woman

nestor vicente madali gonzalez (N.V.M. Gonzalez)

• fiction writer, essayist, poet, teacher

• captured spirit of the Filipino both in urban and rural settings

• father of the Philippine essay

• works:

  • winds of april

  • seven hills away

  • children of the ash covered loam

  • a grammar of dreams

Jose Garcia Villa

• filipino poet, critic, short story writer, painter

• national artist of the philippines

• did not pursue poetry in his early years, but later became known for inventing comma poems (using commas after every word) and reversed consonance

• works:

  • footnote to youth

  • anchored angel

  • emperor’s new sonnet

japanese occupation timeline

• crisis phase: between 1942 - 1945

• when imperial japan occupied the commonwealth of the philippines during world war II

• december 7, 1941: japanese bomb pearl harbor, hawaii

• december 8, 1941: invasion of the PH, bombed the philippines destroying many aircraft at clark field

• february 8, 1942: japan decides to regroup after its forces are repelled

• march 1942: received reinforcements → japanese strengthen attacks

• march 1, 1942: final assault on corregidor begins

• march 12, 1942: Gen. Doughlas MacArthur evacuated australia from corregidor

• april 9, 1942: Gen. Edward KIng surrenders bataan. death march begins

• october 1944: MacArthur returns, coming ashore at leyte in the southern PH

• march 4, 1945: manila officially liberated but city is devastated by bombing / manila massacre

• august 6, 1945: US drops atomic bomb on hiroshima japan

• august 9, 1945: us drops atomic bomb on nagasaki, japan

• august 15, 1945: japanese emperor hirohito announces japan’s surrender

• september 2, 1945: japan officially surrenders aboard the missouri

• december 1945: japanese gen. tomoyuki yamashita sentenced to death after manila massacre and other war crimes

• february 23, 1946: yamashita hanged in the PH

liberation of the PH

• april 3, 1946: Japanese Gen. Masaharu Homma who directed battle for bataan is executed for his role in the death march and atrocities committed in prison camp

• american & filipino forces make up the firing squad

japanese poetry

• haiku

• tanka

haiku

• special type of japanese poetry

• consist of 3 non-rhyming lines

• traditional haiku represents nature

• haiku should contain a kigo (a word that gives reader a clue to the season)

tanka

• a 31 syllable japanese poem

• five line structure usually 5-7-5-7-7 syllables

• focused on emotional / intimate themes such as love, nature, personal, longing