The Boom of Fiction
A quick consultation of the Filiteratura database will easily reveal that the most developed genre in Philippine literature in Spanish is poetry. The same is true in other languages: in Tagalog and other native languages, epics, riddles, and other genres were traditionally written in verse, and it was not until the 20th century that prose narrative developed. The first Philippine novels were written in Spanish: Ninay by Pedro Alejandro Paterno (1885), Noli me tangere by José Rizal (1887) and El filibusterismo (1891), also by José Rizal. As for Tagalog literature, there are different opinions on its origins: Dominador Buhain claims that the first Tagalog novel was Ang Kababalaghan by P. Bravo (1899). However, Teodoro Agoncillo in the "Introduction" Epifanio San Juan's Introduction to Modern Pilipino Literature locates the beginning of this genre in Tagalog in 1900 with the novels by Lope K. Santos Salawahang pag-ibig; Modesto Santiago Pagsintág Naluoy, and Valeriano Hernández Peña Unang Bulaklák. For her part, Patricia May B. Jurilla points to the Beato Francisco trilogy as the first novels written by a Filipino in a Filipino language: Fulgencia Galbillo (1907), Capitan Bensio (1907) and Alfaro (1909). The origin of fiction in English came even later: the first novel by a Filipino written in English was A Child of Sorrow by Zoilo M. Galang, which was published in 1921 (Fernández 1994: 98).
“Dead Stars” by Paz Márquez Benitez
Narrative in all languages has two points in common in the Philippine context. On the one hand, the novel was never as popular as the short story. On the other hand, the place of publication of novels and short stories was preferably the periodical press, as many newspapers and magazines provided space for literary creation (Lumbera & Lumbera 2005: 87). Paz Márquez Benítez published the first short story in English in the newspaper she edited, The Philippine Herald in 1925. At the same time, as Teodoro Agoncillo affirms, Tagalog magazines were continuously publishing short stories from 1920 to the 21st century. The same was true in Spanish: Evangelina Guerrero, Manuel Bernabe, Raymundo Kagahastian and many others published their works in magazines such as Excelsior and were often not compiled in single-author anthologies, at least until the 1940s.
Chapter of Alicia, by Gregorio Coching
Precisely one attraction of the short story was that its format was much more suitable for publication in newspapers. However, the publication of novels also took place both in newspapers and in newspaper presses. Jurilla states that the serialization of novels, particularly in Tagalog, far surpassed the book format publication of novels.
"El pasado se compra" by José María del Mar, winner of La Vanguardia contest
In English, magazines such as Liwayway, according to Bienvenido and Cynthia Lumbrera, were dedicated to the publication of a very specific type of novel based on the plot of the poor boy who falls in love with a rich girl. Starting in 1936, original novels written by Leon Maria Guerrero and Jose G. Reyes appeared in serialized form in the Philippines Free Press. This same newspaper launched a contest that encouraged the publication of both long and short narratives.
Literary contests were very common and very successful, sometimes promoted by newspapers. In 1937 the Spanish-language newspaper La Vanguardia also launched its own short story contest with three sections: Tales of social orientation; psychological tales; costumbrista or folklore tales; tales of moral background and tales of animal life, providing us with a hint of which were the most popular genres in short stories at the time.
Bibliographic references
Agoncillo, Teodoro A. 1974. "Introduction. The Development of the Tagalog Language and Literature". In Epifanio San Juan, Introduction to Modern Pilipino Literature. London: Ardent Media. Pp. 1-28.
Buhain, Dominador D. 1998. A History of Publishing in the Philippines. Quezon City: Rex Bookstore.
Fernandez, D. G. 1994. “Literature in English”. CCP Encyclopedia of Philippine Art. Vol. IX. Philippine Literature. Manila: Cultural Center of the Philippines: 98-105.
Jurilla, Patricia May B. 2010. Bibliography of Filipino Novels 1901-2000. Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press.
Lumbera Bienvenido and Cynthia Nograles Lumbera. 2005. Philippine Literature : A History and Anthology English ed. Pasig City: Anvil.