Cebu Literature Essay Example

less than the late novelist and Philippine National Artist for Literature N. V. M.

Gonz¤lez that Philippine literature in English will die, leaving the regional literature (Ilokano, Waray, etc. ). In the case of Cebuano literature, this has been the case. Some of the prominent writers and poets in the Visayas and Mindanao who used to write in English have shifted to Cebuano. Among them are Davao-based Macario Tiu, Don Pag-usara, and Satur Apoyon, and Cebu-based Ernesto Lariosa (a Focus Philippines Poetry Awardee in 1975) and Rene Amper (a two-time Palanca awardee for English poetry.

These giants of Cebuano literature are now regularly contributing to Bisaya Magasin; their shift to Cebuano writing has influenced young Cebu and Mindanao-based writers in English to follow suit (among them are Michael Obenieta, Gerard PareJa, Adonis Durado, Januar Yap, Jeneen Garcia, Marvi Gil, Delora Sales, Cora Almerino and Raul Moldez). In 1991, Cebuano poet Ernesto Lariosa received a grant from the Cultural Center of the Philippines. He used he grant to introduce the 4-s in Cebuano poetry: social sense, sound and story. The language he used was slack, devoid of strong metaphors.

He used the language of the home and of the streets. Writer-scholar Dr. Erlinda Alburo, director of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos noted in a forum sponsored by the university's theater guild in 2003 that the young writers (those given above) have given a new voice to Cebuano fiction. They have introduced modern writing styles, experimented with the Cebuano language and explored themes which have never been elaborated before by their predecessors. There are now emerging number of publications featuring fiction and

poetry in Cebuano.

The ownership of the de-facto literary Journal, Bisaya Magasin, was transferred from the Chinese- owned Liwayn. vay Publishing, Inc. to Napoleon Rama's Manila Bulletin Publishing in 2003, ushering a change in layout, acceptance policies and an increase in contributors' fees. Aside from the reinvigoration of Bisaya Magasin, Cebu-based publishing houses have also started tabloids in the language (Banat News of Freeman Publications and SunStar SuperBalita of SunStar Publications). These abloids have bigger circulation than their English counterparts. The U. P.

National Writers Workshop every October and the 'ligan National Writers Workshop every summer have reserved slots for Cebuano writers. In every edition of these workshops, there are Cebuano works that are being dissected or discussed by the panelists. In 1998, the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature opened the Cebuano literature category. The Visayas is one of the three principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, along with Mindanao and Luzon. It consists of several islands, primarily surrounding the Visayan Sea. Its population are referred to as the Visayans.

The major islands of the Visayas are Panay, Negros, Cebu, Bohol, Leyte, and Samar. [3] The region may also include the islands of Romblon and Masbate, whose population identify as Visayan. History The early people in the Visayas region were Austronesians and Negritos who migrated to the islands about 6,000 to 30,000 years ago. These early settlers were animist tribal groups. In the 12th century, settlers from the collapsing empires of SriviJaya, Majapahit and Brunei, led by the chieftain Datu Puti and his tribes, settled n the island of Panay and its surrounding islands.

By the 14th century, Arab traders and their followers, venturing

into the Malay Archipelago, converted some of these tribal groups into Muslims. These tribes practiced a mixture of Islam and Animism beliefs. There is also some evidence of trade among other Asian people. The Visayans were thought to have kept close diplomatic relations with Malaysia and Indonesian kingdoms since the tribal groups of Cebu were able to converse with Enrique of Malacca using the Malay language when the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan arrived in 1521.

After the Magellan expedition, King Philip II of Spain sent Ruy Lopez de Villalobos and Miguel Lopez de Legazpi in 1543 and 1565 and claimed the islands for Spain. The Visayas region and many tribes began converting to Christianity and adopting western culture. By the 18th and 19th centuries, the effects of colonization on various ethnic groups soon turned sour and revolutions such as those of Francisco Dagohoy began to emerge. During the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine-American War between 1896 to 1913, the island of Negros and other eighboring islands initiated their revolution.

After gaining Philippine independence from colonial rule following World War II in 1946, the Visayas region established its community and re-formed its government, producing several notable presidents coming from the Visayas region. In 2005, Palawan Island was transferred to Region VI (Western Visayas) by Executive Order 429. [4] However this planned reorganization was held in abeyance. [2] Hence, Palawan currently remains (as of May 2007) part of Region IV-B. Culture Legends Historical documents written in 1907 by Visayan historian Pedro Alc¤ntara

Monteclaro in his book Maragtas tell the story of the ten chiefs (Datus) who escaped from the tyranny of Datu Makatunaw from Borneo and came

to the islands of Panay. The chiefs and followers were said to be the ancestors of the Visayan people. The documents were accepted by Filipino historians and found their way into the history of the Philippines. As a result, the arrival of Bornean tribal groups in the Visayas is celebrated in the festivals of the Ati-Atihan in Kalibo, Aklan and Binirayan in San Jos©, Antique.

Foreign historians such as William Scott conclusively proved the book to be a Visayan folk tradition. [5] Panay boasts of the Hinilawod as its oldest and longest epic. Hypotheses A contemporary theory based on a study of genetic markers in present-day populations that Austronesian people from Taiwan populated the region of Luzon and headed south to the Visayas, Borneo, Indonesia, then to Pacific islands and to the east of the Indian Ocean. [6] The study, though, may not explain inter-island migrations, which are also possible, such as the Tagalog migration to Luzon.

According to Visayan folk traditions, the Visayas were populated by Malays migrating rom Borneo to Mindanao and to the Visayas, while other Malays crossed to Palawan through Sabah. Other Malays were suggested to have crossed from Samar island to the Bicol region in Luzon. The theory suggests that those ancient tribal groups who passed through Palawan may have migrated to what is now the island of Luzon. A supplementary theory was that at that period, the Malay people were moving north from Mindanao to the Visayas and to Luzon. Various groups of Europeans and Chinese also integrated with the native population during that period.