To all my students in Lit 1 (Literature of the Philippines), this is the continuation of the second handout in Pre - Spanish Literature. If you want to look for the other on line hand outs, please go to archive section.An epic according to E. Arsenio Manuel has 7 elements:
1. it must be narrative poem with sustained length,
2. based on oral tradition,
3. containing supernatural events or heroic deeds of the folk hero,
4. in the form of verse,
5. which is either chanted or sung,
6. with a certain seriousness of purpose, and
7. embodying or validating the beliefs, customs, ideals or life values of the people.
World Literature - Famous examples of epics include The Odyssey, The Iliad and The Aeneid, also The Epic of Gilgamesh, and much later Beowulf.
1. Biography of Pedro Bukaneg
Father of the Iloko Literature
Pedro Bukaneg is one of the colorful figures in the history of the Philippines, particularly in the annals of Samtoy (ancient name of Ilocos). From meager written sources and abundant oral traditions, biographers are able to weave the elusive strands of his life and remarkable achievements. They rhapsodize him as the first Ilokano man-of-letters. They compare him to Moses because as a newly-born baby, he was found floating down the river by a woman; to Homer, for he was born blind and grew up to be a popular bard; and to Socrates, because of he was ugly but wise. As the first Ilokano poet, orator, musician, lexicographer, and linguist to appear in the limelight of history, whose name and deeds enhance the glory of Ilokandia’s literary heritage, he deserves to be called the “ Father of Yloko Literature.”
Many aspects the Bukaneg’s life are obscured by legendary mists, so that it is quite difficult to dissociate the historical Bukaneg from the legendary Bukaneg.
Bukaneg might have been born about 1592. it is said that one day in March, 1592, a laundry woman found a little baby crying inside a floating tampipi (big basket for keeping clothes) along the bank of stream (now called Banaoang River), a tributary of the big Abra River, which flows between the town of Bantay and Vigan, Ilocos Sur. She took the baby and saw it was a boy, ugly and blind. This story parallels the tale of biblical Moses, who, was an infant, was found by an Egyptian princess (daughter of the pharaoh) inside a basket floating down the Nile River. The only difference is that Moses was neither ugly nor blind. Evidently, Bukaneg was a victim of the brutal custom of destroying infants born with physical defects, practiced not only in Samtoy, but also in Sparta, Persia, and other nations of anquity.
After saving the poor infant from a watery grave, the kind-hearted woman brought it to the parish priest of Bantay, who baptized him as Pedro Bukaneg. The name Bukaneg is said to be a contraction of the Iloko Phrase “nabukaan nga itneg,” meaning “Christianized heaten.” Nobody knows until the present time who were the real parents of Bukaneg.
God had invariably given Bukaneg certain wondrous qualities overcome the handicap of blindness, such as intellectual brilliance, retentive memory, sensitive musical sense, magnetic eloquence, and gift for languages. He was brought up and educated by the kind Augustinian padres in the convent of Bantay, a priory (motherhouse) for new missionaries assigned to the missions of Ilokandia.
As Bukaneg reached manhood, he proved to be a remarkable Ilokano who was well liked and appreciated by the Augustinian friars. A born linguist, he mastered Latin, Spanish, Iloko and Itneg (Tinggian) languages. He possessed an extraordinary talent for assimilating all things pertaining to theology the Bible, and Spanish literature which his Augustinian tutors taught him, and also the Iloko folk songs and traditions he heard from the old folks. Being a romanticist, he composed poems and songs which were so tenderly sweet that he gained renown among the Iloko masses as a gifted troubadour.
This authorship of Biag ni Lam-ang, the famous Iloko epic, was attributed to him by some authors. This was, however a disputed issue, for this epic poem, containing “294 stanzas, about 1,500 lines, and the syllables of each line range form six to 12,” was chanted by the Iloko folks since pre-Spanish times. It is possible that Bukaneg, being blind, might have dictated it from memory to an amanuensis; consequently, it was put into writing and was preserved for posterity. We owe it thus Bukaneg that this greatest Ilokkano popular epic was saved from oblivion.
Bukaneg was good not only in poetry but also in oratory. He preached the Christian religion in the streets of Vigan, Aringay, and other towns, and persuaded many of his people to discard their beliefs. Large crowds of people always listened to him when and forgetting his ugly face and blindness. Because of the numerous conversions that he made, he came to be called the “Apostle of the Ilokanos.”
The Augustinians friars recognized Bukaneg’s talent as a linguist. During the early days, Augustinian missionaries who nearly arrived from Mexico and Spain studied the Iloko language in the Augustinian convent of Bantay by way of preparing them for their apostolic labors in the mission fields of Ilokandia. Bukaneg was their teacher in the Iloko language. Aside form his teaching, he wrote Christian sermons in Iloko, translated the novenas and prayers from Latin and Spanish into Iloko, and helped in the preparation of the first Iloko catechism and grammar.
The first Iloko catechism was the Iloko translation of Cardinal Bellarmine’s Doctrina Cristiana which was printed in the Augustinian Convent of Manila in 1621 by Antonio Damba and Miguel Seixo, until the title Libro a naisurat amin ti batas ti Doctrina Cristiana nga naisurat iti libro ti Cardenal a angnagan Belarmino (Book Containing the Substance of the Christian Doctrine written by Cardinal Bellarmine). Bukaneg was a great help to Fray Francisco Lopez, famous Augustinian missionary- linguist, in the preparation of this book.
The first Iloko grammar, also authored by Father Lopez, was entitled Arte de la Lengua Iloca; it was printed at the University of Santo Tomas Pinpin and Tomas de Aquino in 1927. In the prologue of this book, Father Lopez admitted the considerable assistance given by Bukaneg, as follows:
Unfortunately, the poems, sermons prayers, and other works written by Bukaneg have all been lost. It is believed that a large number of linguistic works, poems, novenas, and prayers which were attributed to the Spanish friars were really composed by Bukaneg.
The Ilokanos also recognized Bumkaneg as seer. They came to consult him whenever they were in trouble for they had implicit faith in his wisdom. Even the Spaniards in the Ilokos look him for the guidance in their hour of need. An anecdote was told that one day the Servant Don Nicolas de Figueroa, Spanish encomendero of Narvacan and Bantay. He was shot to death by arrows and the arquebus which he was carrying was stolen. Shortly afterwards, a band of Itnegs (Tinggians) were captured near the scene of the crime and were taken to Bantay. One of these Itnegs was believed to be the murderer, but the authorities could not determine the guilty party inasmuch as all of the accused refused to talk. In the midst of their judicial perplexities, the Spanish authorities called Bukaneg to help them in the trial. Bukaneg arrived the scene. First, he has that all the Itnegs be freed from their bonds, explaining that “it was not right that all should suffer from the deed of the guilty man.” He walked around the circle of Itnegs who stood silently, betraying no emotions on their stolid faces. He placed his right and over the breast of each one, feeling their heart-throbs. After this strange ritual, he pointed one Itneg, declaring him the guilty murderer. Taken aghast by bukaneg’s clever deduction, the Itneg broke down and confessed. He was accordingly punished. His companions, who were set free, returned to their village in the hills and related the tale of Bukaneg’s strange power of second sight.
Beloved by his people, Bukaneg died about 1630. His death was mourned by his people who had come to revere him as a man of remarkable talents. To his everlasting glory, the Filipinos of the Ilokos, in recognition of his literary legacy, call the popular literary joust Bukanegan, after his name, just as the Filipino of Tagalandia name their literary joust Balagtasan, in honor of Balagtas, the laureated “Prince of Tagalog Poets.”
Summary
Its origin during the pre-Spanish period of the Philipines. It is one of the greatest Ilocano epic of the pre-colonial literature of the country. It is originally written in the Ilocano language but as time goes it has been translated to different languages. The story is set in the Northern Provinces of the Philippines. The story is a mix of adventure and romance with exciting and unpredictable outcomes. The story revolves around Lam- ang who is a very extraordinary guy. He started to talk at a very young age and was the one who choose his own name. His adventure began when his father, Don Juan, went to a battle but never came back. At the age of barely nine months he went to search for his father in the highlands where his father was said to go. Knowing that he is blessed with extraordinary well being, her mother, Namongan, allowed her to go. Lam-ang then went of to search for his father leaving his grieving mother. When Lam-ang reached the place, he was enraged upon seeing his father’s head on top of a bamboo pole that was stuck in the ground which was a scene that he had dreamed before reaching the place. Lam-ang then demanded to know the reason why did that happen to his father but he did not receive an answer, instead he was demanded by the chieftain of the village to go or else he would receive the same faith like his father. Instead of running Lam-ang bravely fought with the chieftain and its tribesmen. Lam-ang won the fight with less effort that serves as his revenge for his father. The epic poem also presented some humorous points. As Lam-ang was on his way home he passed by a river and then decided to have a dip. The dirt from his body caused the death of fishes, crabs, shrimps in the river. She was gladly attended by some of the women who saw him. Lam-ang upon reaching home decided to court his love interest, Ines Kannoyan. Despite his mother’s disapproval he followed his heart and set again another journey for her love. His adventures had never been that easy. He faced one of Ines’ suitor and monsters. But he won the battles with ease. Upon reaching the place, Lam-ang drew the attention of many and impressed Ines. He was helped by his magical pets: a rooster, a hen and a dog. Lam-ang’s rooster flapped its wings and a house toppled. This amazed everybody, especially Ines. Then, Lam-ang’s dog barked and the house aroused. Being invited in the lunch of the family of Ines, Lam-ang impressed Ines’ parents with his wealth and upon returning he gave to the family two golden ships. Their wedding was held with a lot of feastings. However Lam-ang’s story never ended there. He was sent to catch a gigantic shell but unfortunately she was swallowed by a shark, which he had earlier premonitioned. Her bones were recovered and Lam-ang was resurrected with the help of his magical pet. Ines was ordered by the rooster to wrap the bones with her tapis while the hen flaps its wings and the dog growling. In an instant Lam-ang happily rejoined his wife. The epic poem showed some of the earlier customs, culture, tradition and belief of the Ilocano people of the Philippines The story presented some of the qualities of the people of the Ilocos region- adventurous, hardy, and brave as strongly portrayed by Lam-ang. The epic poem presented the fact that life is full of trials and problems. One must be strong and just accept the reality that it is already part of life.
Propp's Morphology of the Folktale
Analysis of the Ilocano Epic "Biag Ni Lam-Ang"
Russian formalists considered literature to be a special use of language. As such, it can be analyzed in and of itself. Vladimir Propp was influenced by the formalists and his work "Morphology of the Folktale" has provided one of the defining studies of genre, and laid the foundations for French Structuralism By breaking down a number of Russian folktales into narratemes (smallest narrative unit), Propp arrives at a typology of narrative structures. By analyzing types of characters and kinds of action, he is able to come up with thirty-one generic narratemes in the Russian folktales. Using these thirty-one generic narratemes, the author will analyze "Biag Ni Lam-Ang," the great Ilocano epic and the oldest recorded and the only complete epic from the Christian Filipino groups. The epic begins with the usual invocation to God, and immediately following it is the description of the youthful couple, Don Juan and Namongan, awaiting the birth of their first child. After the intial situation is depicted, the tale takes the following sequence:1. Before the child was born, Don Juan left to fight the tattooed Igorot lad. 2. Don Juan, however, failed to return.
3. Lam-ang was born with the gift of speech which allowed him to even choose his own name.
4. Having such extraordinary strength, Lam-Ang went to avenge his father's "presumable" death by killing his father's murderers.
5. Lam-Ang's adventure at the land of the Igorot was a victorious one. After which, he found himself the hero of the village belles who even bathed him by the river. None of the belles caught his fancy.
6. Lam-Ang then heard of the beautiful Lady Ines Kannoyan.
7. With his three magical pets - a bantam white rooster, a yellow-scaled hen and a shaggy-haired lap dog, Lam-Ang went to the faraway town of Kalanutian to woe Lady Ines. There he found many suitors asking the hands of Ines.
8. Despite having many rich Spanish admirers and landed native suitors, Lady
Ines and her parents chose our hero, Lam-Ang to be her husband.
9. After the big wedding, they returned to Nalbuan, Lam-Ang's native land.
10. The two were welcomed by another adventure for Lam-Ang: he is to dive for the "rarang."
11. True to the premonition, Lam-Ang was swallowed by the man-eating fish "Tiwantiwan."
12. Lam-Ang's magical bantam came to the rescue of his master. They scooped up Lam-Ang's bones from the river, and put Lady Ines' sash on them. Then rooster crowed lustily, the hen with the yellow scaled-legs shook herself and the shaggy lap dog spurred till the bones of Lam-Ang sprung to life.
13. Having brought to life, Lam-Ang repaid the diver who scooped his bones. And he lived with his wife and pets happily ever after.
While not all of Propp's narratemes are present in "Biag Ni Lam-Ang," the epic shows some semblance in Propp's morphology of the Russian folktale.
F. Songs - lyric poems set to music; and, to their musicality, cadence and recurring measures, more often than not correspond to the metre and rhyming scheme of poetry, except of course, that of free verse.
Songs (music for that matter) form an important part in the Filipino way of life. We have songs for almost types of activity. Men in love sing to court their lady - love (haranas); they sing to exalt the qualities of the Filipina (Ang Dalagang Filipina, Kung Ganda ang Pag - uusapan, Si Annie Batungbakal, Waray Waray etc.); they sing when they put Baby to sleep (oyayi or hele): they sing when they pray (psalms); sing when they plant rice (Magtanim ay Hindi Biro); they sing to show their love of country (Bayan Ko, Ako'y Pilipino, Lupang Hinirang, Pilipinas Kong Mahal, Manila, etc.); they even sing when they exercise (Ocho Ocho); they sing when they play or dance (Tinikling); and finally, there are songs they sing when someone dies (dung - aw for Ilocanos).
All these songs give us a close - up view of their feelings, sentiments, emotions and aspirations of our people - typically FILIPINO.
Examples of Songs will be given by your Lit 1 teacher.
