The Roots of Filipino American Literature

The most revered poet in Filipino history is Jose Rizal. His writings on the fight for independence encouraged many . He helped Filipinos gain almost full independence from Spain. But before Rizal and the Filipinos could win, the Philippines were given to the United States. By this time Rizal had already died, but his literary legacy lived on.

This colonialism of the Philippines by the United States, the national language was changed from Tagalog to English. Many of the top young scholars were sent to the U.s. to study. They landed in UC Berkeley. There the students began the Filipino Students Club in 1901. Two of the members, Ponciano Reyes and Jaime Araneta founded the club’s publication. The Filipino Students’ Magazine was first published in 1905. This magazine contained the earliest examples of Filipino poetry written in English. These writings called for independence and were anti-colonial. Therefore, censorship in the Philippines was a common action taken by the U.S. government.

In 1924, editor Rodolfo Dato gathered together some examples of these early works and published them. It was called “Filipino Poetry” and was the first anthology of it’s kind to be published in English. In 1925, Marce de Gracia Concepcion took advantage of Amendment 1 of the Bill of Rights and published “Azucena.” These were a collection of his poems he wrote while attending Berkeley.

Concepcion returned to the Philippines with an American fiancee who he was not allowed to marry in the US. The level of militancy for independence was rising. In 1936, Concepcion published his second and final anthology of poems called “The Bamboo Flute.” The English Filipino literary renaissance had begun.

Filipinos continued writing impressive works in English. Most of these authors were still based in the Bay Area.

Poet, Jose Garcia Villa studied in New Mexico and he experimented in Western modernism. Another author, Carlos Bulosan, wrote the classic “America in the Heart.” That novel ranks as the pre- eminent Filipino American literary achievement. These works started representing the true essence of Filipino American.

Writers began coming up in Manila. This new generation was led by Nestor V.M. Gonzalez and others associated with the journal, Expression. This new generation faced a new imperial power. The Japanese invaded the Philippines during World War II. Young author, Alejandro Hufano fled to Berkeley for refuge. After the war, Gonzalez joined him in California as faculty members of Cal State Hayward.

Other members of that new generation, including Nerissa S. Balce, Jean V, Gier, and Noel Mateo also came to the East Bay. Many of their poems were gathered together for one anthology.

Jose Rizal was the most influential writer in Philippine history. His influence on the first generation of English writing Filipinos caused a literary revolution. Filipinos and Filipino Americans have a powerful heritage in literature, and will continue to be an influential force in the lives of Filipinos everywhere.
by John Yap, September 1996