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ABSTRACT
This article explores the marginalized status of Visayan literature in the Philippines, comprising of literary texts written in languages like Hiligaynon, Kinaray-a, Akeanon, Cebuano, and Waray. Despite their rich heritage, these languages are sidelined by English and Filipino in academia and official contexts, a result of the national language policy favouring English as the official language and Tagalog as the basis for the national language. This policy persists through constitutional revisions, making English and Filipino the primary mediums of instruction. The author, born in Iloilo and a language and literature teacher proficient in multiple languages from the Visayas, provides a personal perspective on rediscovering Visayan literature, emphasizing shared oral traditions and localized aspects of Visayan regional literary output. Despite challenges, Visayan language writing is resurging, supported by educational institutions and creative writing workshops, aiming to elevate Visayan literature and regional languages to the national stage, asserting their place in Filipino culture.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 Juan Tamad, Juan the Lazy. Juan Tamad and Juan Posong are two archetypal figures in Visayan literature. Juan Tamad is the archetype of the lazy man; Juan Posong is the trickster hero who is both lazy and cunning.
2 Nagalutaw-lutaw, root lutaw. The word occurs in Hiligaynon, Cebuano and Waray, and means the same thing: ‘float’, ‘afloat’ (lutang in Tagalog).
3 See also the official proclamation at https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/1937/12/30/executive-order-no-134-s-1937/.
4 The Bisaya pronounce the word with accent on the final a and a circumflex, thus: bi sa yậ; Tagalogs tend to pronounce the word with the accent on the second syllable, and a glottal a, thus: bi sa’ya`.
5 De Veyra uses the term ambahan as a generic term for the balitaw and the kuratsa because both forms are performed by singing and dancing.
6 Balitaw and kuratsa. These are the two forms of the ambahan, or poetry delivered in song and dance by a man and a woman. These are both courtship songs: the man tries to convince the girl to accept his suit. The girl refuses the suit conscientiously as custom demands, but she always relents in the end.
7 Ismayling, from the English word ‘smiling’. The performance of this poetic courtship joust makes the audience smile, hence its name. Ismayling is performed extemporaneously, with the performers – a man and a woman – composing their verses according to the rhythm of the set melody. The couple throw witty thrusts at each other as they dance around flirtatiously. Like the balitaw, the ismayling always ends with the woman capitulating to the man’s suit.
8 Ligbok is the old Kinaray-a speech from which the modern Kinaray-a evolved.
9 The titles of the collection, vols. 1–10, respectively are as follows: Tikum Kadlum, Amburukay, Derikaryong Pada, Pahagunong, Kalampay, Sinagnayan, Balanakon, Humadapnon, Alayaw and Nagbuhis. Federico and Romulo Caballero are the epic chanters.
10 Leoncio Deriada, the award-winning fiction writer and champion of Panayanon literatures, makes this contention in many of his workshop lectures. Deriada is also credited with the current revival of creative writing in the Panayanon languages.
11 Hontanar and Yre Citation2016 is an account of Virgilio Petchellier, known to the Ilonggos as ‘Pirot’, a popular komposo artist.
12 Banggianay, Hiligaynon, root banggi (‘argument’ or ‘dissent’). Banggianay literally means an argument or altercation between two or several people. It is performative poetry similar to the balitaw.
13 Balak, siday, or binalaybay, the terms for poetry for Cebuano, Waray, and the Panayanon languages, respectively, namely, Kinaray-a, Akeanon and Hiligaynon.
14 Ama kang nobelang Ilonggo, Father of Ilonggo Literature. Magahum was probably the first one to write about real life, in the manner of Vicente Sotto in Cebu.
15 In 1908, Norberto Romualdez Sr., one of the intellectual leaders of the period, wrote the Bisayan (Waray) Grammar and Notes on Bisayan Rhetoric and Poetic and Filipino Dialectology in 1908. After completing this important project, he gathered several like-minded individuals in Samar and Leyte and organized the Sanghiran san Binisaya.
16 The Romualdez text of Bisayan Grammar and notes on Bisayan Rhetoric and Poetic and Filipino Dialectology is available in Project Gutenberg free ebooks, https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/69603/pg69603-images.html. Accessed 28, August 2023.
17 ‘He like camote, he like pasayan’: literally, ‘He like sweet potatoes, he like shrimps.’ The poet is more interested in word play than in the actual meaning of these lines. It is a put-down of the ignoramus who mangles a language through mispronunciation.
18 Puplonganon, saying, or verse.
19 Susumaton, oral narrative; it is the Waray equivalent of sugilanon in Cebuano and sugidanon in Hiligaynon, meaning ‘story’ or ‘narrative’ but in the case of the latter, they also include stories in print.
20 Bantayanon: ‘one who comes from Bantayan’. Hence, Bol-anon: ‘one who comes from Bohol’; Sugbuanon: ‘one who comes from Sugbo (Cebu); Siquihodnon: ‘one who comes from Siquihor’ etc.
21 The Annual Carlos Palanca Literary Award is the most prestigious literary award for literature in the Philippines. It has categories for fiction, poetry, drama and the novel in English and Filipino. Through the representation of Leoncio Deriada, himself a Palanca Hall of Fame awardee, the awards body added two more categories, short fiction in Cebuano and in Hiligaynon.
22 Google defines the novelty song as ‘a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and with musical parody, especially when the novel gimmick is another popular song’. Using the melody of the Hiligaynon Komposo, Yoyoy retells in his own unique way the death of Magellan in the hands of Lapulapu, ending the song with the popular English nursery rhyme, ‘Mother, mother, I am sick.'