Period III: The American Period
(1898–1941)
When the Americans arrived in 1898, they did not just bring new rulers; they brought a new language and an entirely new way of teaching and writing. In less than half a century, Philippine literature moved from the convent and the cuartel to the public school and the university classroom. Spanish, Tagalog, and English collided and coexisted, and out of this tension emerged the foundations of modern Philippine literature.
This was the period when English took root as our “bridge” to the world—but it did so without completely erasing Spanish and the native languages. Instead, writers wrestled with all three, trying to answer a simple but painful question: How do you stay Filipino while writing in the language of your colonizer?
I. Building the American Educational Empire
American rule in the Philippines was justified under the policy of “benevolent assimilation,” announced by U.S. President William McKinley in 1898. The promise: education and “civilization.” The result: a massive public school system, the spread of English, and a new reading public.
By 1905, more than half a million Filipino children were in school. Literacy—which had been low and limited mostly to the towns and to Spanish—rose sharply by the 1930s. From the American point of view, education was a tool of control. For Filipinos, it became a tool of mobility and, eventually, resistance.
The Thomasites (1901)
In 1901, more than 600 American teachers—later called Thomasites, after the ship S.S. Thomas—arrived in the Philippines. Scattered across the islands, they did more than teach vocabulary and grammar. They opened normal schools to train Filipino teachers, introduced American civic ideals using texts like the Gettysburg Address, and promoted “modern” values—individualism, hygiene, discipline—often in contrast to Spanish religious instruction.
The Pensionado Act (1903)
The colonial government began sending selected Filipino students—called pensionados—to study in U.S. universities at government expense. Many returned to occupy high posts in government and education. They grappled with questions of identity and nationalism, seeing English as both a gift and a chain.
UP Foundation (1908)
The founding of the University of the Philippines (UP) created a secular center for the country. By the 1920s, organizations like the UP Writers’ Club experimented with new forms in English. A new attitude emerged: writing as an art in itself, not just as religious instruction or political propaganda.
The Sedition Act (1901)
The same government that built schools also passed laws to silence dissent. The Sedition Act punished independence advocacy. Filipino playwrights learned to write “between the lines.” Aurelio Tolentino’s Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas used patriotic symbols hidden in stage movements and props to keep the independence struggle alive.
II. Stages in the Development of English-Language Writing
Filipinos did not master English overnight. It took decades for writers to bend the language to the Filipino experience. Literary historians divide this growth into three stages:
1. Re-orientation (1898–1910)
Awkward Beginnings: English was still a foreign tongue. Early writers tended to “translate” Spanish or Tagalog thought directly into English, resulting in stiff phrases and borrowed rhythms. Sentences sounded like translations rather than original English, and Spanish-style sentimentality remained strong.
2. Imitation (1910–1924)
Echoes of the West: As fluency grew, young writers trained on Western texts began imitating models like Poe, Shakespeare, or Kipling. Magazines like the Philippines Free Press offered prizes, rewarding those who could best imitate “correct” American style.
3. Self-Discovery (1925–1941)
Filipino English Takes Shape: Writers began to use English not just to sound “American,” but to describe Filipino landscapes, barrios, and provincial carabaos. They explored uniquely Filipino dilemmas: arranged marriages, class divides, and rural-urban tension.
III. Trilingual Tensions: Spanish, Tagalog, and English
A. Spanish
The language of the old ilustrado class. Some nationalists continued writing in Spanish to critique U.S. rule, using classical forms to honor Rizal and the Revolution. While Spanish remained a prestige language, it gradually lost its central place as schools moved toward English.
B. Tagalog and Vernaculars
While elites debated, popular literature exploded in the native tongues. Balagtasan—poetic debates—turned plazas into open-air literary arenas. Magazines serialized long novels (nobela) that tackled themes close to ordinary people: love, poverty, and labor struggles.
C. English: The New Frontier
English grew within a colonial context but found its own identity as the language of schools and government. It became a medium to address both local and international readers, though it remained a site of inner conflict regarding the legacy of colonialism.
IV. Shifts in Genre During the American Period
| Genre | Landmarks and Famous Works |
|---|---|
| Short Story | The dominant genre. Paz Marquez-Benitez’s “Dead Stars” (1925) signaled the mastery of the form, followed by works like "Footnote to Youth" by Jose Garcia Villa. |
| Drama / Play | From seditious plays to social realism. Key landmarks include Alberto S. Florentino's "The World is an Apple" and "The Cadaver," alongside Tolentino's earlier patriotic works. |
| Poetry | Transition from rhymed imitation to free verse. Jose Garcia Villa became the titan of the era, known for his experimental styles and "comma poems." |
| The Essay | A powerful tool for public discourse on nationalism. Filipino intellectuals utilized the English essay to argue for independence and define a new national identity. |
V. Myths, Realities, and the Legacy
Why This Period Matters
For Filipinos today—many of whom move every day among Filipino, English, and other languages—the American Period is not just distant history. It is the origin of our current linguistic condition: our habit of code-switching, our English-heavy education system, and our continuing debates over national language and cultural identity.
