Philippine History Thailand and Philippine

¶ … Philippine History

Thailand and Philippine literature and history: Willingly accepting foreign influence vs. fighting the legacy of colonization

Thailand and the Philippines provide interesting contrasting studies of East Asian literature because of their unique geographic locations and histories. Thailand in its early incarnation was a kind of crossroads of South East Asian cultural life and it willingly accepted different kinds of national and philosophical influences from other nations. Its traditional literature up to the 19th century encompasses Buddhist, Chinese, and Indian traditions. The Philippines are islands that were subject to foreign control and colonial influence. They were exposed to the influence of other nations not through geographic proximity, but the imposition of foreign ideas and concepts that were supposed to override the voices of its national, indigenous literature. As a result of its historical legacy, Philippine literature has emerged in a primarily popular and oppositional context, not an academic and complementary historical context like Thai literature.

Most of what remains of extant classical Thai literature was written in verse, authored by royalty or the aristocracy, who had enough time and education to devote to such pursuits. The greatest of Thai literary works is the "Ramakian" by the ruler Chakri King, Rama I. It is a Thai retelling of the Indian "Ramayana" but reconfigures it in a uniquely Thai way ("Thai Arts: Literature," Thai Arts, 2007). The most innovative aspect of the "Ramakian" is the way that it interweaves Buddhist interpretations into traditional Indian Hindu mythology. Later, Rama I's successor, the Thai king Rama II composed two episodes of the "Ramakian" for classical drama. He also wrote several other epic poems, including the "Inao," a romantic tale using Javanese mythology in its narrative structure ("Thai Arts: Literature," Thai Arts, 2007).

However, it was not until Sunthon Ph, a commoner, wrote poetry that the life and beliefs of ordinary citizens became incorporated into Thai national literature. Ph's works also show a Buddhist influence: "His major works were 'Phra Aphai Mani,' a romantic adventure, and nine 'Nirats' mostly written during a pilgrimage, associating romantic memories with the places he visited in central and eastern Thailand ("Thai Arts: Literature," Thai Arts, 2007). Buddhism and personal memoir are interwoven in his verse.

The Philippine literature that has been passed down from generation to generation is not dominated by aristocratic and royal voices, given the reality of the Spanish conquest of the nation. Before, "folk tales, epics, poems and marathon chants existed in most ethnolinguistic groups that were passed on from generations to generations through word of mouth" ("Philippine Literature," Camper's Point, 2007) Anthropologists have called these diverse myths "ethno-epics" which were popularized by different ethnic groups in the country. Writes one historian: "Our country's epics are considered ethno-epics because unlike, say, Germany's Niebelunginlied, our epics are not national for they are 'histories' of varied groups that consider themselves "nations." The epics come in various names: Guman (Subanon); Darangen (Maranao); Hudhud (Ifugao); and Ulahingan (Manobo)" (Godinez-Ortega, 2007).

Thus, unlike Thailand, more diversity of Philippine regional and common beliefs is extant in ancient texts. However, protecting this indigenous literary traditional from colonial influence has often proved to be difficult., as the island nations of the Philippines did not receive an exposure of foreign culture by their own free will the Spanish colonial period of the Philippines began in the 16th century. Because of colonization, the country's customs and beliefs were utterly transformed from above, and the indigenous religion was replaced by the now-official ideology of Roman Catholicism. With deliberate irony, historian Christine F. Godinez-Ortega states: "The average [contemporary] Filipino's unfamiliarity with his indigenous literature was largely due to what has been impressed upon him: that his country was 'discovered' and, hence, Philippine 'history' started only in 1521," from the point-of-view of the West, despite the richness of the nation's heritage beforehand (Godinez-Ortega, 2007). Unlike Thailand's willing embrace of alternate traditions while still enjoying independent rule, the Philippines had no such luxury.

This imposed faith and bureaucratic structure "tainted" or substantially altered the "purity" and tone of the Philippine's folklore traditions ("Philippine Literature," Camper's Point, 2007). Because of the West's "strong influence and forceful implication of their civilization, the locals' forms of expression on national issues and self-consciousness were replaced through political essays, novels, poems and religious prose -- a form of learning, however, that led to ultimate awakening of Filipinos regarding the unreasonable colonial rule in the country. Famous examples of these Spanish-adapted writings are the novels of Jose Rizal, El Filibusterismo and Noli Me Tangere" ("Philippine Literature," Camper's Point, 2007).

Freedom, liberation, and establishing an identity apart from those who would eradicate the national heritage and faith of the nation thus became a dominant theme in Philippine literature, relatively early in its gestation. Even the ethno-epics became subject to the pressures of colonization. For example; "The Agyu or Olahing of the Manobos is a three part epic that narrate[s] the exploits of the hero as he leads his people who have been driven out of their land to Nalandangan, a land of utopia where there are no land-grabbers and oppressors" ("Philippine Literature," Camper's Point, 2007).Although this shows a profoundly creative and empowering response to colonization, in the lives and minds of people whom the Spanish attempted to subject to foreign religion and influence, it also shows how there is no pure access to the Filipino oral literature of the past. Unlike the Thai epics of verse with their Indian and Buddhist images, these tales of liberation were not written down, and people were constantly reconfiguring stories in the popular argot to respond to a crisis of colonialism.

Today, the Philippine literature tradition is multi-lingual, encompassing many dialects as well as Spanish, and English. Establishing an independent identity that embraces the many national, linguistic and cultural facets that make the nation unique has emerged as a continual struggle in its literature. Today, "present-day Filipino writers, artists and journalists are trying to correct this inequity by recognizing the country's wealth of ethnic traditions and disseminating them in schools and in the mass media.: The rousings of nationalistic pride in the 1960s and 1970s also helped bring about this change of attitude among a new breed of Filipinos concerned about the 'Filipino identity,'" (Godinez-Ortega, 2007). Today, it is mandatory for all students that they learn "the vernacular literature or literatures of the region" in their schools. This is a political act of profound moment and significance in Filipino history, and also shows how teaching and disseminating literature, since the Spanish came to the island's shores, has never been free of the anxieties of resistance, identity, and opposition.