LITERATURE IN REGION X

LITERATURE IN REGION X (Northern Mindanao)

 Designated as Region X of the Philippines, Northern Mindanao (Filipino:Hilagang Mindanao) is composed of five provinces and two cities classified as highlyurbanized, all occupying the northcentral part of Mindanao island, and the island-province of Camiguin. The regional center is Cagayan De Oro City, where the national government's regional offices and other big establishments are located. Cultural groups •

Majority of the region's inhabitants are migrants from Cebu and Iloilo. There are also inhabitants of Waray, Tagalog and Maranao descent.

Component cities Bukidnon

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Malaybalay City

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Valencia City

Misamis Occidental

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Oroquieta City

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Ozamiz City

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Tangub City

Misamis Oriental

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Gingoog City

Literary piece

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The Flood Story

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Bukidnon (Mindanao)

A long time ago there was a very big crab which crawled into the sea. And when he went in he crowded the water out so that it ran all over the earth and covered all the land. Now about one moon before this happened, a wise man had told the people that they must build a large raft. They did as he commanded and cut many large trees, until they had enough to make three layers. These they bound tightly together, and when it was done they fastened the raft with a long rattan cord to a big pole in the earth. Soon after this the floods came. White water poured out of the hills, and the sea rose and covered even the highest mountains. The people and animals on the raft were safe, but all the others drowned. When the waters went down and the raft was again on the ground, it was near their old home, for the rattan cord had held. But these were the only people left on the whole earth. Authors and their Works Short stories

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The Battle at Tagoloan

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Dusk in Capillahan

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The Cemetery Keeper

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A Day in the Lives of Coal Miners Regino L Gonzales, Jr.

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The guman of dumalinao (suban-on)

Damiana L. Eugenio(misamis occidental) •

Manobo Lydia Mary De Leon(camiguin)

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Pagpagayuk Mahiwagang Ibon Ng Katutubong Bukidnon (The Magical Bird of Bukidnon) Piya Constantino

 “Batbat Hi Udan” (The Story of Udan)-Bukidnon’s 1st epic Novel Telesforo S. Sungkit, Jr Other Author’s  The guman of dumalinao (subanon)

 Damiana L. Eugenio(misamis occidental) Vocal Music in General

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The most important means of musical expression of the Bukidnon is vocal music. As a rule, a male or

female solo singer performs without the accompaniment of any musical instrument. The only exception is the collective singing of women called tabúk during the kaligà ceremonies. The most important types of vocal music are the epic chants collectively called ulagíng and the chants and prayers connected with the kaligà ceremonies. Also widely used are the improvised songs limbay and the song-speeches dasang of the Banwaon, Bukidnon and Higaunen subgroups, the improvised salâ of the Talaandig and, to a certain extent, the ballads idangdang. Other song types are only of minor or of merely regional importance.

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At this point, it has to be stressed that the names of song types as given by the Bukidnon actually refer to categories of function based on text content and less to categories based on musical characteristics. It might, for example, happen that a kaligà or ulagíng melody is used for a salâ performance. But even these categories of function are only vaguely defined, and abstract or general terms like “music”, “musical instrument”, “song”, etc., are lacking in the Binukid language. The word which comes closest in meaning to the word “melody” is lageng (“[sound of the] voice”).

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In most song performances, the same pentatonic melody is repeated over and over again with some variations, sometimes alternating with one or two additional melodies. The performances often start with a typical melismatic phrase sung on a very high pitch and at highest possible volume. There are melodies in a rubato style as well as strictly metered ones. The melodic patterns vary in length. Some of them are clearly divided in two distinct parts often separated by a breathing break. All important singing performances start with a special introductory part called pamadà (pamarà), in which the singer invokes his guiding spirits (collectively called Tumanud or Dengan; singers are usually guided by Mulin-ulin) and also asks his voice (lageng) for cooperation and assistance. In fact, to sing in traditional Bukidnon style is a difficult task because it requires the use of an archaic form of the Binukid language which modern Binukid speakers cannot understand and, therefore, have to learn before being able to sing. The poetic form is composed of verses, whereby the statement of every line has to be repeated with other words, preferably with synonyms, in a second line. This poetic device is called sambal (“doubling lines”,

verb form pasámbalâ), the poetic form sangen-sangen.

The Epic Chants

 The ulagíng epic, which recalls the adventures of the main hero Agyu and his brothers and sisters, is sung at night time for at least some hours, in some cases up to several nights. In performing the ulagíng, the Talaandig use three different singing styles which are all influenced by specific guiding spirits: the aggressive, syllabic ulagíng or umanen style, the more contemplative, melismatic nánangen style, and the ilangiten style (from the word langit, “highest heaven”) with sustained, high-pitched tones.

 In the Talaandig area, a second singer, sometimes the epic singer himself or herself, will intersperse the ulagíng with performances of another song type called salâ which, in a contemplative way, usually deals with philosophic considerations. Besides its connection with the ulagíng, the salâ is an important vocal genre in its own right.

 In the Talaandig area, a second singer, sometimes the epic singer himself or herself, will intersperse the ulagíng with performances of another song type called salâ which, in a contemplative way,

usually deals with philosophic considerations. Besides its connection with the ulagíng, the salâ is an important vocal genre in its own right.  Philippine Literature

 By: Julius F. Garcia  AR31FA1

 Dr. Amparo Ellar (Professor)