A draft of the concept paper for the Malagilion: Soniton Pangasinan.
Introduction
The arrival of the Dominican Missionaries in Kaboloan or Pangasinan marked the coming of age of Pangasinan as liturgical and literary language. It did flourished for awhile in the late 19th century to the early 20th century with the productions, translations and publications of Catholic Pangasinan literature but failed to create a literary tradition even after the Spanish era when Pangasinan writers started to express themselves in their native tongue through anlong (poems), kansionan (songs), moro-moro and zarzuelas.
Publications of literary materials written in Pangasinan language declined in the 1900s when Pangasinan writers shifted to English and later to Tagalog or Filipino. Pangasinan eventually died as a literary language. Though Pangasinenses speak their language with gusto, it did not help in giving it a greater literary standing. This is due to the strange phenomenon that the Pangasinenses gave up their language in favor of Iluko and in the past years in favor of English and Filipino as these are used as mediums of instructions in educational institutions. While it is true that English and Filipino put a check on the spread of Iluko it did not really help the Pangasinan position.
Challenges and Aftermath
Until today, Pangasinan poetry is still a cult of emotion in rhymeless forms and non-stanzaed verses cocooned in the literary fashion of the poet-priests and love-lorn bards. In his essay, Rev. Fidel of Amurrio pointed out that the "Pangasinan poetry is still in the domain of popular bards that follow more their poetic instinct than the cultivated rules of courtly poetry. Anyone interested in developing this field of literature should study the popular way of Pangasinan poetry and then apply it to the rules that are valid in the poetry of any language." With the revival of Pangasinan as a literary language in mind, this author attempts to apply a new form and style based on the sonnet, a literary form which has been successful in Italian and English poetry, coupled with the re-introduction of so-called "Pangasinan Psyche" to veer away from the antiquated sensibilities of Pangasinan poetry.
The result of this attempt is a slim volume of poetry entitled Malagilion: Soniton Pangasinan, still a work in progress which now contain thirty three poems in a sonnet form which does not necessarily follow the rules used in Basic Sonnet Forms: Petrarchan, Shakespearian and/or Spenserian sonnets. The Pangasinan sonnet is a non-standard sonnet written in ten-syllable line, fourteen to sixteen lines with or without specific rhyme scheme.
Another reason why the author came out with Malagilion: Soniton Pangasinan is the paucity of published works written in the said language. This is also my response to the claims of some Pangasinenses that Pangasinan is a dying language. This could give the language a new lease of life and may lead to the revival of Pangasinan literature.
Market and Competition
While this work is targeted only to approximately 2 million people who speak the language here and abroad, it could also be useful to literature students, researchers, ethnologists and language translators. Other potential targets are schools and libraries.
There are no other Pangasinan poetry books available at this time except the one published in ANI (CCP) a few of years ago and poetry chapbooks by Leonarda Carrera Baltazar (Amor Cico) published locally in Pangasinan. It would not be too naïve to expect that there are no other books being written on this topic/genre at this time.
Conclusion
Pangasinan is considered as one of the eight major languages in the Philippines and yet contemporary literature is definitely lacking. Pangasinan literature has been pushed on the verge of evolution and virtually disappeared. We have no literary forms and styles to depend upon and inherit. The employment of a literary form in Pangasinan poetry could serve as pollen that will eventually produce a seedpod for our poets and writers.
Introduction
The arrival of the Dominican Missionaries in Kaboloan or Pangasinan marked the coming of age of Pangasinan as liturgical and literary language. It did flourished for awhile in the late 19th century to the early 20th century with the productions, translations and publications of Catholic Pangasinan literature but failed to create a literary tradition even after the Spanish era when Pangasinan writers started to express themselves in their native tongue through anlong (poems), kansionan (songs), moro-moro and zarzuelas.
Publications of literary materials written in Pangasinan language declined in the 1900s when Pangasinan writers shifted to English and later to Tagalog or Filipino. Pangasinan eventually died as a literary language. Though Pangasinenses speak their language with gusto, it did not help in giving it a greater literary standing. This is due to the strange phenomenon that the Pangasinenses gave up their language in favor of Iluko and in the past years in favor of English and Filipino as these are used as mediums of instructions in educational institutions. While it is true that English and Filipino put a check on the spread of Iluko it did not really help the Pangasinan position.
Challenges and Aftermath
Until today, Pangasinan poetry is still a cult of emotion in rhymeless forms and non-stanzaed verses cocooned in the literary fashion of the poet-priests and love-lorn bards. In his essay, Rev. Fidel of Amurrio pointed out that the "Pangasinan poetry is still in the domain of popular bards that follow more their poetic instinct than the cultivated rules of courtly poetry. Anyone interested in developing this field of literature should study the popular way of Pangasinan poetry and then apply it to the rules that are valid in the poetry of any language." With the revival of Pangasinan as a literary language in mind, this author attempts to apply a new form and style based on the sonnet, a literary form which has been successful in Italian and English poetry, coupled with the re-introduction of so-called "Pangasinan Psyche" to veer away from the antiquated sensibilities of Pangasinan poetry.
The result of this attempt is a slim volume of poetry entitled Malagilion: Soniton Pangasinan, still a work in progress which now contain thirty three poems in a sonnet form which does not necessarily follow the rules used in Basic Sonnet Forms: Petrarchan, Shakespearian and/or Spenserian sonnets. The Pangasinan sonnet is a non-standard sonnet written in ten-syllable line, fourteen to sixteen lines with or without specific rhyme scheme.
Another reason why the author came out with Malagilion: Soniton Pangasinan is the paucity of published works written in the said language. This is also my response to the claims of some Pangasinenses that Pangasinan is a dying language. This could give the language a new lease of life and may lead to the revival of Pangasinan literature.
Market and Competition
While this work is targeted only to approximately 2 million people who speak the language here and abroad, it could also be useful to literature students, researchers, ethnologists and language translators. Other potential targets are schools and libraries.
There are no other Pangasinan poetry books available at this time except the one published in ANI (CCP) a few of years ago and poetry chapbooks by Leonarda Carrera Baltazar (Amor Cico) published locally in Pangasinan. It would not be too naïve to expect that there are no other books being written on this topic/genre at this time.
Conclusion
Pangasinan is considered as one of the eight major languages in the Philippines and yet contemporary literature is definitely lacking. Pangasinan literature has been pushed on the verge of evolution and virtually disappeared. We have no literary forms and styles to depend upon and inherit. The employment of a literary form in Pangasinan poetry could serve as pollen that will eventually produce a seedpod for our poets and writers.
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