Hispanic Poems in Philippine Literature: Materials in teaching Regional Culture and History

Abstract

This paper discussed the use of Hispanic poems as sources of Filipino culture and local historical data (directly or indirectly mentioned in the poems), in teaching regional culture (of Bicol) and history. The poems are originally written in Spanish language and are translated into English by Hornedo. The analysis employed qualitative-descriptive approach of literary criticism, anchored on the theory of New Historicism and formalist-contextualist approach. In particular, the analysis delved on the content rather than on form and structure. Findings revealed that the poems are good sources of information about the image of the places in terms of physical and cultural milieu. Furthermore, the poems were found to be reflective of reliable materials in understanding Bicol soil and of the way of life of its inhabitants. These findings suggest that literature and history be taught side by side with original materials from a certain locality that eventually unveil cultural identity.