ABSTRACT

Systematic English-medium education policies under American colonialism led to an explosion of English-language writing from the 1920s through to the beginning of the Second World War. The use of English always existed in tension with the desire to create a new national language, Filipino, and debates in the 1930s frequently focused on the social utility of literature. Short fiction was the dominant form before the war, pioneered by Paz Marquez-Benitez, and reaching prominence in the hands of writers such as Arturo Rotor and Manuel Arguilla. The immediate post-war period saw the publication of more novels, and the most important Englishlanguage play in Filipino literary history: the most influential figure here was Nick Joaquin. While male writers dominated, women played significant roles. Paz Marquez-Benitez pioneered the short story in English, and the long-neglected poems of Angela Manalang Gloria are now receiving critical attention, as are the feminist stories of Estrella D. Alfon. In the period after the Second World War, Filipino literature in English attracted greater scholarly attention, and became institutionalized through being taught at universities. Despite the influence of New Criticism, however, a concern with the politics and indeed emancipatory potential of literary publication in English persisted among Filipino scholars and writers.