Philippine Literature

The USA learned from its predecessor’s mistakes and, as its first effort, established a public school system, based on English language. Consequently, the literacy rate rose rapidly, and first fictional texts written in the language of the new rulers were published shortly after the change. Already during the 1920s the former elite language was replaced by English, soon also practiced as a medium of fiction. In the 1940s, some authors writing in English, such like Jose Garcia Villa and Carlos Bulosan, were even noticed outside the country. Beside this trend, fiction was published also in vernacular. During the 1800s there had been problems because of low literacy rate and poor education among people, and also because many publishers favored Spanish texts. During the first decades of American rule the atmosphere was more favorable to the native languages and several magazines published fiction in different dialects. Bodabil

The word comes from vaudeville, which was the first visible theatrical influence from America. Although a French form, it had been adapted in the United States as a show made up of assorted entertainments. Shows comprising song-and-dance numbers, magic and musical acts, skits and stand-up comedy, chorus girls and comedians were first brought in to entertain the American soldiers around the turn of the century. They entertained the native audience as well, who found them convenient and portable showcases for entertainment spectacles.

The songs and dances of bodabil (vodavil in Spanish; bodabil is the Filipinized word) soon came to serve as intermission numbers between one-act sarswelas (often billed in threes) or between the three or four acts of a full-length sarswela. They were called stage shows during the Japanese Occupation and, much later, variety shows. In some provinces the bodabil intermissions were called "jamboree," a word that had originally been applied to the opening musical numbers of a stage show.

Bodabil eventually...