100 Nobelang Tagalog concentrates its attention on the rise of the Tagalog novel, from its origins in the first decade of the 20th century to 1920s, leading to the what critic Inigo Ed. Regalado considered as its golden years. Although the revolutionary movement was extinguished by 1902, the nationalist sentiment continued to find expression in the free press, since the American colonizers could not understand the language of the colonized. Furthermore, according to the collection editor Soledad Reyes, the disappearance of the Spanish-era Comisión Permanente de Censura and the breakup of Spanish friar control of the press led to the establishment of a new group of familial publishing companies owned by the Martinez, Santos, Bernal and Fajardo families, and a sharp rise in the publication of Tagalog, regional and Spanish newspapers, magazines, and books.

The first two decades of the Tagalog novel were characterized by its range of exuberant, adventurous and diverse output, because its historical models were few and far between. The first Hispano-Filipino novel Ninay was written in costumbrismo style by Pedro Paterno in 1885, mixing romantic depictions of native traditions with fantasy. Jose Rizal’s groundbreaking novels Noli Me Tangere (1887) and El Filibusterismo (1891) were the first Hispano-Filipino novels that took on a more realistic representation of socio-economic conditions. These two novels were seminal in their influence on the first generation of Tagalog novelists who used the novel as a way to analyze, depict and criticize Philippine society.

The first proto-novels in Tagalog, as defined by scholar Resil Mojares, were Modesto de Castro’s Urbana at Felisa (1864) featuring the correspondence of two sisters, one in Manila and the other in Bulacan, and Miguel de Bustamante’s Si Tandang Bacio Macunat (1885), which was a polemical tract written by a friar bent of proving the undoing of natives through education.

With the advent of a relatively free press during the American regime, novels began to be serialized in magazines as diverse as Ang Kapatid ng Bayan and Ang Kaliwanagan, followed by Liwayway (1922), Sampaguita (1925) and Aliwan (1939). All these periodicals produced an outstanding crop of literary writers such as Fausto Galaruan, Juan Arsciwals, Jose N. Sevilla, Aurelio Tolentino, Roman Reyes, and Patricio Mariano. Central to the propulsion of the Tagalog novel was its serialization in these magazines.

Some of the earliest novels in the Filipiniana.net collection are works that depicted in a negative light the Americanization of the first decade of the 20th century. Some of these titles were Nena at Neneng (1905), considered the first Tagalog novel and the masterpiece of Valeriano Hernandez Peña, better known as the “Father of the Tagalog Novel;" and Pinaglahuan (1907), Faustino S. Aguilar’s classic novel on the American occupation and its attendant exploitative materialism and capitalism that was rampant during the period.

Also available online are such nationalist classics such as Bakit Siya Lumuluha (1907) by Maximino M. Garcia, with its allegorical thrust of an Inang Bayan carrying on the revolution against others who would just rather have an easy life, a characteristic of this generation of Tagalog novels; Ipaghiganti Mo Ako…! (1914), one of the strongest indictments against American colonialism containing harrowing and devastating descriptions of the Philippine American War from the pen of acclaimed dramatist Preciosa Palma, who came from a long line of distinguished writers that included Rafael Palma and José Palma; Santiago Flores’ Katalik-laan (1912), an American occupation work that describes the machinations of an American businessman to separate a native woman from her Filipino boyfriend; and the great Antonio Abad’s Bakas ng Himagsikan (1910), notable for its depiction of a woman not only as an ordinary soldier but as a leader of revolutionary soldiers.

A new genre would arise with the incorporation of a socialist perspective in interpreting socio-economic issues of exploitation and injustice. The prime examples of this genre were the previously mentioned Pinaglahuan and Lope K. Santos’s Banaag at Sikat (1906) and Ismael Amado’s Bulalakaw ng Pag-asa (1909) that would depict the various forces struggling for power in the new colonial government.

Another Faustino S. Aguilar work is Busabos ng Palad (1909), an Alexander Dumas-influenced novel that would be the first to start a genre of novels daringly recounting the story of a prostitute with a heart of gold. This landmark work would influence other stories such as Rosauro Almario’s Ang Mananayaw, Inigo Ed. Regalado’s Sampagitang Walang Bango (1921) and Rupert Cristobal’s Ang Bulaklak sa Cabaret (1920). Using this theme the novels explored the clash of tradition versus modernity, with the modern woman normally portrayed in a negative light as against the provincial woman who would stick to her customs and old ways.

From the 1920s the Tagalog novel evolved, shifting away from the historical portrayals or eyewitness accounts of the revolutionary period. Instead a new genre arose with the advent of new magazines such as Liwayway, which would popularize the serialization of the novel. A new generation would become enamored with the ever-quickening Americanization of Philippine culture, and in the process most of the younger Filipinos lost their anti-American stance.

Instead came the Jazz Age, Charlie Chaplin and dazzling American culture, fashion and technology, including the movies, radio, refrigerators, and jackets and suits. The comic strip character Kenkoy embodied this avant-garde spirit, especially in the way he pioneered the use of Taglish. Popular culture observer Dennis Villegas writes of Kenkoy and that time: “Born during the American period when Western influences were beginning to encroach into Filipino culture, Kenkoy adapted to the changing of his times, making fun of the old mores, and up-to date in the latest trappings of Western fashion. He mouthed pidgin language fashionable among youth at that time, which was a mixture of Spanish, English and Tagalog languages. Resulting in what was later known as “Taglish” and “Spangalog”. Thus was born Kenkoy's trademark dialogues like Halo, how is yu?, watsamara (what's the matter), dats oret (that’s alright), nating duwing (doing nothing), okidoki (okeydokey), lets tek ewok (let’s take a walk), is beri nesesari, and bay gali.”

Reflecting this new spirit, a new breed of novels would come to the fore: Gregorio Coching’s Nanay Ko (1925), Teofilo Sauco’s Ang Magmamani (1924), and Antonio Sempio’s Ang Punyal na Ginto (1933), and others that were adapted for the nascent Tagalog film industry. It was a period where the novel explored more themes, from domestic drama to the phenomenon of crossing classes, as well as social unrest. Some works from this period were: Puso ng Isang Kolehiala (1923), the first tragic novels to tackle the issue of premarital sex, written by Jesus Olega; and Urbana at Felisa (1938), a reissue of the classic 19th century novel written by Catholic priest, Father Modesto de Castro, in the correspondence style prevalent in the Spanish period.

Reflecting this new spirit, a new breed of novels would come to the fore: Gregorio Coching’s Nanay Ko (1925), Teofilo Sauco’s Ang Magmamani (1924), and Antonio Sempio’s Ang Punyal na Ginto (1933), and others that were adapted for the nascent Tagalog film industry. It was a period where the novel explored more themes, from domestic drama to the phenomenon of crossing classes, as well as social unrest. Some works from this period were:  Puso ng Isang Kolehiala (1923), the first tragic novels to tackle the issue of premarital sex, written by Jesus Olega; and Urbana at Felisa (1938), a reissue of the classic 19th century novel written by Catholic priest, Father Modesto de Castro, in the correspondence style prevalent in the Spanish period.

Also included in the collection is Dr. Jose Rizal’s monumental nineteenth century novel, Noli Me Tangere, translated from the original Spanish to Tagalog by Pascual H. Poblete, a well-known writer and editor of early Philippine newspapers. It was published in 1907 under the auspices of Narcisa Mercado, Rizal’s sister.

More Tagalog novels written as far back as 1885 to 1933, have already been acquired by Filipiniana.net and are currently being processed for online publication. The full text version of each of these novels complete with executive summary and annotations by award-winning essayist and literary critic Soledad S. Reyes is accessible for free by simply logging on to www.filipiniana.net.