‘Regional literary works important in periodization of Philippine literature’

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(Photo by Mary Jazmin D. Tabuena/The Varsitarian)

A FILIPINO cultural scholar urged writers to value regional literary works, stressing that they are vital in organizing the historical information of the country.

John Iremil Teodoro, a scholar of Hiligaynon literature, said Filipino writers and scholars must develop works written in the regional languages.

“No Philippine literature will materialize if we will not value our regional literature. It shouldn’t be English and Tagalog only,” Teodoro said during the seminar on Philippine regional literature at the Thomas Aquinas Research Complex Auditorium last Nov. 7.

Translating regional literary works into Filipino or English and gathering information from veteran writers are some of the ways of preserving the history of Philippine literature, he added.

Teodoro is the author of the short essay collection “Pagmumuni-muni at Pagtatalak ng Sirenang Nagpapanggap na Prinsesa,” which won the National Book Award for fiction in 2008.

The event titled, “Tagubtob: An Introductory Lecture on Philippine Regional Literature,” was organized by the UST Literary Society.

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