We will be reading Philippine myths, legends, indigenous poetry and epics. This includes traditional narrative forms such as the alamat (legends) and the kuwentong-bayan (folktales) and poetic forms such as the ambahan, diona, and tanaga. Among the questions the course explores are: How can we understand the way of life and belief systems of the ethnolinguistic groups of the Philippines through their literatures? How do the dynamics between orality and literacy come into play in these Filipino literary texts? How have traditional forms been revitalized and transformed by writers to articulate contemporary concerns such as poverty, land reform, women’s issues, and human rights?