Philippine E-Journals

Baisanon Poetry: A New Historicist Criticism

Mary Francis Saycon

Discipline: history of art, architecture and design

 

Abstract:

New Historicism, a school of literary criticism is concerned with the historical, social and cultural contexts of the author in the period of time the literary work is produced. It believes that literature should be considered as a product of the time, place, and historical circumstances of the author. So far, there is no study yet focusing on the local literature of Bais. This research study aimed to analyze selected Baisanon poems using New Historicist Criticism. Six (6) selected Baisanon poems, were analyzed by its background and context, and how they relate to the principles of New Historicism. Results show that the selected poems can be noted with biographical, historical, social, cultural, and political contexts which mostly pertains to the Spanish Occupation which politically affected and brought a lot of influences in the city of Bais, culturally. Additionally, the sugarcane farming as well as fishing along the bays of Bais are also reflected in the selected poems. Such activities are highlights in the moments and memories reminisced and shared by the poets in their poems within their social circle. Thus, based on the findings, the researcher recommends the use of the selected poems in teaching and integrating literature to other academic areas specifically in the Social Sciences. This is in response to the Department of Education’s recommendation of contextualizing and localizing learning resources for meaningful learning.