page_title: Maguindanao people
section_title: Literary arts
hierarchical_section_title: Maguindanao people / Literary arts
caption_attribution_description: A member of the San Francisco based Parangal Dance Company performing the Asik dance of the Maguindanao people of Lanao del Sur as part of their Bangsamoro suite of dances at the 14th Annual Fil-Am Friendship Celebration at Serramonte Center in Daly City, California.
context_page_description: The Maguindanao people are part of the wider Moro ethnic group, who constitute the sixth largest Filipino ethnic group. Their name means “people of the flood plains”.
context_section_description: The literary elements of the Maguindanao include folk speech and folk narratives. The folk speech is expressed in the antuka/pantuka/paakenala (riddles) and bayok (lyric poems), while the narratives may be divided into the Islamic and folk traditions.  The Islamic includes the Quran; the tarsila or genealogical narratives; the luwaran, an embodiment of customary laws; hadith or sayings of the Prophet; the quiza or religious stories.  The folk tradition comprises the tudtul, (folktales), and the epics Raja Indarapatra, Darangen, and Raja Madaya.
  For the Maguindanao, riddles promote friendship in a group.  They are also tools for basic pedagogy.  The structure of a Maguindanao riddle consists of an image and a subject.  There are four types of image:  comparative, descriptive, puns or puzzles, and narrative.  The Maguindanao believe in a basic unity underlying the various aspects of the environment and this belief is reflected in the use of often conflicting image and subject in the riddles (Notre Dame Journal 1980:17).
  Riddling involves a group of people, one of which is the riddler.  If one volunteers to be a riddler, he/she has to have a riddle ready or else be subject to dtapulung (ridicule), which is given not as a criticism but as part of the riddling tradition.  The Maguindanao consider bad riddlers as those who add to or subtract from the "original" text of the riddler.  Riddling can take place anytime and anywhere as long as there is some form of group activity in progress; it can be done during work or recreation or both.
  Ambiguities of answers can be settled by an old man or somebody who is respected in the barangay (the basic political unit).  In this sense, riddles allow a certain flexibility in their solutions; that is, they point to various logically possible solutions, thus providing some form of basic pedagogy.  An example of this would be:
                         Entuden, niaden.
                         It is here, it is there.    (Wind)
  There are, however, other possible answers: cradle, for example.  Riddles also represent the world view of the Maguindanao.  For example:
                         Cannibal in the forest,
                         that eats only a head.    (Hat)
  Although cannibals and hats do not share anything in common, they are reconciled with the use of metaphors such as: "that eats only heads".
  Other beliefs involving riddling is that it should not be done at night, so as not to invite the participation of evil spirits.  Another belief associated with riddling at night is the avoidance of the word nipai (snake).  If the use of the word cannot be avoided, euphemisms are resorted to, e.g., "big worm" (Notre Dame Journal 1980:20-25).
  Maguindanao verses are expressed through such forms as the ida-ida a rata (children rimes sung in chorus), or through the tubud-tubud (short love poem).  For instance:
                         Pupulayog sa papas ka pumagapas apas
                         Ka tulakin kon ko banog
                         Na diron pukatalakin
                         Ka daon kasakriti.
                         Kanogon si kanogon nakanogon ni ladan ko
                         A pukurasai mamikir a ana palandong a dar
                         Na di akun mapkangud a bologang ko sa gugao
                         Ka Oman akun ipantao na pusulakan a ig
                         O matao kandalia.
                         Flying hard, the swift is
                         Trying to catch up with the hawk
                         But he cannot equal him
                         Because he is far too small
                         Woe, woe unto me
                         Worried from thinking of a loved one
                         And I cannot let my feelings prevail, express my love
                         Because every time I want to reveal it
                         Stops it in its way.
  Composed in metaphorical language, the bayok is resorted to when a cautious and euphemistic expression is required.  An example (Wein 1983:35-36):
                         Salangkunai a meling
                         A malidu bpagimanen,
        
caption: The Asik dance performed by a member of the San Francisco-based Parangal Dance Company as part of their Bangsamoro suite of dances at the 14th Annual Fil-Am Friendship Celebration at Serramonte Center in Daly City, California.
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