Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University

South La Union Campus

Agoo, La Union

College of Arts and Sciences

Language Department

COCC103-Communication Research

Negotiating Two Generations: An In-depth Analysis of Culture and Ilocano

Heritage through Folk Songs

Laron, Raven O.
 CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

Consider that art is emotion. It is an approach that arrays pieces somehow engage

to our emotions. It is a human activity to express feelings or sometimes impress other

people. When we hear the word art, we are reflecting about paintings, drawings and

sketching for it is a part of our notion that “...This painting is a work of art”, these samples

are under the visual arts. Dig deeper on the word of art, there are many branches including

the dance, media, creative writing, theater and music.

Dance is a body movement in a rhythmic way and part of a performing arts. Theater

arts is what they called the mother of performing arts in fact that all the performing arts are

inserted here and presenting for an audience. Media is also considered as art, in a way of

photography, videography and editing of a film. Creative writing, the art of writing

literature and poetry but the integral of this study is all about music.

Music is a configuration of art by making use of sound using different kinds of

instrument and sometimes the untouchable instrument; our voice. Music was invented by

the Greek Philosopher, Pythagoras who came upon the premise of musical tuning by

listening to the sound of hammers. By that, many musicians arise and wrote different

genres of music such as Classical, Baroque, Blues, Folk Songs, Jazz, and Ballad. When

talking about the genres of music, others might just pensive the six main genres and they

are disregarding the traditional music.

The whole world have lots of tradition and culture, particularly in the continent of

Asia. They have lots of folk song or sometimes they call it as traditional songs which
describe their culture in their country. In a specific nation in Asia is rich in culture, every

state in a certain country has their own traditional songs that they believed it is came from

their ancestors that is pass to generation to generation.

Folk song is a theme emanates among the people of a country on area. It is passed

by oral tradition from generation to next. Every country has their own folk songs that is

being stored by the generation before until now. The word "folk music" was formulated in

the late 1800s, although this is often applied to music that is older. World music is among

the distinctive ways of folk music. The folk music of the villages offers a snapshot of the

rural world. They are a symbol of rural society as well as a form of amusement for the rural

masses. Folk music contributes to a range of musical styles; the interpretation of the term

largely depends on the area of the country, social standing, and historical narrative. Folk

song is not just a music that addresses the life and culture of a significant state, it also has

its characteristics which will live on its content. These distinctive characteristics are; folk

music has no established standards or statutory law. Folk music, on the other hand,

generally requires a particular composition, which those unfamiliar with it would be unable

to comprehend. Few folk songs provide lyrics in the structure of questionnaires. In the first

verse, a question is raised, and the subsequent verses are responds to the question. Lastly,

Sports songs, agricultural songs, community songs, area songs, children's songs, god-

goddesses songs, local songs, and so on are all prominent folk music themes. The folk

songs do have also its types to properly divide all the under of it. The Ballad which is a

narrative songs that tell a story. The Lullaby, a song for rocking the baby to sleep. Songs

of friendship, a welcoming song. Ritual and religious song that use for worship or marking
rites. And finally, the love and courtship song which the content is for parental and

romantic love.

Enunciating folk songs, the number one country who value the folk music was the

country India. Music has always played a significant role in the lives of Indians. The rich

cultural diversity of India is greatly influenced different styles of folk music. Folk music is

directly connected with agriculture and other related trades, and it flourished to alleviate

symptoms with adversity and escape the dull of everyday situations. Regardless of the fact

which folk music has lost influence with the development of contemporary music such as

pop and rap, no traditional festival or celebration is complete without it. Folk music, like

many other facets of India, is objective of this activity to the country's multiculturalism.

Whereas the purpose for its development and implementation of the policies are essentially

the same in all India, the manner in which it would be sung and how it is interpreted varies

cultural influences of various States in India.

Indonesian music reflects the country's ethnic differences, popular music

imagination, and international conferences musical styles that have influenced the

country's modern music scenes. There are nearly a million Indonesian territories, each with

its own intellectual and architectural background and personality. As a result, there are

thousands of different types of music, which are often accompanied by dance and theater.

To our country, the Philippines, is a Southeast Asian country with a huge diversity

of languages, religions, ethnicities, and ecology. With a demographic of far more than 90

million citizens and an average growth rate of about 2%, the Philippines is the 3rd largest

English-speaking country. It is also one of the world's most populated and quickest

countries. The Cultural, Spanish Colonization, American Colonization, and Contemporary

of Philippine musical is influenced by Western cultural traditions, owing to over early years

of Spanish and American control. Music is widely recognized as the most universally

appealing and accepted of all the arts. This acceptability, on the other hand, does not imply

that music lacks individuality. - Nation will have its own style of music that encapsulates

the entire experience, the people's national mind. As a result, music is the mutual

manifestation of a single people's great musician.

This study focuses on the Ilokano folk songs particularly in La Union, Ilocos Sur,

Ilocos Norte and Cagayan in fact that these provinces are rich in culture and beliefs. The

property in the Ilocos region is indeed very shallow and parallel to the coast line, rendering

living standards difficult and causing Ilocanos to relocate. Nevertheless, this has been

known and reported that the Ilocano had a culture due to the Spanish colonialism. The

Ilokano utter a Northern Philippine collective Western Austronesian dialect whose

immediate family are the cultures of neighboring mountainous communities. Since Ilokano

merchants offer upland peoples with their primary link to any outside global trade, Ilokano

has become the lingua franca of Northern Luzon. The folk song of Luzon lowlands are

performed in narrative language such as Ilocano, Pangasinan, Kapampangan, Tagalog,

Bicolano and others. The people are creating melodic chants and indigenous instruments

based on the materials available when they lived. Ilokano traditional literacy, particularly

folksongs, must be relentlessly preserved, stored, and maintained because they could be

used as a supplementary to the analysis of Philippine literature or even civilizations fields

such as sociology and anthropology.

the culture and Ilokano heritage as says that the folk songs has relevance to the way of

living of a certain place. The accumulated repository of information, understanding,

beliefs, principles, behaviors, definitions, power structures, faith, conceptions of duration,

positions, spatial orientation, world definitions, and inanimate possessions and belongings

obtained by a community of people over centuries through person and group striving is

referred to as culture. In the view of heritage, for different individuals, the term "heritage"

conjures up various pictures ought to. The beliefs, practices, history, and objects passed

down from generations make up a person's special, inherited sense of community identity.

When we perceive and encounter the things which make our family special, we retain a

feeling of our heritage across our lives. Since not every hereditary characteristic,

inclination, or practice is good, we typically think of heritage as the important and positive

aspects of our family's character that we integrate out of our own lives and exist in the

future.

Mainly, the study aims to determine the relevance of Ilokano folk songs to the

culture and heritage of the Ilokano, and tries to proliferate the analysis to the generation at

the moment. Through this study the generation in the present are able to interpret the folk

songs and recognized them as a part of our history that came from their ancestors.

Understanding the real deep meaning of the folk songs will also help the age group right

now for them to be able to connect the significance of the song to their culture and heritage

as Ilokano.
 Through this study it will make difference to the view of the generation right now

to the culture and heritage of their place, they will learn to preserve what their legacy has

given to them and will thrust them to present it up to their future.

Background of the study

For the elders, folk songs are common and it is acceptable to them to sing and

interpret it. In our generation right now, only few know and capable to understand what

folk song is. Many of the generation right now are appreciating the songs with different

genre like heavy metal, rock and pop and none of them even give a second to here one folk

song because they find it cheeky and boring. In addition, others who is in the modern era

also didn’t know the cultures in their place that their ancestors leave to them because they

already have the notion that “is not real, why do we need to do that”. Another factor was

the technology who ate them and make them not to back view the past but to point their

matters to the future and I observed that they only appreciated the folk songs during the

what so called program here in the Philippines the “Buwan Ng Wika”. With these factors

I come up with a topic that seeks to understand the importance of culture and heritage

through the use folk songs. In this study, I decided to focus more on the Ilokano culture,

heritage and folk songs to be specific. Other studies only focuses on preserving the cultural

heritage through the use of good manners and behavior, discussing folk songs and how did

it started, how Ilokano preserve their identity and culture, and there’s this one study that

analyze folk songs but didn’t impart of why they analyze it. With these research topics I

have go through, I come up with a gap that I will combine the three of them in a one

research paper. Negotiating two generations: Analysis of culture and Ilokano heritage

through folk songs.

This study attempt to find the meaning of the Ilokano folk song using the textual

analysis and relate it to the culture and heritage of the Ilokano.

ILOCANO TEXTUAL
MEANING
FOLK SONGS ANALYSIS

Statement of the problem

This study will aim to analyze (i) the Iloko heritage and culture through folk songs,

and (ii) the efforts to safeguard it.

Based on these aims, this study will seek to answer the following research

questions:

1. What are the Iloko cultures presented in the selected folk songs?

2. How does the younger generation of Iloko community perceive Iloko heritage and

culture through folk songs?

3. How do folk songs maintain Iloko heritage and culture’s survival?

1. Analysis – the term analysis was used in the study as the core to interpret the

content of every folk song and the method to bridge the relevance of folk songs to

the culture and heritage of the Ilokano.

2. Art – the word art live in this study for it is the etymology of the performing arts

including the music which is serves as the sphere of folk songs.

3. Content – the content was applied in this study as the ones monitored for it is the

main part of the folk song which to be analyze.

4. Culture – this word exist in the study for it is the one will be used to compare the

content in the folk song and the habits of the people in their daily life.

5. Folk Song – the folk song was used in the study to become the subject of matter to

perform this study, it is the center of the study to come up with an informative

result.

6. Generation – this term was used in the study as means why did this study was

conducted.

7. Genre – the word genre was exert in the study as defining the classification of every

music.

8. Heritage – this word exist in the study as well as culture to be used as a tool in

comparing the result to the heritage of a certain place where the study existed.

9. Ilokano – the word Ilokano used in the study to be the specific substance of the

study.

10. Meaning – this word was used to be the midst of the study in finding whatever the

hidden significance of the content.

it is the means of the subject matter.

12. Relevance – same as comparing, it is used to find the connection of the two point

with each other.

13. Tradition – same as culture and heritage, tradition was used as balancing tool to

the consequence of the research.

METHODOLOGY

Research design

This study made use of qualitative research design for the researcher used the

analysis method. Particularly, textual analysis were likewise employed in terms of thought

of beliefs or folkways. This method includes the exchanging of dialogue by the researcher

and the participants accompanied by the research interview concordat, follow-up questions

and criticism.

Participants

The participants of this study includes 10 participants from the Bachelor of Culture

and Arts Education of Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University – South La Union

Campus. The topic of this paper has a lot of interrelation of the course BCAED. Thus, the

criteria of selecting the participants are: (i) year level, (ii) how long been studying music

and (iii) language spoken by the participants particularly Iloko.

Samples

The focus of this study was the analysis of Ilokano Folk Songs using textual

analysis concept and the pattern of the participant’s observation. The researcher collected

5 Ilokano familiar folk songs to be listened by the participants. Each folk song has different

connection to the culture and heritage of the Ilokano. Since the study was bridging the

relevance, folk song specifically is needed as a way of the means to be designated to their

certain interrelation.
 The 5 Ilokano folk song that the researcher are going to castoff are; the very familiar

Manang Biday (Older Sister Biday) written by Florante Aguilar, originated in Northern

Luzon particularly somewhere in Ilocos and its style is contemporary, Pamulinawen (Stone

Hearted Lady) which is written by Julian Dacuycuy Sales, originated in Ilocos Norte,

Naraniag A Bulan (Shiny Moon) written by Ric Manrique Jr., originated from Luzon

because most of the Ilocano are from Luzon, there is no particular place that this song was

originated, Bannatiran (Bannatiran Bird) written by Don Claro, originated in Laoag, Ilocos

Norte, and last folk song was the Panagpakada (Farewell) written by Dr. Gertrudes F.

Aquino.

These 5 Ilokano folk songs will be used in the study as a sample for the participants.

These folk songs suits to the study in fact that each song has different point of view which

the researcher are wearing to relate to the culture and heritage of the Ilokano.

Instrumentation and data collection

For this study, the researcher will be using the textual analysis concept with the

help of the guide interview to the participants. Analysis of the comments of the partipants

will assist the researcher to find out whether those terms, patterns, or ideas are present in a

wide range of functional data. Researchers may measure and evaluate the existence,

meanings, and relationships of specific terms, themes, or principles using literature review.

In data collection, the researcher gather the participants by through the use of the

presented criteria. The participants must currently studying BCAED considering the year

level and must utters Iloko language. In gathering the samples, the researcher consider

three characteristics of them. First was the full content of the certain folk song since the
words of the song is predominant in the study. Second the accountability of the song if it

has a glimpse of the culture and heritage of the Ilokano. And finally, was the origin of the

song, where it started, if it qualifies the place that the researcher is trying to specify. With

these characteristics, the researcher are able to find 5 folk songs as the sample of the paper.

Analysis of data

To analyze the gathered data, there are steps need to be considered such as; [1] the

interval of every comments the participants has given. [2] The researcher are able to

recognize if the song suits to the meaning that the participants are trying to consider. [3]

Categorizing and describing the observation of the participants to put on the right place. In

conclusion, [4] the coding of the categories and place it in the center which the study are

trying to solve.

With these factors, the researcher are able to conduct the analysis in conventional

way in fact that there is a trunk that will hold all the branches of the analysis which is the

factors the analyst has considered. In analyzing the gathered data, the researcher must be

detailed in analyzing to be critiqued properly all the statement of the participants to avoid

bias on analyzing each song.

 Albert J. Mills, Gabrielle Durepos & Elden Wiebe, Encyclopedia of Case Study

Research, SAGE Research, 2010.

 Arnold Bake, Indian-Folk Music, Taylor & Francis, Ltd. on behalf of the Royal

Musical Association, 1937

 Damiana L. Domingo, Ilocano Songs, De La Salle University Press, 2000.

 Indian Folk Music, Culture India

 Louie B. Villanueva, Ilocano Folk Songs Collection, Translation and Textual

Analysis, International Journal of Advanced Research in Management and Social

Sciences.

 Music History from Primary Sources, Library of Congress.

 Shakeel Anwar, Folk Music and its Characteristics, July 18, 2018.