| 摘 要： | This paper discusses the effects of American colonial rule on the cultural life of the Kapampangans and inhabitants of the province of Pampanga. The colonial masters, who seemed to deliberately marginalize the local language of the community and succeeded in eventually arresting its natural development. The American policy to ＂educate＂ the Filipinos resulted in the waning of the Kapampangan language and literature. A brief overview of Kapampangan literary history will be given to emphasize the folk tradition, the oral nature of Kapampangan verbal art as well as the worldview and ethos of the people embedded in their literature. To be mentioned are two Kapampangan writers, Crisostomo Soto and Jose Gallardo, who represented the periods during and after the American regime respectively. Each responded to his time and scene; both struggled against the most powerful colonial machine which was the English language. They were aware that this medium and its message were one, and that their own language would, sooner or later, be a lost medium and a lost message. The shift from orality to literacy, as a consequence of western education, will also be discussed. In particular, the reaction of Kapampangan verbal artists to the reductive pressure exerted by literacy upon their literature will be focused.
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