Imagining the nation in four Philippine novels
By: by Maria Teresa Martinez-Sicat ; cover artwork and illustrations by Jonahmar A. Salvosa.
Publisher: University of the Philippines Press
Published: 1994
Place of publication: Diliman, Quezon City
Language: eng
Number of pages: 152
Subjects: Philippine fiction (English) -- 20th century -- History and criticism.
Other titles: Imagining the nation in 4 Philippine novels
Description: "In her book Dr. Sicat interrogates Maximo Kalaw's The Filipino Rebel: A Romance of American Occupation in the Philippines, F. Sionil Jose's Po-on, Linda Ty-Casper's The Three Cornered Sun, and Alfred A. Yuson's Great Philippine Jungle Energy Cafe. Set against the historical conjunctures of the Philippine Revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American war, these novels conceptualize a people free of foreign oppression and therefore ripe for the shaping of the nation. The author points out, however, that the concept of the nation in these novels integrates the masses into a political, economic, and social system dominated by the native elite. The socio-historical forces - ilustrados and pobres y ignorantes - are present: the exploitative relationship between them is absent."--BOOK JACKET. "Sicat believes that in Philippine literary discourse, the concept of the nation must be imbued with the masses' definition of the nation. The revolution against Spain and the Philippine-American war were fought mainly by the masses, and their struggles can provide the basis for a common meaning, a common history. Instead of belittilng the masses, literature can valorize their consciousness and their language. It can challenge the hidden assumptions of the dominant power system and thereby contribute to the shaping of a strong and authentic nation."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 139-148) and index.
Table of contents: title: The nation, the novel, and deconstruction; title: The ruptures in Maximo Kalaw's The Filipino rebel; title: The interpellated subject in F. Sionil Jose's Po-on; title: The exceptional son in Linda Ty-Casper's The three-cornered sun; title: The impotent charm of Alfred A. Yuson's Great Philippine jungle energy café; title: The Philippine nation in literary discourse.