Jose Carlo C.

Flordeliza
10987819
Philippine Literary History
Sometimes the Soul: The Impossibility of Filling the Void in Philippine Literature
It seems only appropriate to take my title from Giola TImpanellis breath!taking no"el#
$hi%h not only del"es into the nature of the soul# but also e&plores the fairy tale and $hy this
an%ient artefa%t remains to be of utmost importan%e in the %ountry of Italy' Sin%e (esil )o*ares
The Haunting of the Filipino Writer is a %riti%al and s%holarly %rash %ourse on ho$ $e %an bridge
the gap bet$een the literature $e lost $hen the %olonies in"aded the %ountry and the $ritings of
today# it seems only appropriate that I %hoose a title that $ould best represent the soul $e lost
and the pre!%olonial literature $e ha"e hopelessly tried to retrie"e'
Ironi%ally# )o*ares essay e%hoes $hat I gleamed from +r' ,ien"enido Santos essay#
Towards a Revised History of Philippine Literature# $hi%h I $rote in my pre"ious %riti%al pie%e'
In that paper# I e&plained ho$ the gro$th of our literature %ame to a startling halt due to the
hegemoni% influen%e of the %olonial po$ers' In )o*ares essay# he basi%ally shared the same
thing# albeit he did it more elo-uently and more s%holarly' .%%ording to )o*ares# %olonialism is
the trauma of Philippine literature and that Spanish %olonialism arri"ed in the islands $hen $e
$ere a nation not -uite bonded and formed to $ithstand its assault' In the pro%ess# $e $ere
startled# nay# assaulted# before our %ommon soul %ould gro$ firmly in pla%e /0123' This# in turn#
%reated a large "oid in our literature# in $hat its supposed to be# in ho$ it $as supposed to
e"ol"e into' )oreo"er# this brought about our inability to define $hat Philippine literature really
is' The Filipino literary %ommunity ha"e far too many many "ersions and standards of $hat this
%ountrys literature should be# brought about by the de%ades spend in trying to retrie"e the arena
of letters that $as lost' +i"isions $ere made Groups $ere established' Fa%tions $ere set# and
ea%h of them had a "ehement notion of $hat the Filipino $riter should embody' .s a student of
literary %riti%ism# fi%tion and literary history# I often find myself inhabited by this "ery
unfortunate phenomenon' )oreo"er# I"e often ruminated on ho$ this problem %an be resol"ed'
The task of retrie"ing our pre!%olonial literature is daunting# arduous and diffi%ult' The
linguisti% problem is a %on%ern# and $e are not fully a$are of the e&tent of the damage brought
about by the almost four %enturies of foreign residen%y in this %ountry' .lthough it is a noble
attempt# it is one that $ill take de%ades to be a%%omplished' 4ith all of these hindran%es#
)o*ares gi"es us another option' 5e in"ites us to abandon all our notions and unite under one
banner' .s he points out# Soul Stuff is formed out of the internal diale%ti%s of $hat $e earlier
ad"erted to as the "irtues of the bound and the unbound' It is built up not through the setting
aside of differen%es but through their %ombination and %ulti"ation' If the soul %loses upon itself#
it $eakens and be%omes less than $hat it %an be' /0163'
.lthough the intention is good# the %all hopeful and inspiring# and the suggestion "ery
benefi%ial to our national literature and to $riters# %riti%s and e"en tea%hers of the $ritten $ord# I
%ant help but think that )o*ares proposal is idealisti% and some$hat improbable' 7no$ing the
lands%ape literature right no$# a$are of the %onfli%ts e&isting# made apparent through the
dis%ussions at the P89 :onferen%e# at the pre"ious three Taboan International 4riters Festi"al
and e"en in so%ial net$orking sites su%h as Fa%ebook# a proposal of that nature seems a bit too
Jose Carlo C. Flordeliza
10987819
Philippine Literary History
idealisti%' :ertainly# if the de%ision $as mine to make# I $ould mu%h rather ha"e things go out
the $ay +r' )o*ares $ants it too' ;nfortunately# su%h a%tions are diffi%ult'
)oreo"er# though the %onfli%ts do not help in bridging the gaps in the literary
%ommunity# it does pro"e to be a benefit in terms of produ%ti"ity and information dissemination'
4orks that %onstantly try to sub"ert ea%h others notion and e&pose their o$n poeti%s and pra&is
are being published and produ%ed are in%reasing e&ponentially' Venues for dis%ussion be%ome
open# in"iting people to partake in debates# making them a$are of $hats going on# as $ell as
letting them kno$ the trends and the future of literature' .bandoning all beliefs to start fresh
might be %ounter!produ%ti"e' In an age $here $e ha"e to %ontinually %hurn out to be heard# to be
re%ogni<ed# to resist# to e&plore the %ondition of the Filipinos and to study the %ontemporary age#
su%h a%tions are not ad"isable'
Furthermore# there are more fa%tors to %onsider# fa%tors that must not es%ape attention'
The raging differen%e in linguisti% preferen%e and semanti% usage is something to %onsider'
,eliefs# pra%ti%es# %reed and e"en politi%s are something that re-uires our deepest %ontemplation'
In addition# are $e $illing to gi"e up our entire history# the root of all the %onfli%ts and
differen%es# *ust for this soul to manifest= .re $e $illing to gi"e up the tradition that ha"e been
established# (i<als brillian%e and heroism# the eponymous effe%t of ,alagtas epi% and Villa and
)analang!Glorias lyri%al and playful e&er%ise in poetry# *ust so $e %ould start ane$=
I $holeheartedly agree $ith $hat (esil )o*ares says' It is imperati"e that $e find out
soul' I do# ho$e"er# disagree $ith his suggestion# not be%ause I simply do not find $hat he
proposes unsa"oury# but be%ause of its impossible nature'
4hat then %an $e do to find this elusi"e soul= Im afraid I do not ha"e an ans$er to a
-uestion of that magnitude' Perhaps# the soul that $e are in desperate need of e&ists in the
multipli%ity of beliefs and %onfli%ts that is present in the times' Perhaps# the soul of our literature
is already in pla%e# and $e are simply una$are of it be%ause $e are too obsessed on our post!
%olonial ideals' Perhaps# $e need to s%rutini<e the $hole tradition on%e again# *ust to see if the
soul is already in there# hiding from plain sight# deeply embedded in our national %ons%iousness'

:itations and (eferen%es:
Lumbera# ,ien"enido' To$ards a (e"ised 5istory of Philippine Literature' The De La Salle
University Reader: Writings from the Different Regions of the Philippines' 8d' +r' 8strellita
Gruenberg' )anila: +e La Salle ;ni"ersity Press >111'
)o*ares# (esil' 4aiting for )aria )akiling' ?ue<on :ity: .teneo de )anila ;ni"ersity Press
>11>'
Timpanelli# Giola' Sometimes the Soul' 9e$ @ork: Vintage ,ooks 2666'