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CARLOS SAMPAYAN BULOSAN
Birthdate: November 2, 1911.
Birthplace: Village of MANGUSMANA, Binalonan, Pangasinan
Death: September 11, 1956.
Father: SIMEON BULOSAN
Mother: AUTELIA SAMPAYAN
Brothers: Leon, Luciano, Macario and Amado
Sisters: Irene (who died at an early age), Francisca and Marcela.
Bulosan is considered as a “literary star” among Filipinos,
Filipino-Americans and Asian-Americans alike. In the year 2005
marks the 75th ANNIVERSARY of his arrival in Seattle.
Bulosan came to America in 1930 with only a few years of
formal schooling and a few clothes in his OPIGAN (suitcase of
native-woven bamboo). His awareness of his limited schooling
created him a deep thirst for knowledge and wisdom.
According to FRED CORDOVA, co-director of the Seattle-
based National Filipino-American Historical Society, Bulosan “was a
little guy, very slim, and he was very well-dressed all the time.” “He
was not what you’d call a charismatic speaker. He was
unassuming and very quiet - a very gentle person. But he wrote
like a lion.”
SOME NOTABLE WORKS OF CARLOS BULOSAN
1. AMERICA IS IN THE HEART
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LIFE AND WORKS OF CARLOS BULOSAN
2. LETTERS FROM AMERICA (1942) – which is a book of poems;
became a starter for Bulosan’s national acclaim in America.
3. VOICE OF BATAAN (1943) – another book of poems. When this
book was published by a New York publisher, it was widely
circulated around the country. This was the time during the World
War II after the fall of Bataan which made it more relevant,
popular and desirable.
This book is considered by COWARD MCCANN as expressing
a concept that “the war is not only a war of machine and bullets
and soldier; it is also a war o minds for the islands they have
created within themselves; it is a war of faiths.”
4. LAUGHTER OF MY FATHER (1944) – Bulosan’s first best-seller and it
was translated in 7 languages.
Because of the quality and quantity of literary pieces that Bulosan
had written, his name has soared the literary atmosphere. He has
become the Filipino as well as the Filipino-American Literary Eagle.
EPIFANIO SAN JUAN JR. published the FIRST BOOKLENGTH
study of the works of Bulosan that brought about ‘rediscovery’ of
Bulosan’s greatness.
According to San Juan, Bulosan is now beginning to be
recognized as one of the first Third World Revolutionary workers
whose success fully articulated the sufferings and struggles of
national minorities against U.S. monopoly capitalism and classed
him alongside the much honored political giants as Jose P. Rizal,
Lope K. Santos and Amado V. Hernandez.
MR. JK RANCHEZ
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PANGASINAN
HERE LIES A COMPARISON BETWEEN RIZAL AND BULOSAN:
JOSE P. RIZAL
Rizal came from a wealthy,
prominent family.
Rizal’s power emanated from
the family’s capability to send
him to the most progressive
countries of the world.
His extraordinary exposure to
the best social, political and
historical atmosphere coupled
by an exemplary educational
background, created in him an
indomitable spirit.
As a consequence, he was
felled by a bullet from the nozzle
of a gun.
Bulosan’s patriotism is spotlighted through the pages of his books
and other publications.
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LIFE AND WORKS OF CARLOS BULOSAN
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Since then, Bulosan’s recognition of honor has come one after
another. One prestigious award given to him recently is a
magazine published to honor the sixteen (16) greatest Asian-
CARLOS S. BULOSAN Americans in the field of Literature.
Bulosan came from a poor,
downtrodden family. “AMERICA IS IN THE HEART,” Bulosan’s autobiography is
Bulosan’s power emanated considered as the stellar among his works. The book is studied in
from the poignancy of poverty, many high schools and universities in United States of America
sufferings and exploitations. His because it contains rich reservoir of Filipino-American experience
family could not afford to send in the United States before, during, and after World War II,
him to any conducive especially during the depression period; and because it portrays
atmosphere. life of the peasantry in its most basic form in the Philippines, hence,
He had very limited formal it is considered as classic.
education. His sufferance
created in him a deep love for Is “America is in the Heart” a fiction or an autobiography?
his country and people. His
unconquerable will to fight for Filipino-American writers consider it as a fiction.
the poor, oppressed and  Greg Castilla
tortured minorities through the  P.C. Morantte – he believes that Bulosan made many
power of his mighty pen, statements that are incredible. Morantte assigned
resounded across the globe. percentage points to Bulosan’s autobiography as:
As a consequence, he was 30% biography;
felled by a bullet from extreme 40% case history of Pinoy life in America; and
want, contemporaneous 30% fiction
discrimination, unbearable
loneliness and desperation. Castilla considers Bulosan “as the first Filipino immigrant to interpret
and articulate the collective interest of the Filipinos.” With such
impression, Castilla expound his thoughts by saying that Bulosan’s
autobiography is a BIOGRAPHICAL FICTION in that he related the
story of other people and not only of his own.
MR. JK RANCHEZ
UNIVERSITY OF EASTERN PANGASINAN LIFE AND WORKS OF CARLOS BULOSAN
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BULOSAN CLAIMED AS HIS OWN THE EXPERIENCES OF OTHERS 2. His mother had to sell beans and salted fish, as if they were very
poor. But how could one of his brothers become a mayor of a
Castilla pointed out some factors that he consideres Bulosan town where money played a very decisive role in winning an
exaggerated: election?

“Bulosan claimed as his own the experiences of others. He
identified with the conditions of the Filipinos during his time. His work,
therefore, were based NOT SIMPLY on his life, but also on the lives of
those people that he encountered.”
“It is no surprise that Bulosan’s main pre-occupation as a writer
was to expose the unjust conditions of the early Filipino immigrants. He
drew the contents of his writings from their experiences (and not solely
for himself). We can, thus, find that in almost all his writings he wrote
about racist violence committed against Filipino, poverty,
unemployment, police brutality, prostitution, and murder” (Castilla,
unpublished and “In His Own Words 2003).
Castilla concluded that “since it can be established that
‘America is in the Heart’ is not about the personal history of Bulosan, but
about the COLLECTIVE history of the early Filipinos, the important thing to
consider in teaching the work of Bulosan is NOT BULOSAN, the person,
but the TRUTH about the people that Bulosan portrayed.”
CASTILLA’S CLAIMS AS TO WHY BULOSAN’S SO-CALLED ‘AUTOBIOGRAPHY’
is FICTIONALIZED
1. That Bulosan claimed as his own the experiences of others.
2. That he fictionalized some people and conditions.
3. That Bulosan had the tendency to exaggerate certain realities to drive
his point; and
4. That it is not important to know the real truth about Bulosan in order to
understand “America is in the Heart.”
In the Philippines, Bulosan’s story took place in the towns that
complemented his experiences in Binalonan. They are San Manuel,
Pozzorubio, Lingayen, and cities of Baguio and Manila.
In America, the towns and cities of Washington, Alaska, Oregon,
California, Idaho, Montana, New York and Washington D.C. were well
documented as contributors of some space in his personal history in his
later years.

“His works are not only closely based on the events of his life, but
are also proximate to his social and political views” – Daroy as quoted by
Castilla.
Bulosan has the tendency to EXAGGERATE certain realities to drive his
point.
For example:
1. The family’s “little grass hut” that Bulosan described in ‘America is
in the Heart’ is actually a huge wooden house.
On SEPTEMBER 11, 1956, Carlos Bulosan COLLAPSED on the lawn of
the King Country Courthouse. He died alone, poor and unemployed. He
was buried in an unmarked grave donated by the city of Seattle at the
cemetery for the poor in Queen Anne Hill.
In his granite headstone, the birthday of Carlos is 1914. It has been
an issue for long years. But the REAL birthday of Carlos is November 2,
1911. His sister Irene was born in 1912 and Francisca in 1914. The
youngest, Marcela, was born in 1916. These dates were recorded by
Francisca Bulosan-Domaoal according to her daughters, Milagros Rivera,
Elizabeth Basanes and Ruben Domaoal, their brother.

ranchezjankarlothomas@gmail.com MR. JK RANCHEZ