Fobendashivn For some years now I have been struck by a number of odd fee tures in much of the crtieal writing on Rizal's ewo extraordinary novels. For example, it is susprising that so few people have ‘considered seriously the identity of the author's intended aaudience(s). Even fewer have looked cazeflly at how the com: plexities of ‘race’ and ethnicity are played out in their pages! ‘There is also the habit of tendentiously quoting thi or that word, phrase or sentence as if it expressed Rizaltheman's opinions, ‘without paying attention to the actual distribution of such terms ‘wvho" in the novel’s pages uses them, how often, to which inter locutors, andl with what intentions. In this way, not only are the towo books treated as ethico;political treatises rather than novels, ‘but the reality that Rizal's opinions were often contradictory is ‘occluded. I should add immediately that in no way do I exempt ‘myself from the above criticism? Accordingly, it seemed @ good dea (o attempt 2 systematic quantified study of signi 1. A stiking exception is Hlomeno Aguilar, Jr's brillant “Tracing Ori sins dhs nationalism and the racial science of migration waves? Jar tal of Aion Shas 64, no. 8 (August 2005} 608-27 2. Tn punienar, the essay “Hard to Tagine” originally composed in 1992, and, in alighly improved frm, ineladed in my The Sab of Cen ios (Landon: Vers, 1908), eapter U1 1 soul tay that the present test mas partly tinued by Tae C8 Qplnyen’ ein of “Tad to2 Introduction ‘loments of vocabulary, style, and context in the two novels, twcating chem above all as novels. ‘One fundamental aim of this study is to allow readers to think about Ji me dangere anc El ftuierimo in a single comparative hhame, The first novel was published when Rizal sas sill 25 years old, and when his experience outside Spain was largely Confined to France and Germany, The second eame out in 1891, when the author was just 30, and when he had gone home to the Philippines For a few months, and then traveled to Japan and che United States, before setlling in the United Kingdom and Bel: In 1887, the global turbulence that would erupt in the Great War of 1914-18 was just beginning to be felt, but by 1891 it had Ihecome quite visible.’ Hence the text contains separate sections ton each of the novels; but each section uses the same analytical ‘nthods and format, (To make comparisons easier the quantified data on che Adi’ ate recapitulated parenthercaly alongside those riven on the FI in the second section.) Finally, both sections com- ‘lude with some general reflections on quite distinct topics. Inge in his A in Al Ral Arion enn ad Piie me ‘roe (Quenan Cay Aicnce Mala Usiverty Prem, 1889. 1 do ith Quibuyens gene arguinne but am ate 0 in tn hinge to moe seus releon. 1h emmting ha cn doe many, Uy og oer the ox ne ty tne bevea tines Given an fly, tere ae bound be some ugh enor bt Tee dey ar ew enough ott fe he mcr hl I comeat whi the Fl was compo i eat exe {yin The Pg dre ede Al gin (Lon aaa A Spanish-Colonial ‘Racial’ Strata and Ethnicity ‘As in other Spanish (and also Portuguese) postestions, colo- nial society in the Philippines was conceived theoretically as a ‘racial’ pyramid, with each descending stratum marked by greater biological, ethical, and economic distance from s hypothesized metropolitan norm, At the top were the peninnderes, Spaniards born and raised in the imperial center. Next below them were the rials oF creoles, Spanish by descent, but unfortunate enough t0 hhave been bom and raised in the Philippines, where, it was be lieved, the local climate and culture had indelibly degenerative ef fects. Below the creoles came the mestas, who were not anly lo cally born and bred, but were the products of ‘interracial’ sexual relationships. The Philippines was, however, distinctive within the Empire, in chat, while it contained no descendants of African slaves, it had from the start hazbored a sizeable population of im ‘migrant Chinese and their descendants. Hence it was considered ‘important to distinguish between Spanish mestizos and Chinese esti, and not to make much of the growth of mixed populs ‘ions with (eventually) Spanish, Chinese, and ‘native’ (iui) ‘ood? At the bottom of the pyramid came the indior themselves, generally eated as a homogeneous mass, though the Spanish were quite aware of the multitude of languages and local culeuresSS Nol me tage 5 ‘mentions in the novel, we find P. Démaso with 13; the Narrator, 7; an unnamed friar, 5; La Vietorina, 4; Elias and the Diary in Manila, 8 each; and the Teniente, Tasio, Tharra, the Alférez, the Dominican Provincial, an unnamed youth, an anonymous peas: ant, and an unspecified voice in a crowd, 1 each. Jada, as an ad Jectve, i used once only-by La Contolacién. The noun naturales, 1 polite synonym for indic, occurs 5 times, distributed berween the Narrator, 3; and Doa Filipo and the Diario, 1 apiece, ‘The term chino is also very common. As a noun it shows up 35 times, and its use is widely distibuted: the Narrator, 18; Tasio, 5; anonymous voices, 4; the gravedigger, unnamed pious women, and the Diario, 2 each, with Capitan Basilio and Tday, 1 apiece. As an adjective, chino is employed 3 times by Tasio, and once by the Narrator. The evidently obsolescent saaglyer is used only once, by he Narrator Moras are referred to three times only, in every case by the Narrator, The word does not refer to the Muslims of the southern Philippines, but merely 0 the ‘Moors’ represented in the moro- moro play put on for the fiesta in San Diego. As for the pagan populations, they are mentioned just twice: once when Elias speaks of finding shelter rom persecution among the tribe infer & independiotes? and once when the Narrator describes the image of San Diego, paraded through the town during the festa, as having an abundant ceri risado coma el de las negrts® ‘And ethnicities? If for the moment we set aside the numerous mentions of Tagalog-thelanguage, we are left with a mere five cases where tagelas are referred to, all of them in the Nartator’s commentary. In three of these the reader is told what “the Tage- 5. Jost Rizal, Nal me ‘angie (Masi 1078), 250 (chap. 45 “Loe pereguios) 6. Did 164 (Chap. 20\"La mafans"). Te doer not seem to have oc sured to Rial that yelersing 0 the Aet, with ehir Ezry curls, a “ile Blacks” might be offensive Tnstinto Nacional de Historia,Nal me tngere in the archipelago. Thus ‘ethnicity’ only appeared as a census cat gory after the Americans seized the islands at the turn of the twentieth century. These strata were more than simply abstract constructs. The imperial regime tried hard, almost to the end, to make them a concrete social reality by imposing differen lege sa tuses and differential tax burdens, Peripheral to the layered pyra- ‘mid were three significant social groups: immigrant, non-Catholic Chinese, who for centuries were called sangloes, a term replaced by the more conventional chia only as the later nineteenth cen ‘ary wore on; largely unsubdued Muslims in the Far South; and pagan tribes in the Luzon Cordillera and remote parts of other is lands, who were mostly left to their own devices Ie is striking that the word peninsular, cither as noun o adjec: tive, crops up only four times in the whole novel-twice in the mouth of the elderly (and feninslar) Teniente, and twice in the commentary of the Narrator (the peculiarity of whose voice will be discussed later on) ‘The occurrence of ails is even rarer. The male form is used once by an unnamed friar, while the female cra is spoken of once by the Narrator. ‘Mestzo(—male andlor general-also occurs only four times, typically qualified by the adjective eae). tis very striking that che form mestio chino never crops up, even though the Chinese mestizos vere a large, increasingly rich and influential group in the late nineteenth century, and Rizal himself belonged to it, ‘ra cially’ ac least. I will ey to aceount for thie strange absence at the end of this section). Three of the mentions come from the Narra tor, while the fourth comes from an anonymous, panicstricken voice in the crowd a5 the rumors of Tbarra's ‘conspiracy’ spread through San Diego. The female form mestiza is mentioned eice in the Narrator's paraphrasing of the thoughts of Tiburcio. P, Damaso uses the contemptuous miniaturiing mesticlls tice. By contrast, the term saudi is widely used by all strata of colo nial society from the feninalaret down to the peasantry. Of the 436 Nai me tangee togs” call something; inthe other two the reference is to a ue named, lowly member of the Guardia Civil hunting for Elias, set off against one of his comrades described as wn visa: Tgalo a8 an fdjective occurs just 6 times, distributed between the school teacher and the Narrator, 2 each; Primitivo and an unnamed newspaper correspondent, 1 apiece. The nouns they are atached to are catechism, books, an elegy, the cmedia, lies, and a family. Vaya appears four times as 2 noun and once aa an adjective in the mouth of che Narrator, referring to the companion of the Tagalog, Guardia Givil member mentioned above.” “A very strange, interesting absence is that of the locanos, who at that time formed a large part of Manila's class of domestic ser: ‘vants, Rizal himself was perfectly aware of this fact. In a letter to Blumentritt from Berlin dated March 21, 1887, just a month after he finished che Wl, he commenced with characteristic Tagalog and ittrade hauteur: Das tagalische Stick von Riedel Hast mich glauben, dass der ‘Mann der es ihn dictiert bat, Kein Tagalo ist, sondern cin THocaner; 40 sprechen die Hocaner taglisch. Es is noch moglcher, dda die Dienstleute in Manila fast alle locaner sind [Riede’s Tagalog piece makes me believe thatthe man who dic {ated i to him was no Tagalog, but an Tlocano; such i the way Tocanos speak Tagalog. This all the more probable in that in ‘Manila almost ll the servants are Hocanos)* Perhaps this is why not a single nameidentifed servant ap pears in the novell (Nineteenth-century European novels usually Mention some household servants by name). But in any ease, the 1M, 287-88 chap. 52 "Ta care de los muerioey Tas sombrs") Tt ss imeenting to noe thatthe Narrator has the fellow speak Tagalog with ‘Visayan ace Tye Ra Blonrrit credo, vol I, 1686-1889 (Manila: Nu tional Historica owsne, 1982), 598,sexe Elias, set sasamed axached 2 family ve in the Tagalog och after slog and ant ap: usually ase, the It vs ee Nol me tage 7 Holi generally ignores the huge ethnolinguistic diversity of even the Catholic Philippines, ‘We can view the above data synoptically by puting them into ‘abular form, as follows: “able 1. Mentions of Racal” and Einic Terms ia Gl me tgee ‘Tal frequency Narators ute No, of daracere ‘of eer sng tem Mestilos Indie ‘ India ag) 1 Naturales 5 Ghinois 35 Chino (aay ‘ Sangleyes i Tepes 5 5 2 3 Tagalota (ad) Visys (an oj) ‘Tis infles ocanoe ee 1k is worth noting that these categories are usually unambigu- ous. The one possible exception is cin; we have already seen that Chinese mestizos are never mentioned in the novel. But there fare many strong contextual indications thatthe word typically re. fers to recent, unassimilated immigrants from China. Observe how Tasio affectionately refers to his mother: Arla guts de ange chino que mi madre we ba dado, iene i poco come las chinas:honre ot ‘acre bor el hj, pre mo ali por el padre [Because ofthe drops of Chinese blood that my mother has given me, I think a lil like 2 3 1 1 2 5 18 Nol me tanger the Chinese: [honor the father for his son, but not the son for his father]? But no one, not even the fils himself, calls him a cw, ‘We may conclude this subsection on colonial ‘racial’ strata and ‘ethnic categories by asking the obvious questions: why are the ‘upper strata so rarely mentioned instances over 254 pages!— ‘and why are the ‘alien’ Chinese made so prominent? One kind of answer would emphasize the rapid decay of traditional colonial ‘racial’ categories, originally created in the sixteenth century, in the face of massive penetration of Anglo-Saxon agro-industrial capitalism and heavy steamship-arried Chinese migration, Another would focus on Rizal's intellectual environment, cultural outlook and politcal stance. A fuller discussion of this question will be postponed to the end of this section om the Nol: B. Political Vocabulary and Concepts If the terms used in Category A are mostly clearcut, the oppo- site is typically the case with those we will look at in Category B. (One might think that the toponym Eypaie is quite straightfor- ward. Indeed, in 85 out of 89 instances the referent is plainly the Iberian country we know today. ‘The distribution is Tharra, 13; the Narrator, 7; Bias, 4; the Capitan-General, 3; an old husband, 2; and Tiburcio, Don Basilio, Tiago, an old wife, the newspaper correspondent, and an anonymous voice, one each. But when the Capitan: General talks of the Rey de las Espatias, he is almost cer tainly speaking of the Empire." In the four remaining cases, 2. Rial, J, 64 (chap, “Taso, el Loco el fst). This is nota pub- lic tacemest Dut a humorous comment in a chat with hit good fends Don Flipo and Dota Teodor. 10. bid 181 (chap. “La cari") Ie ste that the old name for soya, peninsular Spain was Las Eopasas, refleing the pluralcy of small states fvenmally united under the aegis of Castile and Aragon. But right mp to the end, Spain's imperial conquests were regarded ot as colonies but veriear poscisiont under det royal soverigty.Name tangere ° iserbuted berween the correspondent, a voice in the crowd, and Jateas, itis impossible to be certain. The four appearances of is Paula (La Victoria, 2; che Teniente and the Capitan Genera, 1 apiece) in the text also point to an ambiguity in Epona One might also suppose that the ‘national? noun espa had an ‘obvious and unambiguous connotation. But of the 52 mentions ip SE novel cleanly 24 refer to people born in Spain; § equally clearly refer to such people plus loclly-born crcoles anid tea 20s; and 25 cannot be determined. The distributions look like this: of the 24 in the first group, 14 come from the Narrator, f fom the Teniente; and 1 each from the Capitan-General, P Damato, Tiago, La Victorina, the Diario, and an anonymous Yolce. The 3 clearly inchusive mentions come out as 2 for the Capitan-General, and 1 for the Diario. The spread of the “unclens ‘pentions is: the Narrator, 9; the Diario, 8; the gravedigaer, anonymous voices, 2; and Elias, | Since the Narrator shows up in each group-and he is often fnettcaly regarded as Rizal's reliable mouthpiece~it may. be Belpfal to offer readers an example of each usage in his commen {S07 In the novel's opening chapter, the gs present atthe pacy being given in Tiago’s house are described as unas cunts josey ‘this time (Tago's) guests were restricted to Spaniards ad Che nese, the fir sex being represented by peninmular and creole Spaniards} The second quotation refers to two kinds of ‘patel, Spain-bom peninslars and Philippine horn srs, "This Yad, 8 (Chap. 1 "Use rnin’). The contest maker i plan that ite Newrator docs ot mean ‘Flpinar” and Spaniard’ te ake eget 12 Thi, $29 (chap. 60 “Maca Clara se cassNal me tongere quotation laminates the Fst. Here pals are peninsula gis, wie dhe ila roles) ave ot nciaded among the Spanier. Tina wen, in anther scene the Naratr speaks of el Alle, Cn ina Mari Clare, Irs varias eps seis, veaders an ote sre what kind of espa these people are—except chat they are tae! jin tne ajeative crops up only 14 mes. The Narrator wes i 7 ine, attached to sone, wg, mestizo, ened, and Ina, ‘the “events (amg), the Alealde (chime), D. lipo iran area (bia, Elias (comer), the Diario (Bosse), and siavonyinons Yoite (mextizo)-each employs the adjective once. The ilficules are comparable when i comes 0 variations on Win, lipid fin elf might seem unambiguous, I x men with quite a wie distribution: the Narrator, 20: 12 the Allen, 7; Taso, 5; Eis, 3, dhe Capitan General fn dhe “Teniene, the Alcalde, P. Dimaso, Albino, La Comal, Sergei Gémer, Primitivo, the schoolteacher, and lear if the word is always used to include the region of the Moros a the terivory of Elias’ driusinfies ¢ independines. None- ‘young man, once apiece. Bur i is by no means clon itis siguiica, a8 T shall argue below, chat if we exclude the vv CapitauGeneral, the Teniente, the Alférer, the Aleakle, aut P, Dstsso (22 mentions (otal), of the 46 remaining Incntions, lly 40 ate confined to the small ‘poltieally conscious’ jrewp of ara, Taso, Bliss, and the Narrator, 1 ilps) is ac rarer Keoccuss a total of 21 times, liibuted between the Narrator, 18, and che Capitan-General, ‘unnamed journalist, once each, ‘The same pattern san adjective, sometimes at ‘often to objects, OF the 12 0c sor, 4 Krom the saiized! Divi, Na me tangre u tnd from the Teniente, The obverse of this distibution is just as striking. The novel's first hero uses the word just once, the sec ‘ond hero, Elise, meer, and the wise Tasio mot af all. When Elise Aeseribes himself, what he says is sy wn dio, not say wx Filipino. Ics also necessary to note that certainly in the case of the Dizi, and a least in some instances (as cited above) of the Narrator, filipino cleasly denotes cris, This in wm means that in che novel's 354 pages, the use of filipino 1o mean something not con fined to the crillor occurs only about 14 times, and never emerges From the mouths of ether Tasio or Elss. I, as some have argued, the use of the word filpio in the modern national sense wae al: ready normal in the Philippines at the time of the i's publics ‘ion, this whole pattern becomes completely incomprehensible. We can consider synoptically the data provided above by re: presenting them in the same tabular form sted for the hierarchy ‘ol racial” strata and ethnicities, fe 2, Mentions of Spanish and Flip” erms in. me tangee "Toul frequency Navntor's No.of curser ‘of mction we of term using term ae) 30 7 un 2 Te 4 2 f 4 “ 7 k 3 eB 2 pales (se) 25 8 4 spall (ad u 7 7 in (pce) 58 2 rs a 8 2 nl (a 2 7 2 1H. i 25 (chap. 19 “La vor de los pesequidos"). His iterator we cm mea, cha is a mexiao~a diane of tn Has ie acutely conscious He never syste lin (we to a pine) ihe" al me tong We smay wow turn to Unee terms which could be expected 10 scpresen, more abstaly, the idea ofthe Philippines as nation, namely wai, uri, and publ, The teder will immediately be surprised by the rarity of any vwonds devived from the Latin root aati, Nad) erops up 7 hata, 4; the Narrator, Bias, and ‘Tasio, 1 each), Navona ‘nacimaes is mentioned once by Ibarra, and the adjective ns just ice, by Hbarra and Elias. Most jarring is the com plete absence of either nacionalima oF naconalita. Before turning to ‘comider shat the mentioned terms appear to mean, i werline that among the innumerable actors in the drama ‘of Nilé me tanger, only Ibarra and Bias use any variant of the utirbased root, and then ony nine tne, meaning of nacoa(s) most frequently corresponds to the ig of ‘mation’ thac we find in the King James Wible, sul was sill predominant when Adam Smith wrote his eat The Wultt of Nations: in effect, a word with a broad and wae semantic range covering ‘people? ‘country! even ‘ethnic np? For example, in chapter 46 ("La Galler’), the Narrator ‘omments ranshistorically on the analogy between cockight af onal ad uations’: Tal suede ene las macones; una pepuea que te ahancar na vicoria sobre otra grande, ta canta 7 la cuenta por ul de fs sits (Se itis with nations, A. small nation that wins a over a large one sings of it and recounts it throughout the ages)!" Taso ases the word in the same way in chapter 32 ("La "the sense seems closer to the movdern ‘meaning of ‘nation’ as shorthand for nation-state, For example, nea contrasts arya an sus ermous nace agitindae aniraamente, bucendo le fii, . Europe with her bea ‘ions, in constant agitation, searching for happiness...) with the Nol me tngere 1 aaciones expirtuates of the Orient. As for Blias, he seems to use the ‘word in the same sense when he speaks to Thazra about Spain's European neighbors." The word is ner used in the novel to re fer direcdy to the Philippines, Nent: the one use of naconal(s) a noun comes in chapter 7 (CIditio en una Azotea") where Ibarra, talking to Maria Clara about Europe, makes i¢ mean a member or members of a nacién.” Tis adjectival form is used by Ibarra to speak of the oll nacoal (national pride) of diferent Buropean countries, and by Elias to talk to Tarra about the Arabs, who gave Spain adtura, ha side lolerante con su religion, ha depertado su amar proprio nana, letargado, destruide cast darante Ie dominaiin romans 7 goda fculture, were tolerant of her religion, and awakened her national pride, dormant and almost destroyed under Roman and Gothie domi. ation]. 2° Ninally, in chapter 4 (“Hereje y Fiibustero”), the Narrator Uses acinaidades co describe the different ethno-racial groups iascrossing the streets of Manila; by contrast Elias employs the word ones, in a quite modem sense, and in direct relationship with the Philipines, when he claims that for “us” Catholicism is 0 costly (cara) —ues por ells hear romnciade & muestra naconalidad, “4 ames iadependenia (because in exchange we have given up our Wionality, our independence)” 1 Wit 48 (cap. 8 *Recuerdoe), (aren i talking to himself). Inthe it, theve were song, esh, Norwegian, Finnish, Grech Polish, Hengar ton ce, nationale movements, but one of them yet ad thir own se, val ant thioking about them, bue about ben” Inperal Panes, oper Gena. the Tperal UK, Inperiat Austr Hungary Imperial ssa, at Isp ane aly. 1 tha, 272 (chap, 4 “La woe de hs persion) 1 at a, 16 (chap. 9 "La cena"), ane 279 (cap 49 “La ye de tow 17; aml 270, as eve elk privately ih tar" id me dengere Pueblo sod fabia ave noworiously diffcule to translate into Ex lsh Pehle cau refer to a place of smallscale human habitation, hing like own co che human beings living there (perhaps ‘onwnsolk’), and c both at once; it can also be used for much larger social units, sueh as ‘counties’ and ands’ (Swiver-and, Welanel, and he ‘peoples’ inhabiting them. Tt can also denote ‘nation’ and ‘common people? Similaty, putia’s meanings range fiom hometown, t native land, and mother-country. Further more, itis used quite often in a general sense, so that a person. ‘can speak of other people's ‘motherlands,’ not merely his or ber nthe Jl the noun patra appears with three reference points The first of these is general. For example, Ibarra says to Tasio hot flo ombne debe amar sw petra [Every man ought to love his mater country} C have found 6 cases of this usage: Tbarra 3; ul the Narrator, Tasio, and Blias, 1 each. The second reference int is Spain, of which three instances comme from Ibarra and one ‘each fron) the Teniente and an unnamed friar, ‘The Ibarra cases inchide the famous sentence in ehapser 3 ("La Gena"), where the Young mestioe speaks of Hypa, mi segue patie (Spain, my sec uherland2* (Since he is addressing an assembly of elite Jouty quests, he may not be sincere, but no one in his audience Finds onything ode! or untoward in his words). The third refer as, and there are 12 eases of this usage in the en Ibarra (7) and Elias (6). It is remarkable that the Narrator himself never velers to Filipinas as his patria, Lastly, there is one passage in which patria appears in quasiadjec: phrase hidonie patie (barra), with the clear gen: ral meaning of elonging to a motherland." rave divided bet 22 id, AV clap. 28 *Ra eas de lor) 2A. hi 273 (chap, “La wor de hn persion) li me degre 1B ‘ucla appears far more often than either naién or patria, with ‘more differemiated meanings, and a wider range of voices, First ‘of all, there are at least 32 places where the reference is to some usually unnamed township in the Philippines, by implication ostly in the area around San Diego of near Manila, For ex: ample, in depicting his easly youth to Ibarra, Elias says he Ad de ‘reblo em pucbo (Med from township to township]? ‘The distribu ‘iow of this meaning is wide: Elias, 14 instances; P. Diémaso, 4; the Alcalde, 3; Tasio, Ibarra, P. Sibyla, Capitan Basilio, and the niente, 2 each; and the Narrator, 1. ‘Then there are 53 places where the word refers explicitly or boy dlreet implication to the physical township of San Diego, per- haps also its townsfolk. Again a wide distribution; the Narrator, 22; Ibaera, 7; the Diari» and Don Fiipo, 4 each; P. Sibyla, the schoolteacher, and an unnamed old pessant, 3 each; and Tiago, lias, Rufa, Sisa, the gobernadorcilo, a young local politician, sand an anonymous woman, I apiece. A further five instances refer (othe townsfolk rather than the place, and ate distributed thus: four to the Narrator and one to the cook of the Alférez We find puch connoting a ‘people’ in general, comparative 10 instances. For example, in chapter 9 (Cosas del ais") the Capitan-General reflects that cdo blo merece su sure leery people deserves its fate The dsebaton i lis and wrt, each; Tasio, 2; and the Capitan-General and Laryja, 1 natances where puchlo pretty clearly ‘cans the people of Filipinas. Those who use the word in this sense are Klis, 8; Ibarra, 6; Tasio, 5; and the Narrator and the veral, 1 apiece. For example, Elias says to Tbasra: Ep suet fi, emo no hay soda, ues wo forman tna una el pueblo y Capita 25, Ii, 27 (chap, 0 “Ls faa de Eas 20 Wik6 Nal me tangere ‘ gobiemo (In our country, as there is no society, the people and ‘government do not form a unity) In addition, there are four cm, all in the discussion between Bias and Olé Peblo, where of puebl is ambiguous—ie, it could refer to a town- ip orto the people of Filipinas. ‘We can configure all these findings inthe following table, Tbe 3. Mentions of in and its Derivatives, Paris and Plo in he Na No, of characters Total frequency Non ‘of mention” ase of term using actives 7 1 3 Nacimaldades 2 1 1 Navinnles (0) 1 = 1 Nacional a) 2 : 2 Pai general 6 1 a Pais Spain 5 : 3 ais (pos) 2 : 2 Pavia ta : blo docal weships) 82 1 8 ve (8 Diego town) 89 2 3 Pci (8. Diego vownsfos) 5 ' 1 Phabl(peoples i general) 10 . 5 Pablo (people of Tips) 20 1 4 eb nce ‘ - 2 ‘hese figures show us some important features of él me fan igre and of the society it deseribes. Nain and its derivatives are tue racly, by very few people, and never in reference « the sharly Philipines. Nacinaione and nacinaia are spe ibe, We have seen, (ao, that puira is used i seve sleading co lain tlferent characters, 0 that i€ would he qui 2 28, a p49 "Lay de fon ji ap A Ta pee Meier ” that it means only one, very nationalistic thing. In fact it occurs ‘with reference to the Philippines in only half the instances, and the number of people who use it are only two-tbarra and Elias; furthermore, both of them use the same word on occasion to ‘mean something notthe Philippines, In the case of pueblo, almost 75 percent of the time the word is used either for San Diego ot for townships nearby and around Manila, In only 17 percent of the ceases does it refer to the people ofthe Philippines, and, if we ex: clude the rather sympathetic peninsular Capitan-General, the us crs are only Tharra, Elias, Tasio, and the Narrator. If we combine this analysis with the fact that no one beyond the Narrator uses the noun more than once to refer to what today we would call the Filipino people it seems indisputable that at the lime of the Al's publication in 1887, there was no generally used ‘erin the Philippines (Spain is another matter, a8 we shall see)~ covering all the people in the archipelago. It is also absolutely lear that the only characters ia the Jol, aside from 2 few pen ular Spaniards, who use a nationalist: vocabulary are the three heroes, Ibarra, Elias, and Tasio, while the single biggest user is te observing Narrator. All chis suggests that any widespread Uilipino nationalist consciousness’ in the modem sense had not yet come into existence. Nothing shows thie more clearly than the face dhat Hlis, noblest of them all, calls himself an indi, not a lpia ¥lipiv The moment has now come to consider the remaining ele- ‘cuts of the Lal’s political vocabulary. Where possible, I have que them co semantic clusters in descending order of frequency. Vint: Words connected to concepts of personal or national Hecdonniautonony (8 in all). Libe (free) in a definitely political sense occans 3 tines, divided between Basilio, Elias, and the Aw thor (ide of chapter; ia a general, now-political sense 10 times, ivi tween the Narrator, 8; Tasio ane P. Salvi, eice each; nd P. Démaso, once apiece. Libertad inw Nal ne tngee Political sense crops up 13 times, distributed between Elias, 5; "si, Ibarra, and Primitivo, 2 each; and Filip and the Domini ‘an Provincial, L apiece: In a general, non-political sense it occurs divided between the Narrator, 4; and Ibatra, the Capitan General, Filipo and the schoolteacher, once each. ‘The verb ibar(ic) is used twice by Tasio unpoltcally, and once by vo politically. Independousia appears once, when Elias strik ly speaks to Thatra of oxestra [not muestra indcpendencia.® Second: Words connected to monarchy and empire (26 in ). Rey [king] occurs 18 times in different contexts, Refer ‘ing to the Spanish king we find 12 cates, divided between P, Dnimaso, 35 the Capitan-General, 2; and the Teniente, Tasio, the Alléver, Filipo, a young politician, a sergeant, and a voice in the ‘crowd, 1 apiece, Tasio and the Narrator each use the term twice in general sense, while the Narrator and Thatra each use it once w refer to a ehess-piece. Inperador [emperor] is used once each by Hivio ancl Tiago, ip both eases referring co the emperors of Antig- ‘icy. Rei (queen) occurs four times, used twice by the newspa- in a general sense, and once each by the Nar wor and Ihara to reler to a chess>piece. Prince (prince), em: ployed once exch by Tasio and the Narrator, refers to actorsichar acters iv the marosnoro play enacted for the fiesta. The same is ‘ase for frinssa [princess], used twice by the correspondent and ‘once by ‘Ki, Finally, Tisio on one occasion describes himself his ways wo sy partidaro de la monarpuie Aereditaria (I am no supe iy)” Think: Words connected to poliesl parties andl party political ‘orientations [26 cases). Under this rubrie we Find partido tioned 5 tines, always by ‘anseroudr(es) is wed 1 Limes by the Narrator, and the adjective 4 times, also a liberal comes: up Ges, in per corresponds Dponter of heredicary m Narrator. ‘The a ways by he Nateator. 7 228 (chap, 49 atv de Bo pereon). bd fchap 4 “Li eo ln). Nol me tage 19 he mouth of the Narrator. In effect, all the words in this category are monopolized by the Narrator. Fourth: Variations on the root fbuters @1 mentions). Fiintero crops up 18 times, distributed as follows; anonymous voices, 6; the Narrator, 4; the old Teniente, 3; and 1 each for Vietorina, the Author (chapter tide), che schoolteacher, a friar, and the new Teniente. The contemptuous diminutive filbustrlo ‘occurs three times, twice in the mouth of an unnsined person, once in that ofa civil servant Fifi: Words connected to progress and refoems (21 instances). Piygei is mentioned 9 times, distributed between Tasio, 4; the Narrator, 2; Filipo, 2; and dhe schoolteacher, The Narrator tises the verb form just once. Refirma(t) is spoken of 10 times: lias, 4s Tbaera 3; and Tasio, the schoolteacher and P. Démaso, ‘once apiece, Diimaso is the only person to use (once, sarcas ) the word reformader Sinth: Society. Saedad is mentioned 7 times, but only 3 times With & politcal implication. Users of the term in this sense are ‘has, Mharra, and Filipo, Seventh: Words connected to citizenship (6 cases). Gitdadano ‘up dtce times, in the mouthe of Tbarra, Elias, and the Capitan General; conidadanas (fellow-citizens) is used on one oc ‘ston each by Ibarra, Tasio, and the Cay Hiphil: Revolution. Revluién is mentioned 4 times, once each \w the mouths of the Alférez, the halEwit, Primitivo, and an un aed woman What is leis miscellany: caliiar (2) - the Narrator and an inonymons voice; the adjective clonal 2) ~ the Narrator and an voice; ceplaita, used either to mean a merchant or an he Narrator, a newspaper, and a ive capitan once, by the Narrators caivon (woeking term for a Calis) twice, both in abu- ry the Altérer and the Narrator; the wl emirate ave used once each, the frst can-General ayribusiness landowner (3) = Wspaper correspondents the din20 Name tage steastically by the Narrator, and the second seriously by Tasio; tipo is used once by Ibarra; compatriots once by Elias; and rcs del hombre [the sights of max] once by Tarra Not much commentary is needed here, What is plain ie the highly restricted range of political vocabulary, and the no less re- led range of people who use it: primarily Ibarra, Elias, Taso, Ml the Narrator. So it is not too surprising that rrooluaén is a word Iefi co a half-wit, a brutish peninsular policeman, a pomp: ‘ian unnamed woman. All this reinforces the idea that ‘he ol is only tangentially a novel about polities; rather i is a ‘moralit’s novel about the deplorable condition of the Philip Pines, as the famous Preface promises. This point will be made more elaborately later on, when we come to the Fil Intermezzo Hefore turning to the final section of this analysis of the Na, wwe might usefully pause to take a quick look at elements of the vocabulary whieh give some indications of Riza’s cultural world fn 87, Wits ippines roughly 23 toponyms outside the colonial capital are mentioned, only six escaping the Narrator's rein the Tagslogspeaking areas of South crn Luzon. ‘The rare exceptions are Pampanga, Albay, Cebu, and perhaps Jolo, if we include the Narrators sarcastic description of San Miguel wielding a joloano’ kris! The distribution is: the Narrator, 225 the newspaper correspondent, 6; with one apiece for P. Sibyla, ‘Tasio, Ibarra, P. is, Capitan Avstorenas, attention, Akos all Ii, ‘nul an unnamed peasant Outside the Philippines, we find roughly 47 toponym, nly 19 of which are not provided by the Narrator, The geographical dlisiibution is instructive: Enrope, 26; the Near East, including, Nel me tngee a Egypt, 7; Asia, 7; Africa, 9; Oceania, 2; and the Americas, 2 ‘Here the distribution is: Narrator, 57; Tasio, 16; Ibarra, 15; the Capitan-General, 6; P. Dimaso and La Victorina, 5 cach; the ‘eniente, 4; anonymous voices, 3; Tiburcio, Albino, the young politician, Sergeant Gémez, Elias, Filipo, the schoolteacher, the newspaper correspondent, and Capitana Tinchang, 2 apiece; and ‘one cach for Capitan Basilio, a peasant, Primitivo, the Alife, the Dominican Provincial, Tiago, and (Se}fior Juan. Asia is bit of 1 surprise: the only places mentioned are China, Japan, Bengal (here a type of lamp comes from), Persia, Canton, Hong Kong, the Husngcho river-and Asia itself. No India, Ceylon, Korea, or tiny state in Southeast Asia; no Peking, Tokyo, Caleutta, Co- lombo, or Singapore, Doubtless the explanation for the surprise is that in 1887 Rizal had as yet no personal experience of Asia, ‘only of Western Europe. ‘As for ‘persons’ there are perhaps no seal surprises. We find 22 saints (distribution: the Narrator, 40; Tasio, 12; P. Dmaso, 7; 45 Rafa, 3; the correspondent, the Alférr, the goberna lo, and a peasant, 2 apiece; and Capitan Basilio, 1); 20 Bg- ‘wes from the history of Classical Antiquity, of whom Cicero ix ‘nost prominent with 5 mentions (distribution: the Narrator and Hisio, 8 each; Capitan Basilio, 4 P. Démaso, 8; Fiipo and snonymous voices, 2 each: and Capitan Valentino and the news- correspondent, I apiece); $1 figures from myth (over: ly GraecoRoman), plus Ugolino from Dante's Iyema, from Verdi's La Traviata, and Segismundo from Caklonin’'s Le Vide es Sueio (distribution: the Narrator, 25; the conespondent, 6; and Ibarra, P, Démaso, Tasio, Maria Clara, ail the Dom | one each); 14 figures from the Iible (isuibutions the Narrator, 143 Tasio, 5; P. Damaso, 2; and Don Basilio, Primitivo, and the newspaper correspondent, 1 i); 15 persons fiom Church history (dlistibution: Tasio, 10; P, Diino and La Vieworina, 2 each; the Narrator, P, Sibyl, the n Provinc2 il me tener ‘he schoolteacher, and a peasant, 1 apiece)s 11 ‘vom Philippine colonial history (distribution: the correspondent, mad the Allez, 2 each; and the Narrator ‘one apiece); 15 figures from Western Euro history listibution: the Narrator, 10; ‘Tasio and the Alléwer, 2 evel; and the Capiten-General, La. Vietorina, Tiago, saul the correspondent, 1 apiece), OF these the most interesting ue hee contemporaries; Isabel IK (the Nartator, once), Amado 1 (the Narrator, once), and Antonio Cénovas (Tiago, once); 13 ast ists nd writers, including Shakespeare, Dante, Heine, Hans inistian Andersen, Rafael, Rivera, and Gounod, as well as the Filipinos Baltasar (Balagtas), and Pedro Paterno (distribution: the Narrator, 12; ‘Fasio, 3; Ibarra, Elias, and the schoolteachen, oe ea ‘entists~Copemieus, Galileo, nd Champollion-are mentioned by Primitivo, Tasio sul the Narrator I there is a surprise, i is in the absence of any Germans, such as Schiller and Goethe, whom Rizal is known ireatly wo have admired. The lst shows how much Rizal was the product of his excellent Ateneo education, baseel on Classical Ane vty and Church History. The attentive reader will also note the astonishing amoune of Latin ased in the novel, making it per naps the fast vorld-lass novel in which this beautiful ancient la f i}. ‘Three famous European is sll conspicuous ©, Questions about Tagalog Here there are two questions to be addressed. The frst seems ‘out to be enigmatic, Which personae are sid to speak about dhe ‘Tagalog language, and who is said to use it to Whom? For context, it i useful to note that several other lan ages are refered to in dhe novel, Spanish (referred 0 both as «! hal anul el castetlana) is mentioned 31 times, distributed among: the Narrator, 14; the schooltercher, 6; P, Diimaso, ‘Tasio a imple, but ee Nit me ange % Tura, 2 each; and Tiburcio, Maria Clara, Tinchang, La Consolacién, the correspondent, and an anonymous voice, 1 apiece). Latin (noun and adjective) is mentioned 20 times, with the following distribution: P. Dimago, 6; the Narrator and asi, ; Primitivo, 9; and the Alférer, Maria Clata, and Tinchang, 1 apiece, English occurs 5 times (Tasio wice, Ibatra, P. Sibyla, wd the Narrator, once each]; Chinese, 2 times (both from Tasio); Japanese, wvice (both from Tasio); ancient) Egyptian, 3 times (all Irom ‘Tasio); and Halian, once (Ibarra) Tagalog, however, is mentioned more often even than Latin, ‘sey 29 times. Over half of these mentions come from the Narra lor (17), followed, a long way behind, by the schoolteacher (2); and P. Dimaso, the gravedigger, Taso, the young, politician, ant wonymous voice, Elias, La Consolecibn, her assistant, Tinchang an Primitivo, 1 apiece. ‘The Narrator tells us directly of the following interlocutor gravedigger speaks en tagalo ta his associate; the gohermdorcillo to Tasio; Elias to Tharra; La Consolacidn to her Spanish to tell Sisa in Tagalog to start singling La. Gonsolacign to Sisa (en pect tagab); Gonsolacién's ‘sintane exclaims to himself Abd! Sabe palé tagel; barra 0 Elias; P, Dimso to Tia Isabel; a bandit to Elias; and the Visayan Civil (Guard to his Tagalog comrade, In none of these eases are we told vage the other interlocutor uses to respond. The Narra: iso ells us that Ibarra’s sinister Basque grandfather spoke the language well and mentions thre times that the second hall of Pr Damaso’s sermon is given in Tagalog. Ia four places he sarcas- La Gonsolacién’s atcempss to pretend she docs wot unierstand Tagalog because she is really an eryée, and the way she martial the language as well as Spanish. He speaks lvonically of the Alealde's poetry as an indescribable mix of bg ane Castilian, and mentions the young man sho left the ehusel during the Tagalog half of Daaaso’s sermon clan sssistant, telling bin Lain, Tig4 Nal me tng ing vas all Greek 10 him. Finally he says chat in Tagalog the ‘water boarding’ torture inflicted on Tarsilo is called findain?™ ‘The remaining eases are these: P, Diimato tells Tiago's guests ‘Hat le knew almost no Tagalog during his early days in Filipinas, ‘hat the manuscript he is writing is in Taga loys, as that is “our” tongue, ‘The schookeacher describes how at his fist meeting with Dirmaso, he addressed him in Spanish, and vas erated for this-only Tagalog was permissible; a the second iceting, he therefore spoke in Tagalog-but was iguored. An un- tuamedl person describes the young man who lee Damaso’s ser ‘non claiming it as pretending not to know Tagalog though, in Tiel, he knew ic very well. Finally in the conversation between Primitivo and Tinchang, dhe woman begs him not to speak in Latin, but rather in either Tagalog or Castilian. The man replies ‘in effect that ‘Tagalog rains the pure meaning of any serious tay The puraling thing about this collection of relerences is that itis huge enough to command our attention, i is difficult to see any convincing pattern. In the end, it may be that the impor ‘ant thing is simply presence, since in the Fl there is nothing com- [parables almost no one is described as speaking Tagalog. We ean now tum co dhe actual occurrence of Tagalog words in the novel, and ask who uses them, and why. wide a few lines of Balageas and a little viddle by + of which is translated into Spanish), we can count approximately 128 ‘Tagalog words, mostly nouns, whi ‘uoduced into the Spanish text. I say “approximately” because 1 1m seferving co words sail specifically to be ‘Tagalog, and usually i 212 (chap, 57 “Ve wie”). The passage it very inset il sites! Lo fijinos sb toque ge dr age Bas po ‘ovo (Te pins Know eat this ean; Tagalog Wey eanslte it hy ‘mein This perp the nly pee where a lea dino ade Twetwee gal speakers al Filipinos in general Na me anor 25 italicized, Yet there are a number of now italicized Tagalog words, warked because they had become Hispaniczed in the Philp. pine version of Spanish, while there are also some italicized words in which the Tagalog cleanly derives from Spanish, for ex nple, seragnte from zarague. Formally, the distribution of the “Tx flog words looks like this: Effectively half (68) come from the Narrator; followed by anonymous voices, 12; Ibarra, 7; P. Pamaso and Seftor) Juan, 6 each; Tia Isabel, 5; Tasio, 4; La Gonsolaeién, an unnamed peasant, and some anonymous so stirs, 3 each; Rufa and an unnamed child, 2 each: and the Teniente, Crispin, Sinang, La Vietorina, Térsilo, Kay, Don asi, Petra, a guard, a ‘newcomer’ a friar, and an unnamed pi ‘ous woman, I each. Twenty-three characters in all, aside fiom the Narrator, use Tagalog words, At rst sight this is an astounding tltribution across the whole social gamut from peninsular t0 the ‘oorest, purest ida. But the distribution becomes even move fas ‘“imatng when we notice cha the indo hero Elias mer ais single wd of Tagalog In the above paragraph, I was eareful to include the word ‘for: ‘wally? since one could say that the high figures for Ther, Juan, va Isabel are a bit misleading. Juan's words all come in one Paragraph, and are simply a list of the Philippine hardwoods he uses in his work, Isabel's total also comes from one paragraph here she lists a set of edible, feshwvater fish, Likewise, Ibarra’s ‘elatvely high total stems from a single paragraph where he re ‘ils Maria Clara ofthe names of various children’s games they pliyed together. If we set these paragraphs aside, the cur ‘ows fact is that the character who uses Tagalog the most-laugh: ably badly, to be sure~is the peninsular. Démaso! he formal ‘erm who use Tagalog typically do so in the form of exclama: ions: wart abi makit, semariaup! and the like. ‘The most bri. ‘iont and searing use of “Tagalog comes, strangely enough, in the scene wheve La Consolacin’s shuvelled heart is softened by the6 Nel me tage soni of Sisa's dudinan (which, however, is in Spanish in the vest!) "No, no canes!” exams la aferesa en perf tage, lvanténdse aaa; “no canes! Me Bacon dato esas vers!” La lca st call; el intel am: ABS! Sabe old tagalog!” y quedise mvaada la sear, Tee de adwirain (No, don't sing!” exclaimed the wife of the Alléser in perfect Tagalog, rising to her fet in agitation. “Don't sing! ‘Those verses hurt me!" The mad woman fell silent. The cl out: “Abal So she knows Tagalog pall” and stared at full of wonder ian’s “perfect Tagalog” is given in perfect Span ish, but we ean hear it like the gaping aide, who responds appro: Iincly with the beautiful “Fagnish’ of sabe ld tagalog. The cui ‘os ching is that earlier in ehe chapter Rizal has che Alféreza bark. ot Siva, “wanes, magcatar ta!” (Come, sing now! without any- 1 noticing her ovn lapse into “Tagnish’* But La Gonsolacién. iv the great exception, Generally, Tagalog exclamations are in wed only For comic or satirical effect, as well as “local color! We ate thus left co reflect on the strange fat that itis the Nar- itor who is overwhelmingly the biggest user of Tagalog words. Inv bis Knglsh version of the novel, Leon Ma. Guerrero had al: realy noticed this oddity with discomfort and incomprehension Sine he wanted to get rid of Tagalog altogether, one of his solu ‘inns ay to innslate the Nareator’s Tagalog into a weird kind of uple rendering safe! as “A native hat? as if eisal lal sisen, in Spanish, an sombre idio§ (is only in foot hte 6, pe 27 of the tole appended to the centennial edition of the 1 hat slate i explained-for whom?) Yet dhe fact is ehat for words (aiually nouns) he employs, dhe Nar- ‘ator adds a Spanish paraphrase, except where the context makes the meaning pa La, Consol Fnglsh, for ex tnwost of the Tag his version of what Rial wre iii AL (chap. Ni me tage a ‘The obvious question that arises is this: if the primary ine ld readers of the Noll were Riza’ fellow Flipinos, why did te fet he had to paraphrase terms ike bts into Spanish? Most of the Filipinos who could read Spanish at all were cher Tagalogs ‘or people like the Lana brothers, who, even if hey were ethni cally Hocano, had been raised in Manila where Tagalog was a inujor Fingua franca among the ‘natives! The perhaps surprising onwer is that there is plenty of evidence that Rizal's low Flip nos, while obviously important, were not che only targeted read ‘rs, This evidence comes not only from the text of the novel i sel, but also from Riea’s correspondence with friends im the pe: vio! immediatly following the Nat?s publication in the biter Ber acer of 1887 Ia the brillant opening chapter, Rizal wrote! ff que me les ig 6 emia! cs que te aac a acres del aru, a CU sini nan del val de seb, ques vrei on las ramus alé en la Pra del rie (You who read me, be you view oF foe, if you are aracted by the sounds of the orchestra, the Figs, oF by the uamsisakabletnkle of glass and silverware, snd wish to see what parties ate lke our de in the Peas of the Orica. tn cia fatpassage Ga the novel) where the Nara tor ateses his reading audience dieely, we notice that (1) chey sve divided between friends and foes, not between Filipinos and Synmiands, nor fellow nationalists and the colonialist; 2) they x8 to lear how parties are organized in Manila vething which Spanishteading Filipinos and many Spaniards kaw well without opening the novel a all; and (3) most tn, Manila, Pearl of the Orient, is situated al (yonder, fa the othe side ofthe wort), not apa (here, i Flipinas. Whe rors imagined here are, Hke Rizal himself in Europe, not nat. We cam thos conclude that, are concerned, they are symp Wt least in this passage) in 5 cestainly as far ashe “riends» Nal me tngere principle co Rial’s cause, they have never been to the Vhilippines aut know lee about it, bu they ate eager to Fear: German ethnologists and linguists to whom Rizal vcluced by Ferdinand Blumenerte, eduested people of the ‘ind dhe stor met during his stays and studies in Paris, London, Hein, ad Heidelberg. Seen from this angle, the Narrator's heavy use of Tagalog (with Spanish paraphrases) shows him in the voles of accomplished ‘tour guide! "translator? and ‘native in: formant? He realy isa Native Tagalog, despite his Spanish name is wring im Spanish, and he can reliably guide his readers UUnvonyh the exotica of a remote ‘Oriental culture and society, Ta lg thus serves as a warranty for the Narrator's (and the vuthon's) aunty. tive conjectures ean be confirmed from aurviving ‘We know, from Miéximo Viola, his constant compan: fom aid Deo June 1887, that Rizal thought sctinusly about writing his next novel in French, in the event that the Aall unmed out to be a flop among the Filipinos” For this pplan-which in the end he never carried out-he found an eager ‘uppovter in Bhumentrtt, who rightly believed that if the second hovel were indeed written in French, then the primary language sf world literary culture, i would reach a much wider interna il auctince chan was possible with Spanish then a second- oF thie cass literary language). In a letter of July 2, 1890, the eth: ‘enthusiastically: eh sehe mit Sehuwcht dem Buche jm das Du frac seoeben wirt, ch she voray das es es Wi Mivinn Vila, Misc of Di al (1913), Dries yeni ol tof Fits le Je Real (Mavis Cosine Contenaco. dont eal, 196) B16, The Sponish tex eas: cutde gue sar lara de esa dl fs, me sp dice de ve ae cu en x omy as le quest age fir, 05s pontine dt ste eben 1 given for Ria re hey weve ered cay in THR, brie the Aah Nii me ange 29 ingeennes Auch ergen wird L eagerly ait the book you are to rice i French, I foresee chat it will provoke a colossal sensation] * Blumentritt was probably thinking of the huge international ess of such French novels as Vietor Hugo's ire Dame de ovis, Alexandre Dumas (pir)'s Le Comte de Monte Cris, and ugene Sue's Les Abutres de Pris and Le Jef Erant, as well as En His language works such as Harriet Beecher Stove's Uae Tom's Calin, which were quickly translated into most European lan- suages, (To these huge global successes there had been no Span- ‘nh equivalent since the distant days of Dox Qyizte) But, as men- tioned above, Rizal did not carry out the plan. Alteady in a leter from London dated August 26, 1888, he had writen to humentriet that: Leh gedachte vorkr auch in framisich zu scribe, ther ih glaub, es besser fr meine Landieate i schreiben; ich muss den (Geist eines Vaterlands aus seinem Schlonner axfuecen[l used to think of writing also in French, but I came to believe that i is better to ‘write for my fllow-countrymen; I have to arouse the spirit of my Faherland from its slumber]* Sill, ic is well worth thinking about the implications of an ZI Filiserimo composed in French. In 1891, probably only few hun shed of Rizal's compatriots would have been able to read it, On the other hand, we should also recognize that no nationalism ex ‘nts by itself each always desires recognition by the collectivity of filer nations, Sinee all nationalists want 10 tell the vest of the World sbout themselves, the idea of a French li simply shows Ale permanent cosmopolitan side of any nationaliss, IM. "The teat ofthis leer can be fond on p. 627 of Carta exe ily 1 Pfr Fea Blast, 1890-1896, pct 8; in book 2 of wokume 3 ies Crop cir (Manila: Gamisn del Centenario de Wé Ral 196, 19 This leer can be found om 9. 389 of the Caras ene Rial y oor Frvando Binet, 1888-1890, pat 2 in book 2 of volume 3 of ine ravi spiel (Mail! Comin det Centenario de Joewa Nil me tng AAC this point we can urn ack to, and peshaps resolve, wo puis that concerned vs earlier. ‘The Gratis the simpler. Why ves the indi» Bias, al persecuted strata of colonial society, never offer the reader a ‘ingle word of “Eyalog, indeed speaks a Spanish as good-or, bet: ter peslaps, as pure-as the Narrators? He is certainly never al: lowed by the author to speak the “perfect Tagalog" of which La reveals herself capable. Most likely, there are sev- ‘val related answers. T noted earlier that when Rizal puts Tagalog. iw the mouths of his characters~P. Dimaso using bate instead of ang exclaiming drays the Visayan soldier whispering Sismuriaep, or La Consolacién insulting La Vitorina with Pull the intended effet is typically humorous or satirical. But Elias is coounlly serious, noble, and long-suffering hero, and there Tove to he protected from any whiff of comedy or sarcasm. ‘Mixed speech’ in the Nol is usually a sign of colonialcy-froin Démaso's Ihlicrous ereolized Tagalog phrases to La Vicorina’s absurd af ion of Andalusian Spanish. Elias, however, is a man outside i, and points beyond it, So he must speak purely; and since the novel is written in Spanish, not Tagalog, his words must the in ‘perleet Gasiian? Furthermore, the question of ‘wo’ he is is answered with complete clarity by his actions in the narrative In this way, Re needs no linguistic guarantees of his authenticity ven his single same, chat of an Old Testament prophet, stands side Spanish colonialism, ina way hat ‘José Rial’ does not. he Ni ‘he other hand, isin exactly the opposite posi inn, He knows everything, and can comment on anyehing, but he n the narrative, hence ean noe guarantee hi ow e style at his indie hero, Tagalog: must representa nachac, Si icky the san ve to ‘The second of the puzzles isthe total absence of any explicit rel rence to Chinese mestizos, nege social stratum with represen tatives all over the C lized parts of Hlipinas, and in the see il half of the nineteenth century increasing its economic power, Na me tng a level of education, and political aspirations all the ime." Te is not that the reader cannot infer from various passing indications tha characters like Tiago and Tasio Delong to ths stratum, but rather thatthe narrative itself always avoids naming them as such. There are also plenty of characters whose ‘racial? clasiication is deli ately left obscure. This obscurity in turn is shared by both the Narrator, and for the purposes of the Nols general readership, ‘José Rizal” himself, There is no doubt that Spanish dislike of, anxiety about, and racist contempt for ‘the Chinese’ and ‘Chinese culture had & pro Found effect on colonial society. In the name of traditional arsto cratic (eudal and neo-feudal) Castilian culture and values, the Chinese were to be despised, not merely a8 non-shite, but also as irveligious, ignorant, money grubbing, dishonest, cunning, and vulgar. Traces of this contempmous antiSiniciem’ are visible in the Nill-and, we shall see, far mote s0 in the Fas well as in the Drivate correspondence of the iutadas! Small wonder then that ‘he ambitious and upwardly mobile Chinete mestizos de empha sived, and even worked to conceal, whatever was residually ‘Chi nese” about themselves. Like ducks to water, they took to calling themselves Don and Dofa, and enjoyed such ditles as Capitan when dey could obtain them. Quite often the most visible (non: physical) traces of thelr ancestries were their surnames, which cwbined a clan name with the Hokkien honorific -ke (or cin Castilian orthography), to create eventually such well-known sx pers ilies as the Tiangoos, Cojuangeos, Sycos and Tinhuateos, At the same time, the first elements in their names 40, I his lassie nile “The Chinese Mestian in Philippine History Iuwnal of Sots Ain Hite, 8, no. 1 March 1964 62-100, Edgar Wicker eaimated ie demngrpticlly-in the later nineteenth century ‘eve mess about 240,00 aeong, cme in second after the milion sino an efor the 2,000 Spanish mesos, the 10,000 ns, and {he 8,000" omar 1. Quien iin Abt 9, 186-5%m Nak me tangre were likely wo be ‘classy’ Hispano-Gatholic, like Apolinario and Cecilia, What is striking in the Gl ie the total absence of "Chi named characters ate given no sut thames at all, ‘Thus, we do not learn the last names of premarsiage Viewrina, oF of Don Basilio, Tia Isabel, Hermana Rufa and many This odd pattern is reason for a certain suspicion, If one was, in 1887, inclined to star chinking in the classical anticolonial binary of usnatives vs, chemcolonialists, the ‘Chinese; pure or ‘mestiza, would be aa uncomfortable third party, nether exactly native nor colonial; and almost all of them, too, dated « win the country toa time after the Spanish Conquest. [But the tue resolusion of this problem requires a wider angle of vision. Flor Quibuyen cites, at evidence that a non-creole nan filipino was in extensive ase by 1887, 4 pas ‘age from an Rnglish translation of a leter Rizal wrote in Ger ‘usu to Blumentett on April 13, 1887: “All of us have to sacrifice ucthing on the altar of politics, ehough we might not wish to do so. That is understood by our friends who publish our nevwspa- per in Madrid, They are creole young men of Spanish descent, Chinese mestizos, and Malayans; but we call ourselves “Fiipi- "The German original, however, reads: wir sisi alle der lik ets ofr, wenn auch wir Aine Lust daran haben, Dies verschen nce Fewnde rece in Madrid unsere Zeitung erausgeen;dise Frewnde sind le inlingen, crstn, meaen end malaien, wir nennen uns nar Phalippincr (We must all make sacrifices for political reasons, even we ration to do so, This is understood by my (iiewls who publish our newspaper in Madrid; these friends are all youngsters, ereoles, mestizos, elves simply pies} Note casing for th fe wo incin id me dager 2 “Ghinese’ before mestizos, which is not there in the original Ger ‘man, His historical instinct is quite right, bue he does not seein to hhave noticed Rizal's sleghtofhand. “Mestitos' by itself implies the normal Spanist mestias of the colonial racial hierarchy, and ‘conecals the Chinese mestzar with ancestries outside the Spanish Vinpire and the Philipines. But the most significant aspects of Rizal's sentences lie else whiete, and ean only be appreciated by thinking comparatively. ‘One can begin by considering the experiences of the Spanish Ameriess in late-colonial times. In Imagined Communities I discussed the widespread belie in the imperial centers (England, Spain, and Portugal, above all) that the natural environment in distant, and tropical colonies had a degenerative effect, visible among the children of settlers coming directly from the ‘ctropole—it chey were born ‘overseas## There was also the [popular idea that open or hidden miseegenation with indigenes or African slaves and freedmen meant that the ‘blood’ of these ‘lonials was likely to be racially contaminated, Such people ‘wuld not be trusted. (Hlstile reaction to this prejudice was one Wy s0 many ereoles and mestizos became leaders of inde Henlence movements in the Americas). Under these conditions, Hrcple in the imperial centers ad very litle interest in the nice. ‘ies and distinctions of the social orders in the colonies. Already ‘wands the end of the cighteenth century, wealthy young men veut o Spain for higher education found themselves referred to ith contempt 2s aneriaaes. No one in Madid cared whether they weve ereoles oF mestizos, whether they came from Valparaiso or Gwvlalajra, or whether their parents made & living within the Vicevoyalty of Peru or that of Mexico. They were all ‘simply Americas? IC did not take very long for some of these resentful Youngsters co ane x eerm of contemp into one of pride. Besides,“ Nal me tangee the very stall muubers coming from any one place in the vast Kimpire ac any one time made exclusive ‘homeboy’ social circles ‘yvite unviable) When the anc-colonial revolution eventually Involve out (in Mexico, as it happened, it was initially regarded by ‘as an American, rather chan 2 Mexican, sel young m Ie is more than likely that ehis history was replicated when, ia tle 1870s, significant numbers of young men from rich families in the Philippines started going to Spain for higher education. eople iv Madrid and Barcelona could not cate less whether the hale ewe from Holo or Batangas, whether they were speakers of Hocano or ‘Tagalog, o whether they were creoles, mestizos, ot "Malays." ‘They all came from Las Filipinas, a good many had Ivownish skins, dhey spoke a slightly odd form of Spanish, some iorrectly, they liked ‘weird? food, and this was sufficient. They we er of the Inte cighteenth century camcices, ‘sonply fliina’—guys from the Philippines. One would Uhevelore expect that sooner or later they would assume this same ith a hostile pride-and a 16, Sowdeats fom dhe Philippines were fst permite to enrol in Span ‘ns universics fn 1863, "The enry aval were typically creole Inds who ‘wre physiallyindiingeisable from their mewopoltan dhasmates. Mes ths of eas Kinds bean to arrive only ia dhe later 1870s, Se the fis ‘hv sem! Pos writen by Jvia Venta Castro for her French tans thon of the AGk-2) tore a! Pare: Galina, 1980). 1, a keer of Jame 25, 12, wo bis Fay on is ia vival in Helo, Riel wrote: be pial for aula achat y Hn, wns eo Mia, Utd get ond la lenin de td ml, fer Hama io, jos, amis lei Alpin Pore ail Kate time mois ie imwcdeaed bv Mall es Bows thing ow ysl] he Hindnd Leto oJ Riad (Milt Naina Mivunieal Society 1989}, 26 tie The Bi Papi: Day of Al (Mies Navona Hstnica ate, 1961), 95, Leon A Cae ily sane “Pulte pas as "Our poow count Na me ange eo surprised that the famous journal eventually produced by some of ‘hese youngsters was given the name Le Solidardad-a name of obvious relevance in Spain, but unlikely to have been a first choice for a comparable publication in Manila, (Were they aware that La Solidaridad was the name given 19 years earlier to the borielly legal organ of the First International's Bakuninise Spanish hapiery* Rizal's words underline 1 point, since he told Blumenttitt although his friends actually are creoles, mestizos, and Malay(an}s, they “call dhemselves" (in Spain) “simply line” A srategie political decision, in fact, and not altogether a pleasant ‘one, since it involved snspecfied “sacrifices” We know from the ‘existing correspondence that people in the circle of La Silidarided estate to speak and write anong thonses of the creoles sal mestizos in their midst!" which means-no great surprise ‘hat “Filipinos” was what they called themselves ix publi. (On the other hand, if in Spain no one gave a fig if “lpino’ was a creole, a mestizo, oF a Malay(an)—note the significant ab seuce wf dad in the mecropole—this was by no means the case in the colony. ‘There, these distinctions were of real everyday im: hvortance, Hence in the colony, the word fino for a considerable ‘ime meant something quite differene from what it denoted in Spin, Ife understand this essential difference/contrast, we will hie blew see that, if it was eventually natural for overseas 17 Wiliam Henry Scott, The Cis Ob Destin: Fit ipo Lar Yvon (Qyeron Cig: New Day Publishers, 1992), 6. Sco observed that Ihe fist toc, appearing on Jonssey 15, 1870, made special mention of ini Oceania 90a wh oki the we, wide regions of Asia” This cr wis ane in November 1871, but when the Gt enjor in the Pippi occ en months aferward (a the Cavite ase Caphan Genera Ingenta wae convinced tat the "hick hand” of taal was bel vilnce lted in chapter 4 of Job J. Schumacher, 88 A¥O-1805, vex ck (Quezon Gy Manta University tres, 1)7 id me tage youngsters allé call themselves “simply Filipinos” there is no reason (@ believe that people living in the Philippines would do 10 ither as naturally ora promplly. Ie would take time, and a lot bf effort snd sacrifice, co ellet his eutural-political change. Another kind of comparison, just as illuminating, can be of feved! more briefly: in 1908, students originating from the Dutch Kast Indies (Nederlandseh Indi) formed in Holland an associa called the Indische Vereeniging. This association took its ‘ame, which we can translate as Indies Association, from the geo: ‘vaphical (erm for the vast colony; and it was the first association well before anything similar in the colony itself. ts ‘members were a mixed fot! Javanese, Minangkabau, Menado- Nese, Sundanese, ete in ethnie terms, ‘natives’ and ‘mestizos’ by ‘acial category, and Muslim and Chrisian (of different persua. ms) by religion, What they had in common was privilege. They hha al the best education available in the colony, and their par. ‘ns were welloff andior wellconnected to people inside the color ‘ial regime itsell Seen from this angle, they look very much like the students from the Philippines arriving in Spain generation coliet. Athough, on the whole, they were well treated in Hol ‘wu, and enjoyed touring around, drinking ia bars, and pursuing workings Dutch girls, they felt their separatencss-their skins slffevent shades of brown, their Duteh with funny accents and of ‘en shuky grammar, their weird taste in food-calletve. They all hhad the experience of ordinary Dutch people's complete lack of interest in (and knowledge about) what island they came from, which «own they grew up in, what language they used at home, or What ancestry they could claim, They were all ‘simply Indies? youngsters, This awareness of the nearabsolute relevance, in Hollan, of distinctions of huge importance in the colony, ex plainy the earliness of their selForganized solidarity on a colony Wide geographical bass, The parallel with Rizal and his friends in Spain is w awl apt, especially if we realize th y lowe the adjectives indivk ad me ange a {ilipve weve seructural analogues, based above all on political gog- ‘ply. Over the course of the decade after 1908 the Indische Vereeniging shifted fom being mainly a social club to something selteousciously political, By 1992 it had become sufficiently ralicalized and nationalist to change its name from tke Dutch lan age Indische Vereeniging to the Malay-Indonesian Perhimpu- n Indonesia, which we may translate as Indonesian Associa- ‘The language shife was important in itself, bat 20 also was Pioneering break with the word ‘Indies’ in favor of the hith cvto hedly used Indonesia’=a strange amalgam of Latin (India) vind Greek (ness, meaning island) coined by a sort of German ‘lnentrite half a century easier. No matte, it was not colonial word, and the Dutch colonial regime hated it. In this way, the ined bag of dsrado youngsters in Holland became the first sub al group co call chemselves ‘simply Indonesians! mall these cases, the Philippines, Spanish America, and Indo: ‘esi we ean thus sce the structural reasons for the historical pro- ession from an early cultural and emotional identification with ile (Rizal's patria adorade )—initially a familiar hometown or re rion, later, in Europe, with the extension of the metropole's geog: Huply of contempt, a ‘homecountsy'-towards a solidarity be ‘oveen peries from within the abstract, mapped space of the his is the progression from local patriotiam to modern from geographical sentiment to political program. I bolieve we ean take dhe ti me tangere of 1887 as milestone on ‘hs highway for the Philippines. Tt is an enotmously powerful vocation of an abused peéria and puebl (words in which geogra phy lil reverberates more insistently than anthropology), ‘The snihvopological-pottcal seddn is there omly in sparse and seat- ‘eved places, while che fully political nacionaiome is sil absent. But is waiting, just over the novel's sine Feels, as one reads, th