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The Life and Works of Rizal

The Rizal Law (Republic 1425), the Study of Rizal and Literature
Module 1 Section 2
MODULE 1 SECTION 2: THE THEORY OF NATIONALISM

This section introduces the concept of nationalism in the Philippines context. It discusses the
nation as an “imagined community” in connection with Rizal and popular nationalism. It also
explains the theory of nationalism in relation to the enactment of the Rizal Law.

Intended Learning Outcomes:

At the end of this section, the students should be able to

1. Explain the concept of nationalism;

2. Determine how Rizal’s works embody the concept of nationalism; and
3. Assess the different views regarding Rizal and his work.

Diagnostics

Instructions:

1. With a partner, find a popular song (either in English or Filipino) with lines or stanzas
that illustrate nationalism.
2. Research on the history of the song (songwriter) and relate the theme (of nationalism) to
the songwriter based on his or her background.
3. Illustrate the song’s message on nationalism in a collage.

Nation and Nationalism

Nationalism is a set of systems – political, social, and economic – characterized by the

promotion of the interests of one nation anchored on the aim to achieve and maintain self-
governance or total sovereignty. It holds that a particular nation should govern itself and should
be free from external interference. Another important facet of nationalism is that it is oriented
towards developing and maintaining a national identity based on shared characteristics such as
culture, language, race, and religion. It seeks to preserve and reshape a nation’s culture. The
concept of nationalism is essentially modern, while people have historically been attached to
their families, community, and native land, the concept of nationalism gained recognition in the
late 18th century. The conceptualization of nationalism in a distinctively modern sense was tied to
the political awakening of the lower classes. Nationalist movements have invariably populist in
outlook and sought to induct lower classes into political life. The five basic elements of
nationalism are culture, history, language, religion, and territory.
Nationalism is best understood but first looking into the term nation. Benedict Anderson,
a prominent historian and political scientist who explored the origins of nationalism, defined the
nation as a fabrication, a bond between people who did not actually exist prior to its own
recognition. For him, the nation “is an imagined community – and imagined as both inherently
limited sovereign” (2006). Anderson argues that the nation is imagined as a community because
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The Life and Works of Rizal
The Rizal Law (Republic 1425), the Study of Rizal and Literature
Module 1 Section 2
regardless of the actual inequalities that prevail, the nation is always conceived as a deep,
horizontal comradeship. It is imagined because it exists in the figment of the people’s collective
imagination. According to Anderson, nation-ness is a cultural artifact that is felt as having
existed since time immemorial but is objectively modern as it first emerged toward the end of the
18th century.
Following this conceptualization by Anderson, the Philippine nation is an imagined
community because one who identifies himself or herself as a Filipino will never meet all the
other Filipinos around the world, yet he or she is convinced that they exist, and he or she is
related to them. Anderson also presents the concept of homogenous empty time, borrowed from
the ideas of Walter Benjamin, which replace the idea for simultaneity-along-time which referred
to the medieval conception of time as situating events in the past, present, and future
simultaneously. Homogenous empty time suggests that a nation can be imagined as a unit,
moving through time.

Rizal’s Works and Nationalism

Anderson points out that Rizal’s Noli Me Tangere conjured an imagined community as if
the readers and the author were familiar to and intimate with each other, with the characters and
readers being situated in the same context of time and space. The novel provided the means of
representing the nation as an imagined community that operated on empty time enabling the
reader to be omniscient to see a delimited society and the actuations of key people in it.
Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo emerged as the founding texts of Philippine
nationalism. These novels exposed the ills of the Spanish colonial government and the evils
prevailing in the Philippine society by presenting a narrative that contextualizes the country in
terms of politics, economy, and culture.
Rizal was able to go against the colonizers and show how literature can be used to arouse
people to be catalysts of social change. In both his novels, Rizal was able to portray the Filipino
in different dimensions, from those who had colonial mentality, to those who willingly fought for
the country at all costs.
Through his novels, Rizal emphasized the values of nationalism and loving one’s
country. The scathing national narrative Rizal presented became the inspiration for strengthening
the anti-colonial movement.

Reference:

Clemente, Janet Espina and Geoffrey Rhoel C. Cruz. 2019. The life and works of Rizal. Quezon
City: C & E Publishing, Inc. pp. 18 – 20