What does it mean to have a “Filipino”

novel and nation?

- novel carries “nationality”
- so that we can speak off hand of the “English
novel”, “Spanish novel” and “French novel”
In his 21 March 1887 letter to Blumentritt

“The first impartial and bold book about

the life of the Tagalogs. The Filipinos will
find in it the history of the last 10 years”
 What is the motive behind the
writing?
“Here I answer all the false conceptions
that they have written against us and all
the insults with which they have tried to
humiliate us”
 What was Rizal’s goal?
- To wake from its slumber the spirit of his
fatherland
- Reformation and rise of many writers
- Unmask the hypocrisy under the cloak of
Religion
- Distinguish true religion from the false
- To unveil what’s hidden behind the deceptive and
brilliant words of the government
 In the novel, Rizal primarily does “two”
things
- Answer the calumnies the colonizers heaped
upon his people
- Portray the country’s realities to propose a
“cure” by example
What was Rizal’s favorite metaphor for the
writing process and motive?
“Clinical diagnosis”

Government and friars ---> “cancer”

Why did Rizal chose to write a novel rather
than ethnography?
 What is a “knowable community?”
- It is the concept of “modern nationhood” out of
the unwelcome acts of the colonial rule
- “Filipino national community”
For Rizal, the basic problem of “knowing” a
community took the form of finding a position
from which “a community can be known”
 Who are counted as “Filipinos?”
- Creoles
- Natives
- Mestizos
- Sangley

Non-Filipinos ----> the spaniards

 Characters in the Novel:
- Crisostomo Ibarra
- Elias
- Capitan Tiago
- Dona Consolacion
- Pia Alba
- Padre Damaso
Functions of the “narrative persona”
(Rizal)
- Functions as a guide
- Both inside looking out and outside looking
in
- To render the Filipino community
“knowable”
 Emergence of Novel and Nations

- Print capitalism
- Rise of the bourgeoisie as a class
- Urbanization
- Secularization
- Reform
 Emergence of Novel and Nations

- Print capitalism
- Rise of the bourgeoisie as a class
- Urbanization
- Secularization
- Reform