Philippine

Speculative
Fiction
Discussant: Junilyn S. Zozobrado
OBJECTIVES
Compare and contrast 21st Century literary genres
and the ones from the earlier genres/periods citing
their elements, structures and traditions.
Objectives:
● Define speculative fiction as a 21st Century literary genre;
and
● identify Filipino motifs in a sample text of speculative
fiction
Philippine
speculative
fiction
is an umbrella term in the country’s
literature that includes all genres of horror,
fantasy, science fiction, magical
realism, and other nonrealist genres.
Philippine
speculative
fiction
The terminology has been championed by
Dean Francis Alfar who has written and
edited stories under this genre.
Dean Francis Alfar
- is a playwright, novelist, and
writer of speculative fiction.

- His articles and fiction have been

published in Strange Horizons, Rabid
Transit, The Year’s Best Fantasy and
Horror, and more.
Dean Francis Alfar
- His works have garnered him ten Don
Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for
Literature, including the Grand Prize for his
novel, Salamanca (2006), as well as the
Manila Critics’ Circle National Book Awards
for the graphic novels Siglo: Freedom and
Siglo: Passion. Alfar edits the Philippine
Speculative Fiction series.
Dean Francis Alfar
Alfar described speculative fiction—or
specific in short hand—in his introduction
to The Best of Philippine Speculative
Fiction 2005-2010 as fiction that “asks
and answers ‘what if?’”
Dean Francis Alfar
-He noted that speculative encompasses
“stories that fall in between genre
boundaries (including the boundary of
realism) and are difficult to categorize,
such as slipstream and interstitial texts.”
Dean Francis Alfar
-Lastly, he included stories in other genres that are
written with “speculative sensibilities.”Alfar pushed
for the idea of Philippine Speculative Fiction, “the
types of stories we wanted to read (that we saw
published all the time abroad, but very rarely in the
Philippines), and more importantly, that these
stories were created by Filipino writers.”
 Examples
of
Speculative
Fiction
1. Alternate
Examples:
History
focusing on historical
events as if they
happened in a different
way, and their implications
on the present.
2. Apocalyptic
Examples:
takes place before
and during a
massive,
worldwide
disaster
3. Dystopia
Examples:
takes place in a highly
undesirable society,
often plagued with strict
control, violence, chaos,
brainwashing and other
negative elements.
4. Fantasy
Examples:
includes elements and
beings from human
cultural imagination, such
as mythical creatures,
magic and magical
elements, sorcery,
witchcraft, etc.
5. Horror Examples:
somewhat similar to
fantasy, but focusing
on terrifying, evil and
often powerful
beings, such as
monsters and ghosts.
6. Post-Apocalyptic
Examples:
focuses on
groups of
survivors after a
massive, typically
worldwide disaster
7. Science Fiction
Examples:
features natural
sciences and
technologies that
do not exist in
real life
8. Superhero
Examples:
centers on superheroes
and their fight against
evil forces such as
supervillains, typically
incorporates elements of
science fiction and/or
fantasy.
9. Utopia
Examples:
takes place in a highly
desirable society, often
presented as advanced,
happy, intelligent or even
perfect or problem-free
 Guide Questions:
Are there other
What is the trends that you are
purpose of familiar with? What
are these and what
speculative makesyou enjoy
fiction? reading them?
The University
Belt
The University Belt
I will never forget how Mr. Rosales, my
music teacher in 2nd year, vanished. My
parents, convinced at that time that I had a
degree of hidden musical brilliance, engaged
him as my tutor every Tuesday and Thursday
night, in addition to my regular class under him
on Fridays.
The University Belt
Mr. Rosales came from a small town in Negros,
from one of those places whose names the mind finds
impossible to recall, the ones where moths, wings
tipped in poisonous dust, trail after would be suicides.
He was a peculiar man who talked about his life to
anyone who would listen. After private lessons at my
house one evening, he told me how much he loved
music but felt that his entire life was a failure. I
remained quiet, out of respect. But it was true.
The University Belt
Against his lips, the flute acquired an altogether different
aspect, lilting, rising, falling, persuading, leading all who heard
it almost but not quite to the precipice of utter joy. But
consistently, at the precise moment when the next note would
transport his audience of students to an unearthly paradise, he’d
falter, reversing in mere moments the experience of delight and
replacing it with a cacophony that could only rouse an
exasperated sense of regret, enveloping those of us within
earshot with the fading echoes of his desperate longing.
The University Belt

One Friday afternoon in class, right after another truncated recital that
ended in the manner all his performances did, Mr. Rosales walked out of the
music room, in tears. My fellow students and I followed him at a cautious
distance down the corridors, past the classrooms where voices expounded on
genes and peas, down the stairs past the glass-enclosed trophies that proudly
attested to the school’s victories in volleyball, origami and spelling, and out
into the pristine and uniform-length grass of the quad. It was there that he
turned to us and said, “I’m done with this—and with all of you.”
The University Belt
The whirlwind that engulfed him appeared out of nowhere. It came as
an inverted cone, swirling with the tip on top, ten meters tall, colored mostly
green and smelling strongly of crushed leaves. It just covered him, like a cup
in a shell game, and was simply not there the next moment. The fascinating
thing about it, in fact the very last thing that everyone who witnessed Mr.
Rosales’ leavetaking remembered, was that the entire event took place in
silence. There was none of the expected sounds associated with a whirlwind,
even a completely unexpected one. It just came, upside down, covered him
completely, and vanished, all in silence
The University Belt

Mrs. Flores, the teacher who replaced him,

was less memorable.

I think she taught piano.

Short Quiz!
1. What are the fictional elements of University
Belt?
2. What do you think is the theme or motif of
the sample text?
3. What makes the story speculative?
4. What does the story reveal about today’s
society?
Thank YOU for
Listening!