Selected Novels

Presentation By:
Servañez, Franchette Ann F.
and
Manansala, Kyle L.
Noli Me Tángere ( Touch Me Not / Don’t Touch Me) is a
novel written by Dr. Jose Rizal, the national hero of the
Philippines, during the colonization of the country by
Spain to expose the inequities of the Spanish Catholic
priests and the rulling government. The title in Latin
meaning touch me not, refers to John 20:17 in the Bible
(King James Version) as Mary Magdalene tried to touch
the newly risen Jesus, He said ‘ Touch me not; for I am
not yet ascended to my Father; Early English translations
of the novel used titles like An Eagle Flight (1900) and
The Social Cancer (1912), disregarding the symbolism of
the title, but the more recent translations were published
using the original Latin title. It has also been noted by
French writer D. Blumentritt that ‘Noli me tangere’’ was
a name used by ophthalmologist himself Rizal was
influenced by this fact is suggested in his dedication, ‘ To
My Country.’’
Originally written in Spanish, the book is more
commonly published and read in the Philippines in either
Filipino or English. Together with it’s sequel, El
Filibusterismo, the reading of Noli is obligatory for high
school students throughout the archipelago references for
the novel.

Jose Rizal a Filipino nationalist and medical doctor,

conceived the idea of writing a novel that would expose
the ills of the Philippine society after reading Harriet
Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. He preferred that
the prospective novel express the way Filipino culture
was backward, anti-progress, anti- intellectual, and not
conductive to the ideas of the Age of Enlightenment. He
was then a student of medicine in the Universidad
Central de Madrid.
In a reunion of Filipinos at the house of his friend Pedro
A. Paterno in Madrid January 2 1884, Rizal proposed the
writing of a novel about the Philippines written by a
group of Filipinos. His proposal was unanimously
approved by the Filipinos present at the party, among
whom were Pedro, Maximino and Antonio Paterno,
Graciano Lopez Jaena, Evaristo Aguirre, Eduardo de
Lete, Julio Llorente and Valentine Ventura. However this
project did not materialize . The people who agreed to
help Rizal with the novel did not write anything. Initially,
the novel was planned to cover and describe all phases of
Filipino life, but almost everybody wanted to write about
women. Rizal even saw his companions spend more time
gambling and flirting with Spanish women. Because of
this, he pulled out of the plan of co-writing with others
and decided to draft the novel alone.
 Publication history. Rizal finished the novel in
. December 1886. At first, according to one of Rizal’s
biographers, Rizal feared the novel might not be printed,
and that it would remain unread. He struggling with
financial constraints at the time and thought it would be
hard to pursue printing the novel. A financial aid came
from a friend named Maximo Viola which help him
print his book at a fine print media in Berlin named
Berliner Buchdruckerei-Aktiengesellschaft. Rizal at
first, However, hesitated but Viola insisted and end up
lending Rizal 300 pesos for 2,000 copies; Noli was
eventually printed in Berlin, Germany. The printing was
finished earlier than the estimated five months. Viola
arrived in Berlin in December 1886, and by March 21,
1887, Rizal had sent a copy of the novel to his friend
Blumentritt.
.

On August 21, 2007 a 480- page then latest English

version of Noli me Tángere was released to major
Australian book stores. The Australian edition of the
novel was published by Penguin Book Classics, to
represent the publication’s ‘commitment to publish the
major literary classics of the world.’’ American writer
Harold Augenbraum, who first read the Noli in 1992,
translated the novel. A writer well-acquainted with
translating other Hispanophone literary works,
Augenbraum proposed to translate the novel after being
asked for his next assignment in the publishing company.
Intrigued by the novel and knowing for about it, Penguin
nixed their plan of adapting existing English versions and
instead translated it on their own.
El Filibusterismo were banned in some parts of the
Philippines because of their portrayal of corruption and
abuse by the country’s Spanish government and clergy.
Copies of the book were smuggled in nevertheless, and
when Rizal returned to the Philippines after completing
medical studies, he quickly ran afoul of the local
government. A few days after his arrival, Governor-
General Emilio Terrero summoned Rizal to the
Malacañang Palace and told him of the charge that Noli
Me Tangere contained subversive statements. After a
discussion, the Governor General was appeased but still
unable to offer resistance against the pressure of the
Church against the book . The presecution can be
discerned from Rizal’s Letter to Leitmeritz
‘My book made a lot noise; everywhere, I am asked
about it. They wanted to anathematize me [‘to
excommunicate me’] because of it … I am considered a
German spy, an agent of Bismarck, they say I am a
Protestant, a freemason a sorcerer. A damned soul and
evil. It is whispered that I want to draw plans, that I
have a foreign passport and that I wander through the
streets by night… Rizal was exiled to Dapitan, then
later arrested for “inciting rebellion “ based largely on
his writings . Rizal was executed in Manila on
December 30, 1896 at the age of thirty-five.
Rizal depicted nationality by emphasizing the qualities
of Filipinos: the devotion of a Filipina and her influence
on a man’s life, the deep sense of gratitude, and the solid
common sense of the Filipinos under the Spanish
regime. The work was instrumental in creating a unified
Filipino national identity and consciousness as many
natives previously identified with their respective
regions. It lampooned, caricatured and exposed various
elements in colonial society. Two characters in particular
have become classics in Filipino culture: Maria Clara,
who has become a personification of the ideal Filipina
woman loving and unwavering in her loyalty to her
spouse; and the priest Father Damasco who reflects the
covert fathering of illegitimate children by members of
the Spanish clergy.
The book indirectly influence a revolution, even though
the author actually advocated direct representation to
the Spanish government and a larger role in the
Philippines within Spain’s political affairs. In 1956, the
Congress of the Philippines passed the Republic Act
1425, more popularly known as the Rizal Law, which
requires all levels of Philippine schools to teach the
novel as part of their curriculum. Noli Me Tangere is
being taught to third year secondary school students,
while It’s sequel El Filibusterismo is being taught for
fourth year secondary school students. The novels are
in corporated to their study and survey of Philippine
Literature.
Thank You Everyone
For Listening