Monday, July 21, 2008

Course Outline (c/o Dept of Literature)

A. Clearing the Space
Background and Context of Philippine Literatures:
The Development of Philippine Literatures from
Precolonial Times to the Present Times

B. Imaging the Filipino Man
1. To the Man I Married by Angela Manalang Gloria
2. Mill of the Gods by Estrella Alfon
3. Si Richard Gomez at Ang Mito ng Pagkalalaki
by Rolando Tolentino
4. Pagkat Lalaki Ka by Michael Coroza
5. The Spouse by Luis Dato

C. Imaging the Filipino Woman
1. Alunsina and Tungkunglangit
2. Ang Babaeng Nangarap ng Gising
3. Babaeng Namumuhay ng Mag-isa
4. Babae Ka
5. A Gentle Subversion: The adolescent girl in the short fiction of Filipino Women (Hidalgo, 1998)

6. Order for Masks by Virginia Moreno (1954)
7. The Virgin by Kerima Polotan Tuvera (1952)
8. The Bird by Tita Ayala Lacambra (1984)


D. Representing the Filipino Family
1. Claudia and Her Mother by Rolando Tinio
2. Breaking Through by Myrna Pena Reyes
3. Mats by Francisco Arcellana
4. Sadness Collector by Merlinda Bobis
5. Family Rites by Rosario Cruz Lucero
6. The Chiefest Mourner by Aida Rivera Ford (1957)
7. Coming to Grief by Ophelia A. Dimalanta


E. Exploring Filipino Traditions
1. The God Stealer by. F. Sionil Jose
2. The Wedding Dance by Amador Daguio
3. The White Horse of Ali- Mig Alvarez- Enriquez
4. May Day Eve by Nick Joaquin
5. May Buhay sa Looban by Pedro Dandan

F. Discovering Love and the Filipino
1. Patalim by Cirilo Bautista
2. Pag-Ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa by Andres Bonifacio
3. Laji 97- translated by Florentino Hornedo
4. Bihirang Masulat ang Kaligayahan by Rebecca Anonuevo
5. Bonsai by Edith Tiempo
6. I Have Begrudged the Years by Angela Manalang Gloria
7. A Kind of Burning by O. A. Dimalanta
8. Ang Pusang Itim by Cirilo Bautista
9. Snail by Conchitina Cruz

G. Looking at War and the Filipino
1. Sayonara by Edith Tiempo
2. Now and at the Hour by Aida Rivera Ford
3. People in the War by Gilda Cordero Fernando
4. From Comfort Woman: Slave of Destiny by Ma Rosa Henson
5. Cholera and the Emergence of American Sanitary Order in the Philippines by Reynaldo Ileto
6. A Wilderness of Sweets by Gilda Cordero Fernando

H. Exploring the Filipino Humor
1. My Father Goes to Court by Carlos Bulosan
2. My Own Theory of Devolution by Jessica Zafra
3. Ang Paksa Ko Kababayan by Ben Villar Condino
4. My Brother’s Peculiar Chicken by Alejandro Roces

I Interrogating Gender Relations and the Filipino
1. The Other Woman by Norma Miraflor
2. Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez
3. The Conversion by J. Neil Garcia
4. The Small Key by Paz Latorena
5. From Hanggang Dito na Lamang at Maraming Salamat- Orlando Nadres
6. Tales of Love and Power in Over A Cup of Ginger Tea: Conversations on the Literary Narratives of Filipino Women (Hidalgo, 2006)
7. Servant Girl by Estrella Alfon
8. Mist by Joy Dayrit (1997)
9. Welostit by Romina Gonzales (1997)


J. Representing Death and the Filipino
1. Si Lola Isyang at Ang Matandang Puno ng Kaimito- Cherry Lou Navarro
2. Death and the Merchant of Istfahan- Anthony Tan
3. Ghost – Connie Jan Maraan
4. You Can Choose Your Afterlife- Eric Gamalinda
5. Tita Aida: Geographies of Suffering- Martin Manalanan IV

K. Exploring Class Relations in the Philippines
1. Bread of Salt by NVM Gonzales
2. Rice by manuel Arguilla
3. from Canal de Reina- Liwayway Arceo
4. Isang Dipang Langit by Amado V. Hernandez
5. Children of the City – Amadis Ma. Guerero

L. Discovering Philippine Aesthetics
1. Romancing the Malong: From Cradle to Crypt- Cristine Godinez Ortega
2. Four Values in Filipino Drama and Film by Nicanor Tiongson
3. Nina’s Ascent to the Universe by Jose Wendell Capili
4. What Poetry Does Not Say- Ophelia Dimalanta
5. Poem 10: First a Poem Must be Magical- Jose Garcia Villa
6. I Think, Yes, A Leopard in Dufy Blue Would
7. I Have Observed Pink Monks Eat Blue Raisins
8. The Emperor’s New Sonnet
9. The, Bright, Centipede
10. Mostly Are We Mostless
11. In Picasso You See Blue, Rose And The
By Jose Garcia Villa
12. Moth by G. Burce Bunao
13. Like the Molave by Rafael Zulueta da Costa
14. Montage by O.A. Dimalanta
15. Snail by Tita Lacambra Ayala


M. Understanding Spirituality and the Filipino
1. Is it the Kingfisher- Marjorie Evasco
2. The Distance to Andromeda- Gregorio Briliantes
3. The Typhoon – carlos Aureus
4. Gabu- Carlos Angeles
5. From Himala- Ricky Lee
6. The Warrior- Cristina Hidalgo
7. Faith, Love, Time and Dr. Lazaro by Gregorio Brilliantes

N. Imaging the Filipino Migrant
1. The Sorrow of Distance- Jaime An Lim
2. Confessions of A Green Card Bearer- Fatima Lim
3. The Day The Dancers Came- Bienvenido Santos
4. From Rolling the R’s- R. Zamora Linmark
5. Filipino Amrican Barbie- Ma. Luisa Aguilar Carino
6. The American Nightmare in Conversations on the Literary Narratives of Filipino (Hidalgo, 2003)
7. America is in the Heart by Carlos Bulosan
8. Fruit Stall by Merlinda Bobis
9. Case 2183-9 Angela Cabading, Age 29 by Nadine Sarreal

O. Philippine History Revisted
1. Feeling Revolution as Subjective Freedom- Neferti Xina Tadiar
2. from Killing Time in a Warm Place- Alfred Yuson
3. The Death of Tiyo Samuel – Efren Abueg
4. from El Filibusterismo- Jose Rizal
5. Taking RP- Ambeth Ocampo

P. FOOD and TRAVEL IN LITERATURE (esp. for ITHM )

1. Food in Philiippine Literature by Dr. Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (1996)
2. Where is the Patis by Carmen Guerero Nakpil (Post-war)
3. Food and Travel. Bangkok. from the Memoirs of My Stomach by Clinton Palanca (2002)

Sunday, July 13, 2008

The Bird by Tita Lacambra Ayala

Sorry, guys. I do not have a soft copy of this story. You might want to check the story in the book The Children's Hour: Stories on Childhood. Volume 1. Edited by Gemino Abad. Published by University of the Philippines Press, 2008

The story also appeared in the reader that was used by LIT102 ITHM students 1st semester of SY 2007-2008. There is also a film adaptation of this text by some Tourism students available on youtube. May I reiterate though that you should read the text and not merely watch the film. Bring your copies next meeting. I shall check for merit.

MIST by Joy Dayrit

THE ROOM’S RENT went two thousand pesos over budget but it had a front porch where she could smoke. And the landlady said she had recently put a heater in the hall bathroom and courteously showed her how it worked, how to blend the shower water from warm to hot, how hot the water could be. Steam filled the bathroom. She liked the bathroom. A beveled mirror above the wash basin and a full-length one behind the door gave it an illusion of space. She liked the wood floor of the room that would be hers. Narra, she was told, and though she did not believe it, she knew she would like the feel of it on her bare feet.

And an avocado tree grew in the garden behind, by the kitchen. She could smoke there, too. And there were brick steps from the garden path going up the kitchen doorway, four of them, oro-plata-mata-oro.

There was only one other boarder in the house. He looked her age. She saw him come in that noon through the garden path, up the four steps, into the kitchen where the landlady showed her how the gas stove worked. Without matches. You just turn it on, like an electric stove.

He moved briskly, with semi-grace, was on the path one instant and in the kitchen the next. The landlady introduced them. He’s a dancer. She’s a VP of a firm in Greenhills. She was thinking, how could a dancer afford to board here, and he answered her thoughts.

“I also sell condominiums.” Lives on commissions? She did not believe it.

“Buy and sell,” he read her thinking further. “I buy them when they’re still not there, and sell at profit after they’re built.”

With what? Her mind computed: he needed capital to do that.

“With borrowed money you can do anything. What do you do?”

“Construction,” she said.

“Buildings?”

“And homes.”

“Condominiums?”

“Yes.”

“Ah, fate,” he said.




What she liked most about the house was the hall bathroom. Her room had a private bath, as did the other room, but the hall bath have the shower heater, and mornings were cold. The heater was shared. There was an unwritten schedule. She bathed in the morning before work. The dancer at any time after that.

The hall took in the morning sun from the porch, and she stepped into this light each day before her bath, stretching in the sun, upward, downward, right, and left. In the bathroom she locked the door. Here was her world of silence before the days storm at the office.

She made a ritual of dressing, one step after the other, in timed sequence. Routine secured in her steadfastness, maintained devotion for competence at work, kept the mind watchful over the vulnerability of heart.

In her structured ritual, she unrobed, then switches the shower on to full heat forming layers of steam. She reduces the heat, and her shower is ready. Less hot, the steam turns to mist.

Drying herself after her shower, she sees through the mist on the beveled mirror: wet black hair on top of a head, an outline of shoulders, arms, torso. Through the mist she is faceless.

She dabs her body with light cologne. Back of ears, top of spine, here between breasts, inside the thighs, back of knees, ankles. A layer of mist evaporates and the eyes on her face are distinct. She combs her hair. There is still a thin veil of mist over her face on the mirror.

She turns to the full mirror on the door and studies her body’s profile. A good breast shape though small. A thigh with no scar from childhood vaccinations. The scar is on the left. On the left, too, site a slight belly flab but the right side of her stomach is taut. The right side of her is her better side.

She dries her ears with cotton tips, her navel, too. The mist is clearing. She snaps on her bra. The mist is her time frame. She must be done before it disappears. The white of her bra, panty garter against mist, vestiges of nose, mouth, birthmarks become visible in the gauzy mist remaining. She puts on her robe. Finished, she opens the door to let in air.

The mist vanishes in the sunny air. She always looked back to check if id did, if everything was in its place, the bathroom clean for the next who showered.





Once with nothing to do, she watched the dancer practice his dance on the garden’s path. In black tights and shirt, he swayed, hip, shoulder, arm, in dysfunctional symmetry, as a tree in a storm. Sudden stillness, then a hand raised, and fingers, closing, opening, are leaves rustling in the wind.

He rolled down the sleeves of his black shirt, put on a black cap, and gloves. The night swallowed his blackness. He performed for her, an exercise in black, the dance ending on the kitchen steps where she sat smoking her cigarette; she likes his smell, the sweat after practice. The tang of it hurt the narrow inside of her nose when she inhaled, and when it traveled to the base of her, it was pleasure. The pleasure was, as was the dance she intuitively understood, hers alone.

Then once, she woke unusually late, with a sleepy energy that caused her to disregard all ritual, all invented sequence of dress. She was out in the hall in her nightgown, not her robe. She was back in her room for the towel she forgot to bring. She was in the shower adjusting the water’s heat while still undressing. She had not stretched.

That day, the mist vanished fast, ahead of its time. She wondered why. She had just combed her hair, and in the mirror her face shone almost instantly in clear view. No gradual layers of visible ness. The mist melted away in cold air blown from somewhere, touching her nakedness, a breeze. From where?

She turned at the door which was slightly ajar in time to see a shadow go. Who? She did not move, only thought- whoever it was had seen the better shape of her, her round right breast, the thigh with no vaccination scar, the front of her belly without the flab. She closed the door. Maybe it was no one, maybe she had left the door ajar herself, coming in for a shower, half asleep. Or maybe it was he. A shadow there to gaze at her, then gone away to bare the bar of sun come in from the hall.

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Cinemalaya 2008 Info

(Courtesy of GMA newstv and Philippine Entertainment Portal)

The fourth edition of the Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival begins tonight, July 11, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Ten full-length films and ten short films will be adhering to the theme, "Anong Kwento Mo?" or how Filipinos always have an interesting story to tell.

For the opening night, Adolf Alix Jr.'s Adela will have its world premiere at the CCP Main Theatre. This tribute film to Anita Linda also stars Iza Calzado, Jason Abalos, Joem Bascon, Mr. German Moreno.

The winning entry for the full-length category will be given an additional grant of P200,000 plus the Cinemalaya trophy during the awarding ceremony on July 20 at the Main Theatre of CCP. The winner of the short film category will receive a P100,000 grant plus the Cinemalaya trophy.

Both opening night and awards night are open to the public.

Tickets are priced at P100 each, with 50% discount for students. For more ticket information and block sales inquiry, please call CCP Box Office at 832-1125 local 1406.

100 is about a stern, uptight and exacting woman with a terminal illness who tries to accomplish a list of 100 things to do before she dies. Her tasks vary from the simple to the complicated, from the practical to the mundane, from the ordinary to the extraordinary. In the process, she accepts the truth that even if death is something personal, dying never is.

12 July/Sat, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

15 July/Tue, 6:15PM (GALA), Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

17 July/Thu, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

17 July/Thu, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

19 July/Sat, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

19 July/Sat, 9:00PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

Baby Angelo centers on an investigation that ensues when an aborted fetus is found in the dumpster of a run-down apartment complex. The lives of the tenants—a reclusive old man with curious ramblings, a landlord with overzealous thirst for justice and a young couple whose past threatens to unravel their marriage—are suddenly exposed in the hunt for the perpetrator of the baby's death.

12 July/Sat, 6:15PM,Tanghalang Huseng Batute

13 July/Sun, 3:30PM,Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

15 July/Tue, 9:00PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

17 July/Thu, 9:00PM (GALA), Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

Boses (Voices) is the story of a musician, who regains back his humanity by giving violin lessons to a child of the slums, who, through the instrument, is able to get back his voice from a muted, abused and desensitized existence. This is a story of a wonderful friendship founded on the sublime beauty of music between a violin teacher and his student, a mute seven-year old abused child in a shelter.

13 July/Sun, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

13 July/Sun, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

16 July/Wed, 6:15PM (GALA), Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 12:45PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

18 July/Fri, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

19 July/Sat, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

Brutus tells the tale of two Mangyan children, hired by illegal loggers to smuggle wood from the mountains of Mindoro, as they embark on a dangerous journey to deliver the goods to the lowlands. In the process, they discover a world run by the greed of men, a world governed by ideologies that bring about the armed conflict that plagues the Mindoro highlands, the home of their own people.

13 July/Sun, 9:00PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

15 July/Tue, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

16 July/Wed, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 9:00PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

19 July/Sat, 6:15PM (GALA), Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

20 July/Sun, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

Concerto is about how, in the last part of World War II, a special piano concert is held in the forests of Davao. In these boondocks, a displaced Filipino family becomes acquainted with a group of Japanese officers, similarly camped nearby. Based on true stories from the director's family, Ang Concerto celebrates a family whose reverence for life, expressed through their love of music and friendship, can survive even war, and shows how beauty and compassion can grow in even the harshest of situations.

12 July/Sat, 9:00PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

15 July/Tue, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

16 July/Wed, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

17 July/Thu, 9:00PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

18 July/Fri, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

19 July/Sat, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

Huling Pasada follows the creative process of Ruby, a prolific writer, abandoned wife and protective mother. She writes about Mario, a taxi driver and father figure to a street child. As she tries to resolve Mario's story, she seeks refuge in her own creative output and the line between reality and fiction is blurred. Mario's past becomes entangled with her own inevitable future.

12 July/Sat, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

13 July/Sun, 6:15PM (GALA), Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

15 July/Tue, 6:15PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

18 July/Fri, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

19 July/Sat, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

Jay is the name of the two protagonists in the film, one is living, the other dead. The living Jay is producing a documentary of the dead Jay, a gay teacher who was brutally killed. As Jay recreates and examines the life of his subject, his own life is affected when he unravels his subject's hidden life and secret love.

12 July/Sat, 6:15PM (GALA), Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

13 July/Sun, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

16 July/Wed, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

17 July/Thu, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

17 July/Thu, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

19 July/Sat, 6:15PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

My Fake American Accent is a slice-of-life workplace comedy following the lives of technical support call center agents in the span of six months. Speaking with a fake American accent is a prerequisite for the job. This ensemble comedy is an inside look into the maddening, sleep-deprived, caffeine-fuelled lives of those who ply their trade in the call center industry.

13 July/Sun, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

13 July/Sun, 6:15PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

15 July/Tue, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

18 July/Fri, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 6:15PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

20 July/Sun, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

Namets by Jay Abello is a colorful celebration of food as well as love, and the love of food above all, which is central to being Negrosanon and being Filipino. It follows the flirtation between Jacko and Cassie, two Negrenses who grew up in Bacolod, and whose lives revolve around food. The film will be shot on location in Negros Occidental and will be primarily in Hiligaynon, the language spoken in that region.

13 July/Sun, 3:30PM (GALA), Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)

15 July/Tue, 6:15PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

16 July/Wed, 9:00PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

18 July/Fri, 3:30PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

18 July/Fri, 6:15PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

19 July/Sat, 12:45PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

Ranchero unfolds in a small provincial jail in the province of Rizal, Philippines. And today is Ricardo's last day behind bars. He and his close friend Miyong are tasked to cook rations for their inmates. The two friends spent the whole morning talking about Ricardo's plans when he gets out. After lunch, one of the kitchen knives is missing which called the attention of jail officials. Not only will this delay the ration for the day, but also the freedom Ricardo and Miyong wish for themselves.

12 July/Sat, 6:15PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

12 July/Sat, 9:00PM (GALA) Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

16 July/Wed, 6:15PM, Bulwangang Alagad Ng Sining (CCP MKP Hall)

17 July/Thu, 3:30PM, Tanghalang Nicanor Aberlardo (CCP Main Theatre)

17 July/Thu, 6:15PM, Tanghalang Huseng Batute

19 July/Sat, 12:45PM, Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theatre)