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Showing posts from August 6, 2006
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KALATAS MULA SA ANGHEL NG ANUNSIYASYON ...huwag nang banggitin pa ang pinakamasahol na droga—ang ating sarili—na ating sinususo kapag tayo’y nag-iisa. ----WALTER BENJAMIN …walang anu-ano'y nasaling ng kung anong bagwis anong pakpak napagulantang nagtaka't namangha kapagkuwa'y nakuhang tumabi sa matimtimang kaulayaw at bumulong…. Mahal, hindi ko malaman kung naibahagi ko na sa iyo ito: Nais kong malaman mong iniibig kita-- Nais kong mabatid mong minamahal kita-- Alam mo na ba ito? batid mo na ba ito? Naulinigan mo ba ang sinabi ko? Nasagap mo ba ang pagtatapat ko? Naunawaan mo ba ang mensahe ng pagsuyong ito? Naintindihan mo ba ang kahulugan ng mga salita ko? Natalos mo ba o di-natulusan ang patalastas na ito? Wala kang kibo kaya di ko mawari kung nagagap ang isinaad ng wika-- Hindi ko mawatasan kung nagpugad sa dibdib ang naisiwalat-- Wala kang imik kaya di ko matanto kung natatap mo ang naipahiwatig-- Aywan ko kung natarok mo ang kahulugan ng mga pangungusap-- Aywan ko

DALIT NI BALAGTAS

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HAHAMAKIN LAHAT, MASUNOD KA LAMANG Sa pagkakataong ito, Pebrero 14, 2006, Tamuneneng ko: “Dini sa dibdib ko na nahihilahil… nasa aking puso’t doon humihimbing” Ngunit bakit pa itatawid itong kapalaran “At lahat ng hirap pag-aralang bathin” Kung anumang layo, “kung ating ibigin daig ang malapit na ayaw lakbayin”? Gayundin ang sugat na kung tinanggap di daramdamin ang antak Ngunit kung umayaw o di payag galos lamang ay magnanaknak— Ay, d’yos ko, ay, Tamuneng ko, tanggapin ma’y sukdulang nagnanaknak! -- ni E. San Juan, Jr.

POSTCOLONIALISM & GLOBALIZATION

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ALINGAWNGAW

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ALINGAWNGAW SA PINAGLAHUANG BUMANGON SA BANGUNGOT Habang nasadlak sa bungang-tulog na laging pakain Walang patumanggang laging luha rin ang inumin Di-binyagang narahuyo sa kapilas ng langit Damn damn, damn the insurrectos! Cross-eyed kakiac ladrones! Underneath the starry flag Civilize ‘em with a krag And return us to our own beloved homes. Tiklop-tuhod ang babaylang nasumpungang nagdarasal Kahit pikit natuklasan sa apoy at lagim ang biyayang kariktan Buhanghang kaya’t daig ng munting siksikan Damn, damn, damn the Filipinos! Underneath the starry flag Civilize ‘em with a krag.... Bulong ng paglililo’y nasa kagandahang humihimok-- Dinggin si Rizal: “sa dahas dahas din ang sagot kapag bingi sa katwiran” kaya’t ilag at sugod habang bumubugso Damn, damn, damn the insurrectos! Civilize ‘em with a krag.... Kaya bumangon sa pagkaburol, O Giliw ng Lagim, Bumalong sa bangungot upang muling kandungin Nalugmok sa poot at pighati ngunit ngayo’y umiigting Sumusugbang hibo’t buhawi ng kapilas na la

RE-MAPPING THE NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC IMAGINATION

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by E. SAN JUAN, Jr. Very probably the Philippines will defend with indescribable arbor the liberty she has bought at the cost of so much blood and sacrifice. --JOSE RIZAL, "The Philippines a Century Hence" (1889) Inaugurated by the United Nation's bombing of Iraq for occupying the territory of another nation (Kuwait), the post-Cold War era we inhabit today, and its post 9/11 sequel, appears bizarre and utterly disorienting It seems certainly as far removed from the Enlightenment vision of a cosmopolitan world culture (expressed, for example, in Goethe's notion of a Weltliteratur) as the years when this century opened with the Boer Wars in South Africa, the Boxer rebellion against foreign incursions in China, and the Spanish-American War. Our postmodern conjuncture is in fact distinguished by ethnic particularisms and by the valorization of the aleatory, contingent, and heterogeneous. Indeed, the ideal of internationalism presuppo

KIDLAT TAHIMIK

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INTRODUCTION TO THE FILMS OF KIDLAT TAHIMIK: ON THE POLITICS AND AESTHETICS OF FILIPINO CINEMATIC ART By E. SAN JUAN, Jr. Foreword Despite having won numerous international awards, Kidlat Tahimik (Eric de Guia) remains virtually unknown except for a few film aficionados. Recently his name appeared in Manila newspapers when his 4-story "Sunflower" house in Itogon, Benguet, burned down. His sons escaped, but his precious collection of art was destroyed. Built by his father from recycled wood in 1972, the house is symbolic for Kidlat: "Only a charred sculpture of an Igorot man playing the flute remains of the house. It stands by the gate. I lost all my memories in that house" (The Manila Times, Feb. 16, 2004). It can be said that Kidlat's films all deal with memories of creation and destruction. They embody historical recollections of the national past acccompanied by a critical inventory of what is important and meaningful to be saved for the future. Th