Eloisa May P. Hernandez’s Digital Cinema in the Philippines, 1999–2009 argues time and again for Philippine cinema’s continued life, albeit already in the contemporary era’s most transformative and indeed progressive form—the digital medium. Most critics and scholars decry the unending lackluster production of Philippine cinema in general, which logically has led to pronouncements of its death over…
Multi-genre writer Luis H. Francia understands that compiling already-published works into a book may seem selfish. He had published an earlier collection, Memories of Overdevelopment (Anvil, 1998), which contained two decades’ worth of work. However, the reason he does it again is that he also understands its aesthetic value. RE allows readers who have followed Francia’s essays in various local and…
In the final chapter of Contestable Nation-Space (hereafter CN-S), which is an evaluation of the cinema of Lino Brocka vis-à-vis the dictatorship of Ferdinand E. Marcos in the Philippines, Rolando B. Tolentino mentions some limitations in theories of national cinema and endeavors to provide a more useful framework by tweaking Aijaz Ahmad’s 1960s-based revolutionary orientation and Pathar Patterjee’s…
I had this book for a good 3 months, reading and re-reading select articles based on how relevant they were to my current project at the time: designing curriculum, consulting with schools on organizational strategy, teaching design research to college students. It served as an excellent reference as most of the papers are based on practice—actual interventions that are…
Patrick F. Campos’s The End of National Cinema: Filipino Film at the turn of the Century really is quite a luminous accomplishment in scholarly research and theoretical acuity, where he deftly and cogently negotiates the debates for and against dominant and emergent paradigms in the area of film research and criticism, using…
Ang Imus Novel 3 ni RM Topacio-Aplaon ay isang kumpisal. Isang matapat na pagsisiwalat ng damdamin at alaala ng pangunahing tauhan na si Dylan. Isang matapang na pagbabahagi ng mga lihim at panimdim ng isang batang lalaki tungkol sa kanyang pagkamulat…
Kung pagbabatayan ang pinag-aangkop-angkop na magkakaibang morpema o anyo ng salita, sinasabing lumilikha ito ng kahulugan na may kabuuang mensahe na bahagi ng karanasan ng tao at mundo. Tingnan, halimbawa, ang salitang dalamhati, na ang ibig sabihin ay pakiramdam ng matinding lungkot. Kapag pinag-aralan ang rekonstruksyon ng salitang dalamhati, malalaman na nahahati ito sa dalawang morpema: ang “dalam” na ang katumbas sa mga wika sa Pilipinas ay “lalim” o kaya’y “alila’t alipin ng isang kabuhayan”; at.
Unang beses ko makabasa ng isang obra sa panulat ni Ms. Mayette Bayuga, at hindi talaga ako pamilyar sa istilo ng kanyang pagkukwento. Naibigan kong piliin basahin ang kaniyang libro base sa rekomendasyon sa akin at base sa pamagat nito, “Sa Amin Sa Dagat-Dagatang Apoy.” Ano nga ba ang meron sa Dagat-Dagatang Apoy? Tanong ko sa aking sarili, at dito nagsimula ang aking pagbabasa…
Islam’s cosmology provides a mental scape in which strangers ultimately become familiar, regardless of distance or place. Muslims are kinfolk preordained. Such a worldview positions a central point flanked by borders whose shared faith pulls and unites them towards that center. Isaac Donoso attempts to show how Islam’s Western border (Iberian Spain) and its Eastern counterpart (Philippines) encountered each other as “strangers.” In that encounter, Muslims in the Philippines became a stranger in the eyes of one historically and culturally familiar with Islam.
Batid ng di-bagong mambabasa ni Bayuga ang mga daigdig na una na niyang naihatid. Lumikha siya ng alternatibong arkitektura ng siyudad—inabandonang ancestral house sa likod ng dambuhalang mall—sa Sa Templo ni Tamilah. Masisilip naman ang samahan ng kababaihang nagsasagawa ng ritwal pagsapit ng hatinggabi sa isang modernong espasyo sa Halinghing sa Hatinggabi. Gamit ang genreng erotiko sa parehong akda, itinutuloy ng manunulat ang mahaba-haba na ring tunggali ng kababaihan sa panitikang Filipino. Mas lalawig pa ang continuum ng panulat ni Bayuga sa pinakabago
How often do side conversations and casual remarks plant the seed for a story? Perhaps, more frequently than we might think. Over time, one nurtures the seed as it grows into various incarnations and branches off into other territories. In the process, even fictional works can intertwine with the author’s experiences.
The house is our space—it is our own universe. An inhabitant’s world is first contained within the confines of their respective domestic spaces. These houses can take on the personalities of its inhabitants, reflecting their aspirations and goals, even holding their pains. But with the tendency to head towards promising dwelling spaces over the course of our lives, one’s consciousness regarding habitation and ownership can wear down with constant ….