Two weeks of unusually eventful days in October—which also happens to be Filipino American History Month. A brief look at the history of Filipino poetry.
Well said: "Assimilation is often the ticket for most minority groups to be seen and heard and for writers to achieve success in a world dominated by another culture. Not unlike the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Filipinos of the early Romantic period adopted the formalist structures that were recognized by western tastemakers." I'll be speaking with Kao Kalia Yang about this on Thursday.
Wonderful post! The line from Bulosan is haunting: "We shall no longer beg you for a share of life." Not a share of "your life," or of "American life;" but life itself. Wonder if Bulosan had perceived, even before 1945, that even if every other country became prosperous America had something unique it was offering when it comes to life itself. In any case his autobiography is on my reading list since it's a must as a California lit scholar.
This post got me to pull out an out-of-print collection I got ahold of some time ago called "Epics of the Philippines," published by Asean in the 80s. These are the straight-up folk epics, so not modern poetry. But just perusing the translation, I can see why the more modern poets felt like they couldn't hold their own. The epics have a character all to themselves.
Oh ...the Epics book sounds interesting. I have a sinking feeling that it is out of print. I wonder if someday I could "translate" these stories into something most English speakers can recognize. But then again isn't this one of the conundrums... whether to try to preserve Filipino culture by using American/Western literary tradition. I only know short forms for Filipino poetry and those are not suitable for longer epics. Part of me thinks there must be longer oral traditions.
I was looking at a book of 100 Love Poems from the Philippines and they are all in English. Makes we somewhat sad, but I know actual Filipino love songs. Those lyrics are a consolation, but perhaps not as high art as I would like.
Bulosan was a very interesting character. I look forward to hearing what you think of the book sometime.
Such an interesting post, and it makes me want to explore more poetry from that beautiful country and culture.
Well said: "Assimilation is often the ticket for most minority groups to be seen and heard and for writers to achieve success in a world dominated by another culture. Not unlike the poets of the Harlem Renaissance, Filipinos of the early Romantic period adopted the formalist structures that were recognized by western tastemakers." I'll be speaking with Kao Kalia Yang about this on Thursday.
Wonderful post! The line from Bulosan is haunting: "We shall no longer beg you for a share of life." Not a share of "your life," or of "American life;" but life itself. Wonder if Bulosan had perceived, even before 1945, that even if every other country became prosperous America had something unique it was offering when it comes to life itself. In any case his autobiography is on my reading list since it's a must as a California lit scholar.
This post got me to pull out an out-of-print collection I got ahold of some time ago called "Epics of the Philippines," published by Asean in the 80s. These are the straight-up folk epics, so not modern poetry. But just perusing the translation, I can see why the more modern poets felt like they couldn't hold their own. The epics have a character all to themselves.
Oh ...the Epics book sounds interesting. I have a sinking feeling that it is out of print. I wonder if someday I could "translate" these stories into something most English speakers can recognize. But then again isn't this one of the conundrums... whether to try to preserve Filipino culture by using American/Western literary tradition. I only know short forms for Filipino poetry and those are not suitable for longer epics. Part of me thinks there must be longer oral traditions.
I was looking at a book of 100 Love Poems from the Philippines and they are all in English. Makes we somewhat sad, but I know actual Filipino love songs. Those lyrics are a consolation, but perhaps not as high art as I would like.
Bulosan was a very interesting character. I look forward to hearing what you think of the book sometime.
Thank you for sharing this.