Images of masculinities are used in ad placements in TV, movies, and billboards. Aside from the consumerist nature of such images, I wonder if these constitute city dynamics, such that life in the city can be construed as fantastical or spectacular, and whether such fantasy is masculine in orientation. This work investigates masculinity not just as a product of city living, but also as a phenomenon in which the city seemingly assumes a muscular stance, manifesting in its ensuing power relations. I focus on underwear billboards and malls in Manila as texts by which hypermasculinity, this male fantasy, is produced, performed, becomes visible. I also discuss Susan Bordo’s assertion that the study of masculinity is in no way isolated from feminism. Through her account of her father’s life, and analyses of advertisements and TV shows, she argues that male experiences of shame, exhaustion with cultural expectations, or the failure of the male body to live up to those expectations, resonate with the feminists’ struggle for emancipation. In this light I approach masculinity and city studies as mutually inclusive fields, underlying a male fantasy, a hypermasculinity, which is all too visible, dominating and shaping our lives. Hypermasculinity feeds on the culture of consumption, the fetishism of masculine virility and objectification of women, on the panoply of images evoking beauty and nostalgia. I argue that the city—specifically Manila—being hypermasculine, hides its ugliness and shame, and its development is posturing, aggressive behaviour, compensating for irreconcilable contradictions and alienated relationships.
Images of masculinities are used in ad placements in TV, movies, and billboards. Aside from the consumerist nature of such images, I wonder if these constitute city dynamics, such that life in the city can be construed as fantastical or spectacular, and whether such fantasy is masculine in orientation. This work investigates masculinity not just as a product of city living, but also as a phenomenon in which the city seemingly assumes a muscular stance, manifesting in its ensuing power relations. I focus on underwear billboards and malls in Manila as texts by which hypermasculinity, this male fantasy, is produced, performed, becomes visible. I also discuss Susan Bordo’s assertion that the study of masculinity is in no way isolated from feminism. Through her account of her father’s life, and analyses of advertisements and TV shows, she argues that male experiences of shame, exhaustion with cultural expectations, or the failure of the male body to live up to those expectations, resonate with the feminists’ struggle for emancipation. In this light I approach masculinity and city studies as mutually inclusive fields, underlying a male fantasy, a hypermasculinity, which is all too visible, dominating and shaping our lives. Hypermasculinity feeds on the culture of consumption, the fetishism of masculine virility and objectification of women, on the panoply of images evoking beauty and nostalgia. I argue that the city—specifically Manila—being hypermasculine, hides its ugliness and shame, and its development is posturing, aggressive behaviour, compensating for irreconcilable contradictions and alienated relationships.
In Utopia, Thomas More delivers a specific and context-bound critique of Tudor England through a faux anthropological report on a perfect society, “perfect” being defined as everything that Tudor England was not. Philippine fiction can similarly be read as visions of what the nation could and should be, delivered in oblique flashes that project a fragmentary composite picture of everything that the Philippines is not, or no longer is. The supposedly opposed vectors of romance and realism coincide in their explicit and implicit yearnings for contentment and happiness, echoing More’s own bemused, amused impatience with his flawed country. Through a telescoped survey of Philippine fiction in English, this article traces the contours of the Philippine utopian ideal.
In Utopia, Thomas More delivers a specific and context-bound critique of Tudor England through a faux anthropological report on a perfect society, “perfect” being defined as everything that Tudor England was not. Philippine fiction can similarly be read as visions of what the nation could and should be, delivered in oblique flashes that project a fragmentary composite picture of everything that the Philippines is not, or no longer is. The supposedly opposed vectors of romance and realism coincide in their explicit and implicit yearnings for contentment and happiness, echoing More’s own bemused, amused impatience with his flawed country. Through a telescoped survey of Philippine fiction in English, this article traces the contours of the Philippine utopian ideal.
Miguel Syjuco’s Ilustrado begins with the illusion of convention that lulls readers into complacency. As readers follow the story and find their feet, however, the path begins to crack. What begins as a novel about a search for The Great Filipino Novel turns into a postmodern narrative and metadiscourse on the vanity of such a search—punctuated and conditioned by fragments, layers, and blank spaces.
Miguel Syjuco’s Ilustrado begins with the illusion of convention that lulls readers into complacency. As readers follow the story and find their feet, however, the path begins to crack. What begins as a novel about a search for The Great Filipino Novel turns into a postmodern narrative and metadiscourse on the vanity of such a search—punctuated and conditioned by fragments, layers, and blank spaces.
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This article seeks to illumine two aspects of the pioneering production Realizing Rama (1997-2004), a collaboration among artists from the ASEAN. First, it will describe and critique the process of inter-creation among traditional and modern artists that gave birth to a production style that was palpably Southeast Asian in tonality, movement, and visuality without being stereotyped as “ethnic.” Second, it will explicate and evaluate the participation of ASEAN artists in the production and the changes they underwent in the process of creating and performing the work. This study will show that the creation of Realizing Rama paralleled the initial realisation of an ASEAN performing arts aesthetics and the creation of a paradigm for the process of artistic creation in an ASEAN artistic community.
This article seeks to illumine two aspects of the pioneering production Realizing Rama (1997-2004), a collaboration among artists from the ASEAN. First, it will describe and critique the process of inter-creation among traditional and modern artists that gave birth to a production style that was palpably Southeast Asian in tonality, movement, and visuality without being stereotyped as “ethnic.” Second, it will explicate and evaluate the participation of ASEAN artists in the production and the changes they underwent in the process of creating and performing the work. This study will show that the creation of Realizing Rama paralleled the initial realisation of an ASEAN performing arts aesthetics and the creation of a paradigm for the process of artistic creation in an ASEAN artistic community.
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Anglo-American or Western acting practices, largely influenced by the works of Russian theater theorist Konstantin Stanislavsky, lie at the core of acting courses in the Philippines and many countries of the world. In Western societies, these practices are taught in a cultural context where individualism, personal achievement, egalitarianism, and democratic principles are valued. These cultural orientations facilitate the expression of an actor’s inner life. In contrast, the cultural orientations in the Philippine context are a deference to authority, a sense of shame, and an inclination to emotionalism. How, then, does the Ateneo Theater Arts Program, based in a Philippine university, impart Western practices? This paper proposes an answer based on the writers’ personal experiences as theater practitioners and on interviews with students. It finds that through cultural negotiation enacted in acting exercises, an accommodation between Western acting methods and local cultural imperatives can be reached, a situation that allows Filipino actors to eventually discover their own unique ways of showing inner lives onstage.
Anglo-American or Western acting practices, largely influenced by the works of Russian theater theorist Konstantin Stanislavsky, lie at the core of acting courses in the Philippines and many countries of the world. In Western societies, these practices are taught in a cultural context where individualism, personal achievement, egalitarianism, and democratic principles are valued. These cultural orientations facilitate the expression of an actor’s inner life. In contrast, the cultural orientations in the Philippine context are a deference to authority, a sense of shame, and an inclination to emotionalism. How, then, does the Ateneo Theater Arts Program, based in a Philippine university, impart Western practices? This paper proposes an answer based on the writers’ personal experiences as theater practitioners and on interviews with students. It finds that through cultural negotiation enacted in acting exercises, an accommodation between Western acting methods and local cultural imperatives can be reached, a situation that allows Filipino actors to eventually discover their own unique ways of showing inner lives onstage.
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Given the prevailing outlook today that baptism automatically washes away sin if the rite is correctly administered, there are five topics that need to be highlighted and explained in any prebaptismal instruction or catechesis. These are: (1) Christ’s baptism as confirmation of his identity and call to inauguratethe Kingdom of God; (2) Christ as the truly “baptized one,” who is “deeply immersed” in God, including an explanation of how this idea is actually replicated and lived out in the faith of the family who represents the child in infant baptisms; (3) the refocusing from water washing away original sin to the Holy Spirit freeing us from si n; (4) water’s l ife-sustaining and destructivequalities which symbolize Christ’s passage from death to life, and our own participation in this paschal my stery; (5) baptism into Christ as baptism into his body, the Church, since the struggle with our individual sins and the sins of the world is always a collective task, in view and in fulfillment of Christ’s threefold mission as prophet, priest, and king, to further God’s reign in the world. These topics highlight the fact that baptism, like any other sacrament, works not only through the intrinsic power of the sacraments to communi cate grace, but more importantly, through the active and intentional engagement in faith and holiness of both recipients and ministers, an engagement which makes the sacraments not only canonically valid but existentially fruitful and effective.
Given the prevailing outlook today that baptism automatically washes away sin if the rite is correctly administered, there are five topics that need to be highlighted and explained in any prebaptismal instruction or catechesis. These are: (1) Christ’s baptism as confirmation of his identity and call to inauguratethe Kingdom of God; (2) Christ as the truly “baptized one,” who is “deeply immersed” in God, including an explanation of how this idea is actually replicated and lived out in the faith of the family who represents the child in infant baptisms; (3) the refocusing from water washing away original sin to the Holy Spirit freeing us from si n; (4) water’s l ife-sustaining and destructivequalities which symbolize Christ’s passage from death to life, and our own participation in this paschal my stery; (5) baptism into Christ as baptism into his body, the Church, since the struggle with our individual sins and the sins of the world is always a collective task, in view and in fulfillment of Christ’s threefold mission as prophet, priest, and king, to further God’s reign in the world. These topics highlight the fact that baptism, like any other sacrament, works not only through the intrinsic power of the sacraments to communi cate grace, but more importantly, through the active and intentional engagement in faith and holiness of both recipients and ministers, an engagement which makes the sacraments not only canonically valid but existentially fruitful and effective.
This paper presents the role that culture plays in the web of people’srelationships. It aims at exploring the possibilities of intercultural discoursein the universe of cultures by appropriating the contributions of JürgenHabermas’s discourse ethics. It would be argued that a positive outlookon the plurality of cultures can help nurture one’s cultural heritage, andcan at the same time challenge and break through ethnocentrism.
This paper presents the role that culture plays in the web of people’srelationships. It aims at exploring the possibilities of intercultural discoursein the universe of cultures by appropriating the contributions of JürgenHabermas’s discourse ethics. It would be argued that a positive outlookon the plurality of cultures can help nurture one’s cultural heritage, andcan at the same time challenge and break through ethnocentrism.
Inspired by both metaphysics and phenomenology, the work of Roque J. Ferriols, SJ, provides a fascinating insight into givenness, which resonates with the work of Jean-Luc Marion. This paper outlines the points of convergence between these two thinkers, especially as regards their readings of Augustine’s Confessiones (The Confessions of St. Augustine). For Marion and Ferriols, Augustine’s experience is the journey of a creature discovering both the givenness of creation and selfhood as a gift.
Inspired by both metaphysics and phenomenology, the work of Roque J. Ferriols, SJ, provides a fascinating insight into givenness, which resonates with the work of Jean-Luc Marion. This paper outlines the points of convergence between these two thinkers, especially as regards their readings of Augustine’s Confessiones (The Confessions of St. Augustine). For Marion and Ferriols, Augustine’s experience is the journey of a creature discovering both the givenness of creation and selfhood as a gift.
The author discusses the need for repentance and rebirth in the face ofglobal warming. Showing how the current trends on global warming focuson improving technology and making existing systems more efficient,the author argues for the need for a new rationality to emerge that doesnot follow the trajectory of the dominant western models of civilizationbuilding.The need to repent the ossification of human existence in massconsumption and production and the rebirth of a new way of being involvesthe engagement of other rationalities in imagining the new world order thatglobal warming demands.
The author discusses the need for repentance and rebirth in the face ofglobal warming. Showing how the current trends on global warming focuson improving technology and making existing systems more efficient,the author argues for the need for a new rationality to emerge that doesnot follow the trajectory of the dominant western models of civilizationbuilding.The need to repent the ossification of human existence in massconsumption and production and the rebirth of a new way of being involvesthe engagement of other rationalities in imagining the new world order thatglobal warming demands.
This paper examines the ways in which popular texts have been perceived in the Philippines and explores the reasons for their denigration in academe for decades. The discussion attempts to show how the events of the late 1960s and 1970s marked a change in the way such texts as films, komiks, and theatrical performances could be studied from a variety of approaches beyond Formalism and Marxism. The paper also proposes ways this field of study can be mined in the classroom as a way of developing critical thinking among students.
This paper examines the ways in which popular texts have been perceived in the Philippines and explores the reasons for their denigration in academe for decades. The discussion attempts to show how the events of the late 1960s and 1970s marked a change in the way such texts as films, komiks, and theatrical performances could be studied from a variety of approaches beyond Formalism and Marxism. The paper also proposes ways this field of study can be mined in the classroom as a way of developing critical thinking among students.
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The paper articulates the relationship between philosophy, Erōs, and the Filipino Jesuit priest Roque J. Ferriols. As a way of life, philosophy is related to three Greek words (thaumazein, aesthesis, and logos) and is the desire for the hen panta (one-in-all). The paper then describes the life of the philosophōs by referring to the image of Erōs and the character of Socrates in Plato’s Symposium. It ends by identifying the philosophical project of Ferriols with the quest of the philosophōs. It argues for meron as the articulation/inarticulation of a universal truth, of what is really real, and as the proper concern of the philosopher.
The paper articulates the relationship between philosophy, Erōs, and the Filipino Jesuit priest Roque J. Ferriols. As a way of life, philosophy is related to three Greek words (thaumazein, aesthesis, and logos) and is the desire for the hen panta (one-in-all). The paper then describes the life of the philosophōs by referring to the image of Erōs and the character of Socrates in Plato’s Symposium. It ends by identifying the philosophical project of Ferriols with the quest of the philosophōs. It argues for meron as the articulation/inarticulation of a universal truth, of what is really real, and as the proper concern of the philosopher.
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This essay aims to map out the path of devastation that has left ushomeless and, as the thinker Martin Heidegger says, frantically andthoughtlessly seeking for our identity. The first part of the paper will bean exposition on Heidegger’s ideas concerning the history of oblivionand how this may aid us to see where we have to be at present. Thesecond part will use for its point of departure Heidegger’s insights onforgetfulness to explain how he perceives the possibility of salvation fromsuch a threat by expounding on his ideas concerning the “fourfold” andits relationship with selfhood. The last part of the paper will then discusshis idea of poetic dwelling and how this is in fact the path towards anauthentic re-building of the self in the midst of Being’s withdrawal anddevastation. Given Heidegger’s contention that the destiny of the selfis tied up with the destining of Being, this paper will show that it isonly by thoroughly examining the destining of absence, oblivion andwithdrawal issued by history itself that we may build ourselves oncemore. This time, we shall do so in a more essential way, more heedful ofthe directives inscribed in our very beings as the ones tasked to recoverourselves from the mire of forgetfulness, and as mortal dwellers on theearth, under the sky, awaiting the divinities.
This essay aims to map out the path of devastation that has left ushomeless and, as the thinker Martin Heidegger says, frantically andthoughtlessly seeking for our identity. The first part of the paper will bean exposition on Heidegger’s ideas concerning the history of oblivionand how this may aid us to see where we have to be at present. Thesecond part will use for its point of departure Heidegger’s insights onforgetfulness to explain how he perceives the possibility of salvation fromsuch a threat by expounding on his ideas concerning the “fourfold” andits relationship with selfhood. The last part of the paper will then discusshis idea of poetic dwelling and how this is in fact the path towards anauthentic re-building of the self in the midst of Being’s withdrawal anddevastation. Given Heidegger’s contention that the destiny of the selfis tied up with the destining of Being, this paper will show that it isonly by thoroughly examining the destining of absence, oblivion andwithdrawal issued by history itself that we may build ourselves oncemore. This time, we shall do so in a more essential way, more heedful ofthe directives inscribed in our very beings as the ones tasked to recoverourselves from the mire of forgetfulness, and as mortal dwellers on theearth, under the sky, awaiting the divinities.
This paper discusses two short stories by Jose Gallardo, a Kapampangan writer who survived World War II. “Sumpa ning Poeta” and “Bale Tisa” are analyzed as “socially symbolic acts” illustrating experiences of social and economic marginality. Through his literary engagement Gallardo gave voice to the marginalized sector of his society and, at the same time, harnessed his intense personal desire to promote Kapampangan literature.
This paper discusses two short stories by Jose Gallardo, a Kapampangan writer who survived World War II. “Sumpa ning Poeta” and “Bale Tisa” are analyzed as “socially symbolic acts” illustrating experiences of social and economic marginality. Through his literary engagement Gallardo gave voice to the marginalized sector of his society and, at the same time, harnessed his intense personal desire to promote Kapampangan literature.