MODULE 1

THE LIFE AND WORKS OF BIENVENIDO N. SANTOS

INTRODUCTION

The first time I heard the name Bienvenido N. Santos was when I was in college. It was during
our Philippine Literature class and we discussed “The Day the Dancers Came”, I even confused
his work with NVM Gonzales’ “The Bamboo Dancers”. After that lesson, I can’t recall an instance
that I encountered his work until I studied in Graduate School. During my first year in Masters, I
realized his significant contributions in Philippine Literature. So, let me share his life and some of
his works.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

At the end of this module, you should be able to:

1. Describe BNS as a man and as a Filipino writer; and
2. Compare the contributions of BNS in the development of Philippine Literature with
other Filipino writers.

A GLIMPSE IN THE LIFE OF BIENVENIDO SANTOS

Bienvenido N. Santos was called “Ben” by his friends and contemporaries. He was born on
March 22, 1911 in Manila. He was a novelist, a poet, a short story writer, and everything about
writing. He wrote mostly in English even though he was from Pampanga (because he never
experienced to read in Pampango). He said that he fell in love with the sound of English and
when he told this to his American friends, they laughed.

Sir Ben is known in the field of literature because of his works that explore the Filipino and
American experiences. He was praised by his critics about this, especially with the portrayals of
Filipino immigrants (the loneliness) in the United States.

He received a government scholarship and went to Columbia University and Harvard University.
He earned his Master’s Degree in English in University of Illinois. During the Japanese
occupation, he worked for the Philippine government in exile in Washington, D.C. In 1955, he
published his first collection of short stories, You Lovely People. And this is the coolest thing that
I can tell you about him, in 1961, he was appointed as the Dean of the Graduate Studies (if you
go to the UNC Graduate School Office, you will see his picture on the wall ) and Vice President of
University of Nueva Caceres. He also taught at Ohio State University and De La Salle University
(in fact, there is an annual writing workshop in the university in his name). Another controversy
came to his life during the Marcos regime because of his novel, The Praying Man (1982). The
government during the time of Former President Ferdinand Marcos ordered to ban his novel
and he voluntarily exiled to the United States. In 1976, Sir Ben became an American citizen. He
received several awards for his work, such as Guggenheim Fellowship in 1960, a Rockefeller
Foundation fellowship in 1958, and the National Endowment for the Arts fellowship in 1982. Sir
Ben died on January 7, 1996.
 LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.1

Describe Bienvenido N. Santos as a man and as a writer.

Sir Ben was a brilliant person. His work ethic and intelligence got him far in his career and

life. His fascination with the English language and the culture of the west and the experience

of his fellow countrymen while in abroad gives us an insight to his curious and

compassionate character as a person. He also had the desire to pass on his knowledge to the

next generation by teaching. It goes to show that he doesn’t want the gifts he possesses to

die with him. As a writer, he can be considered a virtuoso. The fact that we are studying

about him in this course is a manifestation that his literary works created an impact which

echoed throughout in history. Sir Ben’s legacy is immortalized through his works.

LITERARY WORKS OF BIENVENIDO N. SANTOS

Here are the famous works of Bienvenido N. Santos that made his name important in the
Filipino American literature.

1. Villa Magdalena (1965)

Critics said that this book is the most sensual among the writings of Sir Ben. This was his
first novel under the Rockefeller Foundation Grant at the University of Iowa Writers
Workshop. The story of Villa Magdalena is about the anguish between the Conde family
and Medalladas family.

2. The Volcano (1965)

This book was published in the same year as Villa Magdalena. It is about the life of an
American doctor (Dr. Hunter) who had his missionary work here in the Philippines. Sir
Ben showed in this book the life and struggles of Americans during the late 1920s.

3. The Praying Man (1982)

The story is about the protagonist Cristino Magat, a self-made millionaire businessman
who built an empire on the production of drugs. Sir Ben said that when he was still in
Iowa City, he already wrote the first draft of this novel and the idea of the character and
dramatic scenes were conceptualized five years before Villa Magdalena and The Volcano
were published in 1965.
 4. Distances: In Time (1983)
This book is a compilation of 33 poems about sadness. It is divided into three major
themes: the Intimidations, the Intimates, and the Intermediaries.

5. The Wounded Stag (1956)

This book is a collection of 54 poems by Sir Ben written in free verse.

6. The Man Who (Thought He) Looked Like Robert Taylor (1983)
This is one of the novels of Sir Ben about the struggles of Filipino immigrants in the
United States. In this story, the protagonist, Solomon King is living in Chicago for 30
years and decided to travel to Washington D.C. to meet his Filipino friends. He met
other Filipinos who are “better educated” that added to his inferiority.

7. The Day the Dancers Came

This short story is about two Filipinos: Fil and Tony who live in Chicago since World War
II ended. The story revolved on the arrival of a group of Philippine dancers and Chicago
and Fil invited them to be toured around the city and to eat adobo and chicken relleno
in his home; revealing the yearning of Filipinos in the United States for their own culture
and life in their own country.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 1.2

Compare the contributions of Bienvenido N. Santos in Philippine literature with the following
Filipino writers.

Jose Garcia Villa

Much like Sir Ben, Jose Villa also had a powerful literary influence in the Philippines. He also
had the Guggenheim Fellowships like Sir Ben. Such grant is given to individuals "who have
demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability
in the arts." A fellow Filipino writer had this to say about him “The one Filipino writer today
who it would be futile to deride and impossible to ignore ... the pace-setter for an entire
generation of young writers, the mentor laying down the law for the whole tribe, the patron-
saint of a cult of rebellious moderns." Like Sir Ben, he was also involved in American culture
as he spent time working in the states.

NVM Gonzales
Gonzalez was revered for preserving Filipinos’ cultural roots through his short stories and
other writings, which were translated into several languages. When he came to UCLA to
teach a graduate seminar on Philippine and Filipino American Literature, the university news
magazine “Cross Currents” described him as “the Philippines’ foremost creative writer in
English.” Very much like Sir Ben, he also devoted a portion of his life to teaching the next
generation about the art of writing.
SUMMARY CONCEPTS

● Bienvenido N. Santos was a novelist, a poet, and a short story writer who made
significant contributions in Philippine Literature through his known works that explored
the life and feelings of Americans and Filipinos.
● He received various scholarship grants that made him produced and published novels,
short stories, and poetry collections that marked his name in Philippine Literature.

ASSIGNMENT

What is the importance of knowing our Filipino writers like Bienvenido N. Santos?

Sir Ben and other writers serves as an inspiration for the next generation. They were responsible

for making Filipinos known not just in bravery and patriotism, hospitality and manners but also

in artistic expressions. To be known as a nation which breeds highly intellectual and talented

individuals like NVM and Jose Villa is crucial because for the longest time, we Filipinos have been

categorized as intellectually and artistically inferior to other nations dating back to when we

were still called “indios”. But since said individuals not only made a mark in our own country but

also was internationally acclaimed, we are gradually rewriting our image as a nation in the field

of art. It Is also important for us to know these filipino writers because we can use them as

barometers of our competence in writing. By looking at their work, we can assess whether or

not we are even improving with the way we construct our literary works.

REFERENCES

Alegre E. and Fernandez, D. (1984). The Writer and His Milieu: An Oral History of First
Generation Writers in English. De Lasalle University Press

Bienvenido Santos: Twentieth Century Literary Criticism: Retrieved on July 15, 2020 from
https://www.enotes.com/topics/bienvenido-n-santos/critical-essays/santos-bienvenido-n-
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