Literature & the Nation

If we go to the roots of Filipino nationhood, literacy and nationhood are intertwined. The act of writing Noli Me Tangere has
been considered as an act that first imagined the Filipino nation into being.
Myth-Making Project
The concept and dream of the Philippine nation was born.
Literature & Society
It allows us to relate to others and connects us to different human experiences.
● Literature allows us to relate to others and connect us to different human experiences.
● Literature does not only capture reality, but also how literature can change reality.
● Literature strengthens 21st century skills, especially critical thinking skills.
Literature & Science
There is a codependency between science and science fiction. Many scientists and engineers acknowledge that science
fiction helped to spark their imagination of what was possible in science … And science fiction authors are inspired by future
science possibilities.
Noli Me Tangere - Touch Me Not - Huwag mo Akong Salingin
Gina Apostol - 57 year old woman, author of well known books
Gun Dealer’s Daughter - an Award–winning novel
2018’s Insurrecto - named one of Publishers Weekly’s 10 best books that year.
1997’s Bibliolepsy and 2009’s The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata - her first two novels, both won the
Philippine National Book Award for fiction.
Literary Theories and 21st Century Literature
● Metafiction - when the author deliberately sets out to disturb the closed world created by the author by reminding
the reader that these characters are figments of the imagination
● Historiographical Metafiction - when the author makes the reader aware of the constructed nature of fiction,
seeks to make the reader understand what the narratives found in history
Andres Bonifacio - first to be inspired by Noli Me Tangere to revolt
The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata by Gina Apostol
Raymundo Mata - a half-blind bookworm and revolutionary
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The Science of Heroism
According to Elizabeth Svoboda “heroism is doing something where you`re really taking risk to help somebody else, and
you`re not expecting to gain from the risk to yourself.”
According to Philip Zimbardo “Heroism is done on a voluntary basis despite the costs and risks involved to one`s person
or one`s reputation, without expecting any gain or reward.”
According to Ervin Straub “people who had gone through specific bouts of suffering, some had suffered violent assaults,
others had gone through natural disasters, and others were more willing to help when they found out that others went
through similar circumstances.”
Philip Zimbardo believes that “every one of us
can be a hero.”
Heroism and villainy are part of a spectrum of human nature, and one can choose between these two opposites according to
one’s imagination.
The History and Literature of Heroism
The concept of the hero relied on the culture one came from and the culture of the author.
In ancient Greece, Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad , the hero was someone with great martial skills.
In Dark Age Greece, the warrior class was the ruling class. In order to prove he was worthy of ruling, a leader had to
continually demonstrate his ability as a warrior.
Anglo-Saxon poem Beowulf and the Germanic tribes. The Germanic culture was warrior based and was centered around a
lord, strength and courage in battle, as well as loyalty were highly valued traits in a hero.
One thing that makes the Philippines different when it comes to heroes in our history and literature is the presence of female
heroes.
Princess Urduja - precolonial hero, came to the fore, leading an army of fierce female warriors called Kinalakian.
Shri-Visayan Empire in the 6th to the 13th centuries, political dominance by conquest and wars took place. By the series of
wars, the men's population was depleted.
Bernardo Carpio as Filipino Hercules - he was trapped by the Spaniards during the Spanish Colonization
Metaphor - A figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable.