Contemporary Literature

Unit I

Ashley Fe O. Canillo

Bachelor of Arts in Literature and Cultural Studies-3

 Ako ang Daigdig: A Post-Colonialism Analysis

Upon reading Alejandro Abadilla’s poem, the readers were given the chance to witness
how the author brought change into the society. The poem, Ako ang Daigdig does not
literally means the author himself embodying the universe. Edward Said’s Theory of
Orientalism promotes decolonization, just how the author himself brought change into a
very colonized society. The poem suggests its readers to decolonize, also the author
defied and breaks the society’s norm of writing a poem. Looking back to the famous
authors’ literary pieces, it possesses a certain measurement, rhyme scheme, and
allegories, Abadilla’s work on the other hand, defies and breaks the society’s norm of
writing poems. This literary piece shows how an author decolonized himself, how he
fights to end the colonization of colonizers, and promotes to have and start with a
change. In relation to that, Abadilla believes and is rooting for his works to be the start
of rekindling with change.

A Philosophical Analysis in Adonis Durado’s, Dili Tanan Matagak Mahagbong

Each of us vary on how we perceive life. There are times that we see life as
undemanding and trouble-free, yet most of the time, patchy. Also, it’s undeniably true
that we are sometimes not favored of the things we aspire to happen in our lives. In the
poem, Dili Tanan Matagak Mahagbong, Adonis Durado states that “Dili tanang mahulog
adunay padulngan, / Nga ang mga butang nga nakabuhi sa atong kamot / [o natagak
gikan sa wanang] adunay tugpahan.” This means that we are not capable of predicting
things that are about to happen, also, we are unable to guarantee that our efforts will
pave success. However, life is unanticipated, we cannot just expect ourselves to be
static with our own vanquishment, moreover, life doesn’t stop in a single defeat, just like
how Durano emphasized that “Ug kinsay nasayod, nga ang nahiplos mong singsing, /
Nga milayat kaniadto sa lawod, kay hangtod karon, / Gapadayon lang gihapon sa iyang
pagka-unlod.” In addition to that, an individual should not be worrisome for what Joshua
1:9 says, “Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed, for the Lord
your God is with you wherever you go.”

A Psychological Analysis in Love Poem Macabre

In reading Tita Ayala’s Love Poem Macabre, we were given a chance to witness the
undying love that a persona has developed for her captor that later on become her
lover, even when it costs her own life. The persona’s lover is drunk and has gone
alcoholic in the lines, “The chico brown feel and / scent of you / keep me shamelessly
honeyed,” meaning she could smell the scent of a beer, and knows what it actually
tastes, but instead of being horrified, the persona finds comfort in an alcohol, thus it
sooths herself. In reference to that, the persona’s behavior has appealed as one of the
symptoms of Stockholm syndrome—a psychological occurrence where the abused
develops emotional attachment to his/her abuser. In Sigmund Freud’s Personality
Theory, the persona has undergone the developing stages of lives, just how the
Tripartite Psyche works. Although the persona is experiencing such kind of syndrome,
the presence of nostalgia is seen in the poem as the persona recalls their reminiscence,
“I long for the note of command in / your voice / when you call / from the stairs.”
Moreover, the persona’s lover is viewed as superior and embodies patriarchy, however
then, despite the abusive relationship that the persona had with her lover, she continues
loving until her last breath, even in death, nothing can make her forsake the love she
had for her captor.
 Sapay Koma: Moral-Feminism Analysis

Jhonna Lyn Cruz’s Sapay Koma can be viewed in the lenses of Moralistic and
Feministic approach, for a reason that the main protagonists have done something that
is inadequately against the moral principles of life, on the other hand, the other
characters have pushed the female protagonist to overcome the three stages of
feminism as what the story tells us. In viewing the story moralistically, both Maria and
Leon has their fair share of mistakes, at the center point of the story, Leon got Maria
pregnant without the blessings of their parents and matrimonial rites. Indeed, pre-marital
sex is against Leon’s culture, and a sin in the eyes of the Almighty. In fact, this act of
immorality is stated in the Bible, in 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, which says, “For this is the
will of God, your sanctification; that you abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you
knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like
the Gentiles who do not know God.” Moreover, in Elaine Showalter’s theory of feminism,
it highlights the three stages—feminism, feminist, and female. Through this, we are able
to see Maria’s growth as an individual, mother, and a woman. In the first stage, Maria’s
submissiveness is very evident, we can see how she submitted herself, not only to her
partner, but also to Leon’s culture and family, because she assumes that being
submissive could win Leon’s family’s blessing and that the family might be able to
accept her as part of the family. Furthermore, at the second stage of this theory, Maria
tries to revolt by fighting her right as an in law and telling her partner to also fight for her
and their children. Lastly, Maria’s character outstretches the third stage by realizing her
worth, and finally choosing herself first. At the end of the story was Maria’s awakening
where she wishes that everything might come to its end, where every person involved
could find their own forgiveness.