State of War

NINOTCHKA ROSCA
About the author
Born: 1946 (age 73 years), Philippines

Education: University of the Philippines

Awards: American Book Award, Carlos

Palanca Memorial Awards for Short Story

A Filipina feminist, author, journalist and h

uman rights activist. Ninotchka Rosca is
described as, "one of the major players in the
saga of Filipina American writers". During
the political instability /during Ferdinand “BURN SO BRIGHT YOU LEAVE A
Marcos's rule she was arrested and held at a DARKNESS WHEN YOU GO OUT”
detention center for six months. She then
spent sometime in exile in America. Much of -NINOTCHKA ROSCA
her work is taken from her experiences during
her imprisonment.
Plot summary (buod ng kwento)

 Hansen, Banyaga, and Villaverde went to an island known as

the Island of K in the Philippines to participate in a festival.
 Villaverde got in touch with radicals planning to
activate explosives during the festival in order
to assassinate The Commander, a name used as an indirect
reference to Ferdinand Marcos. The assassination attempt that
would end Marcos’s presidency and dictatorship, but
seemingly failed in the end.
Karakter

 The main characters of this work of fiction are Adrian Banyaga, Anna
Villaverde, and Colonel Amor.
 The three youths – Hansen, Banyaga, and Villaverde – represented three
“faces of Manila”. Hansen is a vendor of "special favors" catering
to politicians.
 Banyaga is a son of a prominent and well-connected family.
 Villaverde was a dissident who had recently been tortured.
 Hansen was also playing the role of "matchmaker" between Banyaga and
Villaverde Colonel Amor is Villaverde’s interrogator, the lover and admirer
of Hansen, and the seeker of Banyaga's political connections.
Mga Tema

Political fiction - employs narrative to comment on political events,

systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often
"directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fantastic,
reality".