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Wednesday, August 26, 2009
WHAT ARE POETS FOR IN A POST PO-MO SOCIETY?
By Danny Castillones Sillada
"Lumapos kaw. Ya tapos. Di kaw mauno."
(You will succeed. You will finish. Nothing bad will happen to you.)
– Mandaya Panawagtawag Ritual
Published in Manila Bulletin http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/219360/what-are-poets-a-post-pomo-society
In a far-flung village of Davao Oriental in a remote town called Cateel, there used to live a native guardian of “mangmang” (bamboo instrument). He was called the “Bamboo Beater”, whose task, in his entire life, was to wake up the villagers before sunrise by beating the bamboo instrument.
At exactly 4 o’clock in the morning, he would thump the “mangmang’ in a harsh manner and then, the sound would slowly ebb away with melodic beats. The rhythmic vanishing sound would serve as a reminder to the villagers that their endeavors should be fruitful and meaningful at the end of the day.
POETS AS THINKERS AND GUARDIANS OF TRUTH
Poets today are like Bamboo Beaters, they rouse people’s consciousness from indifference and complacency. Most often, poets create a discordant sound reflective of social reality and stir up the society’s conscience toward commitment and responsibility.
Poets are preordained to speak up the “Truth” and the “Summum Bonum” (highest good). When poets create, they reveal something that is not yet revealed before, but has already been happening within the lives of people in a particular society. This revelatory process is the disclosure or unveiling of “Truth” because poetry, like philosophy, is the embodiment of metaphysical realities, which are the Truth, the Good, and the Beautiful.
No poetry is created outside its own reality because it is an anathema to its ontological meaning as the precursor of “Truth”. In like manner, Poets as the guardians of “Truth”, have a moral responsibility to bring the ideals of “Truth” to be pondered upon by the members of society.
As the guardians of “Truth”, poets should make poetry accessible to the people as the primary recipient of their musings. They should not alienate their readers with lofty linguistic expressions, or confuse them with otherworldly imageries and symbols, because poetry, as a product of creative freedom, is neither self-conscious nor rigidly conventional. As the highest form of language, poetry is supposed to reach out and touch the human lives with dignity and meaning.
For instance, the poetry of an Indian poet Rabindranath Tagore or the Japanese poet Akiko Yosano spoke the language and sentiments of its people based on their social realities, beliefs, and culture. Tagore and Yosano had woven their sensuous experience of language by speaking from their own native tongue, in such a way that the people in their respective milieus could identify as though the written or spoken verses were their own.
Conversely, in a ‘post po-mo society’ (Post Post-Modern Society), it is not the conventional form or structure of poetry that is consequential, but how accessible it is to the people, how it addresses their concrete realities with urgency, and how it represents their “voice” within the particular conditions of their society.
In the same manner, as the revelation of truth, poetry seeks to establish a dialogue with people; it converses in their intimate moments with gentleness and compassion, rousing their souls to experience the transcendent amid their convoluted world, so to say.
As a dialogic encounter, poetry reveals realities that matter to the people’s lives rather than that of the poets. Even if poets were to write in a confessional or autobiographical manner, they can still address or respond to the people’s reality, as an eloquent representation of the latter’s “voice” or sentiment.
In the end, poetry is not about poets who write about poems, but it is about people living within a historical society. Poets dissect society and its historicity as the terminus aquo and terminus ad quem in their linguistic discourses about the “Truth.”
Poetry, therefore, can only be meaningful if it is conceived based on the concrete realities of a historical society, nurtured by the richness of its own language, and delivered with poignancy to be experienced and reflected upon by the members of the same society.
CROWNS AND ORANGES: WORKS BY YOUNG PHILIPPINE POETS
The recently launched “Crowns and Oranges: Works by Young Philippine Poets”, edited by Dr. Cirilo F. Bautista and Ken Ishikawa, is a compilation of carefully, if not arbitrarily, selected poems by young Filipino poets. Some of them are recipients of Palanca Awards and other award-giving bodies – both local and abroad.
Noticeable in the entire collection is the “binary perception” in the psyche of the young poets, mimicking the Western dichotomy of the world (e.g. individual vs. society, black vs. white, literal vs. figurative). The “I” or the poetic voice is generally distant, similar to the protagonist of Albert Camus’s novel “L'Étranger”; other elements apart from the “I” are mere subsidiaries within the content of the poem.
Apparently, the shifting of reality among the young generation of Filipino poets is imminent and the gap from the older generation, like Gémino Abad, Virgilio Almario, Cirilo Bautista, Marjorie Evasco, Edith Tiempo, Emmanuel Torres, and Alfred Yuson, among others, is cavernous.
As a point of comparison, the poetry of the older generation possesses rhythm, logical flow of thoughts, and didactic resolutions at the end of poetic narrative. Their perception of the world echoes the “I and Thou” phenomenology of a Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, which is identifying the world as another “I”, not a thing or “I and It”. The young poets, on the other hand, trudge on existential angst where the “I” is the center and the world is a drab picture to be conquered and understood in relation to the “I”.
At times, their voices can be sardonic, bold, or harsh yet, they offer no resolution at the end of their creative outputs, but an open-ended statement to be deciphered by the readers. They have demonstrated an exceptional skill, though, in creating an element of unpredictability in their respective poetic narratives. Perhaps, this is where creative freedom works best, the ability of these young poets to create texture and tension based on their own perception of reality.
In “Persona”, for example, Joel Toledo poignantly confesses at the end of his poem, “Allow me to introduce you to my other selves.” The line is tinged with cynicism and self-indulgence. Arkaye Kierulf delivers a strong ironic statement in his poem about pain and death, “For example: A Flower / is the most beautiful lie.”
Ramil Digal Gulle caught the attention of his reader in “Brassier Speak.” Call it dark humor; his introductory line lures the reader to read further, “The very first bra in China arrived in 1920.” And it moves on and on entertaining the reader with the poet’s tête-à-tête. Another element of unpredictability in the poem is the “quotability” of lines. Angelo Suarez writes a lingering phrase in his poem “At the Train Station,” which says, “Something in the mouth, like language, / breaks beneath the weight of a flower.”
Generally, the poetry in “Crowns and Oranges” is poignantly bleak, cynical, and melancholic – devoid of quixotic perception of the world – but effacingly grounded on the poets respective realities. It is awe-inspiring, though, how these brilliant young poets mastered the creative techniques and nuances of English language. However, it is also lamentable how little did these poets write in their own respective regional languages.
Famous poets who wrote in their own native tongues, like Tagore, Neruda, and Yosano, conquer the English-speaking world by asserting their own language. In our local literary scene, however, with the exception of a handful, like Virgilio Almario, Vim Nadera, and Sonny Villafania, to name a few, Filipino poets assert their own world by conquering the English language.
To sum, editing an anthology of poems from young generation of poets is parallel to the gathering of fruits in the orchard. The choice is not whether the fruits are good or bad, but the choice has to be made based on the degree of ripeness. Are the fruits ripe enough to be eaten or will they need more time until they are ready to be picked up or harvested? One has to make a critical choice and decide which poem or poet is worthy of inclusion and which one is not.
In like manner, the editor(s) is compelled to follow a paradigmatic pattern, not only to consider the poet’s achievements and body of works, but also to dissect the relevance of literary output in relation to the theme and structure of the book.
Dr. Cirilo F. Bautista and Ken Ishikawa have done an exemplary job in “Crowns and Oranges” which, in itself, is a work of art. It may not be a comprehensive anthology of the entire generation of young Filipino poets. Even so, its ambitious attempt to represent the “voice” of the post po-mo poets in Philippine literature is a long stride worthy of adulation.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Sonnet to a Pilgrim Soul in Manobo language (trans. Dr. R. Muñez)
Pagyugwa to soga pagkamasim
Og atras to kadigyom
Paminogan nu dadun kan sonata
Kay basi kona nud og kadinogan sunod
Pagbukyag to buyawanon no kamasiman
Og dayom kan kayangitan
Aha ka diyat unahan aw tagbawa sikan mata nu
Pagkita to mgo botang no kona nug kakitaan diyat taga inop
Pero kona kag kaguol no biyahero
Bisan pad makitaan to kalibutan kan kalisud nu
Kay og abot da to panaho no og ayop kan mata dan
Tapos og kabadaan dan sikan piglikatan ta
Kan kayung og kahinang on puli no abug
Paglipas to mgo aedow ta
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Monday, August 24, 2009
Pagsasatubuanan: Poetikang Bikolnon by Jose Jason Chancoco
“Chancoco’s book enlightens us on important aspects of Bicol poetics. It is a great contribution to Philippine literary scholarship.” – Dr. Cirilo F. Bautista, Philippine Panorama
“We could not fault Chancoco’s craftmanship.” – Dr. Leoncio P. Deriada, Homelife Magazine
“Jose Jason Chancoco's pioneering and scholarly work, Pagsasatubuanan Poetikang Bikolnon, is a koh-i-noor in the canon of Bikol poetics and literary criticism. A rare achievement!” – Santiago B. Villafania, Pangasinan Poet
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Thursday, August 13, 2009
Sonnet to a Pilgrim Soul (translation in Bengali language by Bishnupada Ray)
Bishnupada Ray is a Reader in English in North Bengal University, India. He is also a poet. His poems have appeared in Indian Literature, New Quest, Makata, A Hudson View, Tonight--An Anthology of World Love Poetry and Shabdaguchha. Three volumes of his poetry have been published by the Writers Workshop, Kolkata, India.
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Saturday, August 08, 2009
GATE creates Culture and Arts TWG
LINGAYEN --- Gov. Amado T. Espino, Jr. created a technical working group (TWG) called “Dangoan Pangasinan” to plan, create, and carry out a program on Pangasinan culture and arts.
Under Executive Order No. 0073-2009, otherwise known as Pangasinan Culture and Arts Group, the TWG was tasked to do the following: formulate and implement programs on Pangasinan culture and arts; coordinate with other agencies concerning cultural and artistic performances and art exhibits; and create a working plan for the management and administration of the Sison Auditorium.
This initiative aims to relive, promote and preserve the distinctiveness of Pangasinan culture through music and arts, crafts, dance and drama which are uniquely Pangasinan.
According to the Governor, “Pangasinan’s culture is known for its diversity and uniqueness developed by an intricate blending of indigenous cultural fibers.”
Gov. Espino said that the undertaking is also of significant timing since the repair and renovation of Sison Auditorium is nearing its completion.
With its intricate design and fixture, the auditorium will house the Pangasinan’s Culture and Arts Center to host programs and exhibitions covering a wide range of performing, visual and literary arts of Pangasinan and others.
According to Gov. Espino, the Sison Auditorium was used to be the best venue for cultural shows of the country outside Metro Manila. But due to long years of neglect, the auditorium lost its luster.
With its renovation, the Sison Auditorium will reclaim its old glory as the finest auditorium outside Metro Manila, the Governor said.
The TWG is composed of Gov. Espino as Honorary Chairman; Vice Gov. Marlyn Primicias-Agabas and Provincial Administrator Rafael F. Baraan as Honorary Vice-Chairmen with various department heads and provincial employees as members. Dea Que Hoffman has been designated as executive director.
During major events such as Pista’y Dayat and “Agew ya Kawayangan” 2009, the provincial government has staged cultural nights to instill a deep sense of awareness and appreciation of Pangasinan culture among the youth. (PIO by Ninia F. Nicolas)
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Thursday, August 06, 2009
“An Pagbungsod,” grand launch of Bikol literary titles slated August 15
PRESS RELEASE
Naga City—August 15, 2009 will be a date to remember in Bicol’s literary history as Bikol writers release five books and a literary magazine. Dubbed as “An Pagbungsod” it will be held 6PM at the alfresco area of the Avenue Square in Magsaysay Avenue, Naga City.
The grand launch will feature “Yudi Man: Mga Osipon para ki Nunuy asin ki Nini,” a collection of short-stories for children by Premio Tomas Arejola para sa Literaturang Bikolnon winners as edited by Carlos A. Arejola and Lorna A. Billanes, and illustrated by Boyet Abrenica; “Pagsasatubuanan: Poetikang Bikolnon,” a book of literary criticism on Bikol poetics by Jose Jason L. Chancoco; “Tigsik,” a compilation of tigsik(s), a Bikol ethnic poetic form by Aida B. Cirujales; “Sayod Kong Tataramon/Tuwiran Kong Sasabihin,” a collection of stage and screenplays by Carlos A. Arejola; “Bagyo sa Oktubre,” a collection poems in Filipino by Honesto M. Pesimo, Jr.; and “Bangraw kan Arte, Literatura asin Kultura,” a Bikol literary magazine edited by Estelito Jacob, Jun Pesimo and Marissa R. Casillan with Manny Salak as lay-out artist. All of the titles are published by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) and printed by the Goldprint Publishing House.
Carlos A. Arejola has been called the poster boy of Bikol Lit. in lecture circuits. He convenes an annual Bikol writers’ workshop, chairs a region-wide literary competition, and has, along with other stout-hearted Bikol artists, initiated other projects to win wider adherence for Bikol writings. His drama and poetry have won the Palanca Awards and other national literary prizes. He works for the Camarines Sur Provincial Capitol.
Lorna A. Billanes edits, translates, and teaches language and literature at Miriam College in Quezon City. Her fiction has won prizes from the Amelia Lapeña-Bonifacio Literary Awards and the PBBY Salanga Wrters’ Prize. She holds an M.A. degree in Creative Writing from UP Diliman where she is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in English Studies. She co-edits Yudi Man Mga Osipon para ki Nunuy asin ki Nini with Carlos Arejola.
Jose Jason L. Chancoco has won national awards and fellowships for his poetry, essay and fiction in English, Filipino, Bikol Naga and Iriganon. He won two gold medallions in a single year (2005,for stories for children and 1-act play for children categories) in the Tomas Arejola para sa Literaturang Bikolnon, a feat so far unduplicated. He is currently pursuing a law degree.
Tigsik Queen Aida B. Cirujales teaches at the Gainza Central School and was a finalist in the rawitdawit (poetry) category of the Premio Arejola in 2007.
Honesto M. Pesimo, Jr. has won national awards for his poetry and was cited in the rawitdawit category of the Premio Arejola in 2004 and 2007. He teaches at the Concepcion Pequeña High School and Mariners’ Polytechnic College.
Estelito Jacob, Jun Pesimo and Marissa Reorizo-Casillan co-edits Bangraw kan Arte, Literatura asin Kultura. Issa Casillan was the gold medallion winner of the osipon (fiction) category of the Premio Arejola in 2007. Esting Jacob is an award-winning poet and fictionist and is an avid painter. Apart from his poetry prizes, Jun Pesimo is an award-winning photographer.
Boyet Abrenica is one of the region’s most notable young visual artists today. He has designed literary titles and books of history and is the art director of Biggs Food Corporation.
Manny Salak is a senior graphic designer of Goldprint Publishing House. He was a finalist in the 25th National Shell Painting Competition.
The grand launch is in coordination with the Development Institute of Bicolano Artists Foundation, Inc., Premio Tomas para sa Literaturang Bikolnon, Kabulig-Bikol and the Avenue Plaza Hotel. The Naga College Foundation Cultural Arts Center will render performances during the launch. Noted Bikol writer and scholar H. Francisco V. Penones will be the keynote speaker.
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Tuesday, August 04, 2009
Pangasinan Aubade 2
masnag la’y balatabat pinabli
pinunit la’y balangon a banua’y
pegtaw ya inkabirhin na labi
saray luan sinalor ko’y gunaet
tinmerter: anggapo’y pagbabawi
tinooor ko’y sakey a pilalek
say tamitam mon tindek balani
sankablasan so bimuat a bekta
binegtew ‘yan kalamiong ka agi
natan maelalem so liknaan
ememan ka’d pagew no nayari
oney-ey ak man ed makauley
anlong ko’y anggapo'y pakayari
omboas ka sakbay na kaimbuasan
paunla’d nigetaran mon lari
inanaga’y agew no na’ndi ka
imbuel so naliknan ag nawari
ilaloan la’y ermen kon sigput
silalalo ingen ya maomli
et no bilang siglem la’y bilunget
lakapen ko’y liwawan onsabi
tangkapen ko’y aldabis na lasi
no ag pawile’y inaron kagut
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A Tao 道 Sign
Santiago B. Villafania, Pangasinan poet, is the author of poetry collections Pinabli tan arum ni'ran Anlong (Beloved & Other Poems), Balikas na Caboloan (Voices from Caboloan) published by the National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) under its UBOD New Authors Series (2005) and Malagilion: Sonnets tan Villanelles (2007). Villafania is one of the 11 Outstanding Pangasinenses conferred with the 2010 ASNA Award for the Arts and Culture (literature) category during the first-ever Agew na Pangasinan and 430th Foundation Day of Pangasinan on April 2010. Read more »
