IP 411 - Final Exam

IP 411 - Fall 2007
Final Examinations
Daniel-Jay Pascual

Choose two thesis questions provided and prove/disprove them by using examples from the readings or other literary pieces you have read.

4. There is a certain mystical quality and sacredness of the Ilocos landscape as the Ilokano characters go back to the Ilocos as if it were a temple of some sort, idealizing it in many ways, and yet propping up the kind of psychic health that every exile needs as he comes to terms with the unfamiliar and the uncertain.

I find the thesis statement preceding this sentence to be true. The concept of returning home is a strong practice in the Ilokano culture. Majority of the Ilokano people who have journeyed here from the Philippines feel that it is their duty to succeed in the “foreign land” and return to the motherland to share their wealth and knowledge.

In the story, Sing, Cicada, Sing!, by Gregorio C. Laconsay, the main character, Dr. Pete Ringor/Idot, travels with his wife back to his home in the Philippines. Although Dr. Pete had been born in the Philippines, he was given an opportunity to move to America and establish himself as a successful practitioner of the medical field. Initially, the reasons as to why he chose to travel back to the Philippines are unclear. However, toward the end of the story, we learn that he plans to produce his offspring there in the Philippines, rather than America. In this case, the mystical quality and sacredness of Dr. Pete returning home to his homeland is the notion of returning home and producing children. Whether he chooses to remain in his native land and raise his children there is unclear, although I believe he would like to allow his children to be raised in the environment afforded by his homeland.

In a botanical approach to this situation, we can produce the idea of “up-rooting” and “re-rooting.” In this case, Dr. Pete’s “roots” are originally planted in the Philippines, his homeland. When he journeys to America, he is “up-rooted” and “re-rooted” into new soil, a soil which does not necessarily allow him to bear “fruit.” As a result, he chooses to “re-root” himself back to his homeland, back into native soil, which then allows him to produce an abundance of “ripe fruit.”

In the story, Selmo Returns Home, by Benjamin M. Pascual, the main character, Selmo, returns home to his town, San Miguel, after living in various parts of America for thirty years. The reason for his return home is similar to that of modern Ilokano immigrants who are working as hotel housekeepers so that a few dollars a month can be sent back to their loved ones in the Philippines. In the story, the author writes, “To return to the town of one’s birth was a yearning that had fitted through his mind and never quite died during his thirty years’ stay...,” this describes the psychological effects experienced by Selmo, and shared amongst majority of the Ilokano immigrants scattered across the world. It is without reason for some to choose to return home, although for many, it is a decision that has been pre-defined.

In the end, the return home is seen by many as a sacred journey. Essentially, it is a journey which is aimed at gaining knowledge and sharing that knowledge with others in the motherland so that the current society may prosper and develop a new and improved foundation for living. The sanctity of the return home provides people with a type of motivation to make the trip back to the motherland so that the motherland itself may flourish.

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2. The term Ilokano is a term for a people, a culture, a language, a memory, an act of resistance and insistence, a claim, a history, and a poetics that is largely build upon the Ilokano language as a form of social practice in the Philippines and in the Diaspora.

The above thesis statement is entirely true. The term Ilokano represents an extensive array of various concepts representing the northern people of the Philippines. In fact, if you take the word, “Ilokano,” and analyze it, you will find that “i” means from, and “looc” represents bay, essentially producing, “people of the bay.” Therefore, the term itself contains a description of the people who label themselves as Ilokano.

Additionally, an assortment of stories exists to help describe the Ilokano culture. From stories about traditional customs, to poems about oppression and labor movements, the Ilokano ethos can be explored in various methods. For example, Rice for the Moon, by Manuel S. Diaz, is a story which describes a traditional Ilokano custom of rolling a ball of rice and throwing it to the moon in hopes for good blessings. In The Bladed Poem, by Jose Ma. Sison, the author uses a poem to describe a labor movement involving the Ilokano people. In If You Want to Know What We Are, by Carlos Bulosan, the author describes a poem depicting the hardships of the working class and the privileges of the politics. In this particular poem, Bulosan describes the various characteristics of a revolution. In the epic, Biag ni Lam-ang, we can read a great deal about Ilokano culture and historical events. The epic describes people of the Ilokano civilization as well as geographic descriptions and customs such as the dallot. In Metaphorman and Migrant, I, we can observe the personal life experiences of a migrant from the Philippines, and his transition to the United States. In The Strangers, by Jeremias A. Calixto, we can see the bonding of the Ilokano people in times of an emergency. On the contrary, we can also observe the isolation the Ilokano people are capable of generating.

Ilokano culture can also be accumulated through the classroom. The Ilokano classes offered at the University of Hawaii at Manoa focus on the language aspects of Ilokano, although a variety of cultural notes can be obtained through these classes and the instructors. For example, in my Ilokano 301 class this semester, we were able to conduct an interview with immigrants of the Philippines. Through my interview, I was able to learn a lot about the Ilokano culture. Though my interview focused on the process of migration to the United States, I was able to learn that many Ilokano people during the 1950’s were able to gain U.S. citizenship through the petition process, a process which is still utilized today.

In addition, the culture can be learned through songs. During our entertainment contribution to the 2007 International Conference on Ilokano and Amianan Literatures & Cultures, we were able to dress in the formal Ilokano attire and sing “Idiay Baybay.” The song is a popular song of the Ilokano culture. Our participation alone in this event, allowed us to learn of the various Ilokano writers in the community as well as their work.

Ultimately, we can observe the culture through these various representations of the term, Ilokano. We can see that there exist numerous methods of obtaining the information needed to portray the various aspects of the Ilokano culture. Whether it be through reading a piece of literature to the next generation of Ilokano people, to sharing a life experience with an audience across the World Wide Web, these events illustrate a small portion of the multiple interpretations of the term, Ilokano.