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A passionate discussion of the history of oppositional writing in the Philippines
The Philippine Temptation
Dialectics of Philippines-U.S. Literary Relations
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E. San Juan, Jr.
Outstanding Academic Book, Choice, 1996
"...a wealth of well-documented ancillary material. His views are both insightful and uncompromising. Given the scope and depth of his work, it is easy to see why San Juan is considered one of the authoritative voices in Philippine studies."
—Multicultural Review
In this incisive and polemical book, E. San Juan, Jr., the leading authority on Philippines-U.S. literary studies, goes beyond fashionable postcolonial theory to bring to our attention the complex history of Philippines-U.S. literary interactions. In sharp contrast to other works on the subject, the author presents Filipino literary production within the context of a long and sustained tradition of anti-imperialist insurgency, and foregrounds the strong presence of oppositional writing in the Philippines.
After establishing the historical context of U.S. intervention and Filipino resistance, San Juan examines the work of two very significant writers. The first, Carlos Bulosan, a journalist and union activist, became in the author's words a "tribune" of the people. Bulosan's writings which combine critique and prophecy do not allow us to forget the atrocities inflicted on the Filipino people. The other, José Garcia Villa, lapsed into premature obscurity on account of the complexity of his writings about the Filipino predicament. Read through San Juan's eyes, these writers are revealed as multifaceted thinkers and activists, not stereotypical ethnic artists.
San Juan goes beyond literary studies and contemporary debates about nationalism and politics to point the way to a new direction in radical transformative writing. He uncovers hidden agendas in many previous accounts of U.S.-Philippine relations, and this book exemplifies how best to combine activist scholarship with historically grounded cultural commentary.
Excerpt
Read an excerpt from Chapter 1 (pdf).
Reviews
"San Juan is a scholar of remarkable range and varied talents...remarkable for his commitment to literature and culture as vital areas of contemporary social life."
—Fredrick Jameson, William Lane Professor of Comparative Literature, Duke University
"San Juan's study is a tour de force of an extraordinary and comprehensive nature. His transdisciplinary approach is on the frontier of a new intellectual discourse, on the cutting edge of Third World scholarship."
—Dr. Sam Noumoff, Director, Center for Developing Area Studies, McGill University, Montreal
"E. San Juan, Jr. is undoubtedly the leading authority on Filipino-American literary relations.... [He] deftly contextualizes literary forms and expressions within their historical and social matrix. In the growing field of multi-cultural studies, San Juan's contribution is quite unique—an immensely valuable contribution to U.S.-Filipino cultural history and comparative literature studies."
—Bruce Franklin, Dana Professor of English and American Literature, Rutgers University
"San Juan is one of the most authoritative practitioners of Third World culture writing in the United States today. His work charts in detail the vast and difficult terrain he has covered...."
—Robert Dombroski, Professor of Italian and Comparative Literature, Graduate Center, City University of New York
"It is exciting to see a work so focused, not on abstract theory for abstract purposes, but on the now.... For readers interested in Filipino writing, The Philippine Temptation is, as San Juan intended, an excellent place to start."
—MELUS
"The Philippine Temptation offers much valuable information and intelligent insights into what some of the forces, tensions and energies were—are—that have influenced the intelligentsia of the Philippines, especially the Filipino writer of English."
—The Journal of Asian Studies
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. "Civilize 'em with a Krag": Errand to the Boondocks
2. Discourse of Hegemony, Projects of Critique and Resistance
3. Masks of the Filipino in the "New World"
4. Overseas Writing: Toward a Political Economy of the Diasporic Imagination
5. Violence of Exile, Politics of Desire: Prologue to Carlos Bulosan
6. Articulating a Third World Modernism: The Case of Jose Garcia Villa
7. Allegories of the Nation in the Postmodern World
Afterword
Notes
Works Cited
Index
About the Author(s)
 | E. San Juan, Jr. is Fellow of the Center for the Humanities and Visiting Professor of English, Wesleyan University, and Director of the Philippines Cultural Studies Center. He was recently chair of the Department of Comparative American Cultures, Washington University, and Professor of Ethnic Studies at Bowling Green State University, Ohio. He received the 1999 Centennial Award for Literature from the Philippines Cultural Center. His most recent books are Beyond Postcolonial Theory, From Exile to Diaspora, After Postcolonialism, and Racism and Cultural Studies. |
Subject Categories
Asian American Studies
Literature and Drama
In the series
Asian American History and Culture, edited by Sucheng Chan, David Palumbo-Liu, Michael Omi, K. Scott Wong, and Linda Trinh Vő.
The "standard" written histories of Asian immigrants to the United States have been imbued with Western cultural biases. As a critique and corrective to earlier work, Asian American History and Culture, edited by Sucheng Chan, David Palumbo-Liu, Michael Omi, K. Scott Wong, and Linda Trinh Vő, aims to develop a history of Asian Americans that is compatible with their own experience, that treats Asian Americans as agents of historical change and as creators of a new culture. In addition, this series intends to focus on the groups that are flourishing in the contemporary U.S.—Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese—about whom little has been written as well as to add to the substantial work done on the Chinese and Japanese in this country.