Academic literature on the topic 'Philippine Mythology'

The Philippines is one of the countries rich in culture, characterized by different literary art forms, such as indigenous rituals and folk narratives that are passed on to future generations. However, although there have been recurring studies about these literary pieces, some narratives and fields of literary studies are being neglected, such as Philippine Mythology. Yet, the preservation and recognition of Philippine myths may be resolved through the copious integration of these myths into the academe. In this article, the author introduced the state of literature, mainly folk narratives, in Philippine schools and the nature of myths, including the different mythological creatures present in them. There are many discussions concerning the appreciation of these texts from different articles and studies from prominent authors, yet reliving these myths remains not progressive. Schools are one of the most accessible yet trusted sources of facts and important learning, which also are home for young generations who are supposed to be heirs of these value-laden artifacts.

For the 8th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art (apt) (2015–16), Sydney-based artists Justin Shoulder and Bhenji Ra collaborated to present Ex Nilalang, a series of filmic and live portraits exploring Philippine mythology and marginalized identities. The artists’ shared Filipino ancestry, attachments to the Filipino diasporic community, and investigations into “Philippine-ness” offer obvious cultural connections to the “Asia Pacific” concerns of the apt. However, their aesthetic interests in inhabiting fictional spaces marked by the “fantastic” and the “monstrous”—alongside the lived reality of their critical queer positions and life politics—complicate any straightforward identification. If the Philippine archipelago and island continent of Australia are intersecting cultural contexts for their art, the artists’ queering of identity in art and life emphasizes a range of cultural orientations informing subjectivities, always under negotiation and transformation, and at once both the product of and in excess of these (island) territories.

An integral inculturated faith is anchored to the Filipino cultural heritage and identity. Primal cosmic beliefs and practices carried the holistic customs of stewardships towards God’s creation where it embodied the union and mutuality of the natives to nature rather than control and subordination. The research utilized primary materials written by Spanish ethnographers in the 16th-17th century. Although their observations were from the colonizers’ perspectives, it still revealed beliefs and practices at that time common among early Filipinos. One needs to filter and decipher those accounts to unearth early Filipinos experiences of oikenomous. Although the study was limited to the Tagalogs, still the dynamics of power-relations between the inhabitants and nature were demonstrated using the lenses of Foucault’s discourse on power. The findings of the research could have implications to inculturated faith given the open atmosphere of the Church for its renewed evangelization that includes stewardship towards God’s creation where harmony and communion with Mother Earth strengthens our bonds with God and find each other in a place we truly call a home.ReferencesPre-hispanic influence on filipino culture. (1958). Sunday Times Special Issue on the Foundations of Filipino Culture, pp. 2-5.Two lectures: Critique and power. (1998).Blair, E. and Robertson, A. (1903-1990). The Philippine islands, 1493-1898: explorations by early navigators, Descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest conditions with european nations to the close of the nineteenth century. (eds. at annots. ), 55. Cleveland: B & RCatholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines. (1991). Acts and decrees of theChirino, P. (1603). Relacion de las yslas Filipinas. 12, 174-321. Madrid: B & R.Colin, F. (1663). Labor evangelica. 40, 38-97. Madrid: B & RDavid, M., Mauro, B. & Alessandro, F. (Eds.). (1971). Society Must Be Defended: Lectures at the College de France, 1975-76. New York: Picador.Discipline and Punish: The birth of the prison. (1977). New York: Random House Inc.Donoso, I. et al.(n.d.) Transcribed and eds. Boxer Codex of 1570 (2018). Quezon City: Vibal Publishing.Filipino indigenous ethnic communities: Patterns, variations, and typologies. (1998). Quezon City: Punlad Research House, Inc.Filipino prehistory: Rediscovering precolonial heritage. (1998). Quezon City: Punlad Research House, Inc.Filipino worldview: Ethnography of local knowledge. (2001). Quezon City: Punlad Research House, Inc.Flannery, A. (1984). Vatican Council II: The Conciliar and Postconciliar documents. New York: Costello Publishing Co.Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse on language. Translated by A.M. Sheridan Smith. New York: Pantheon Books.Fox, R. (1966). “Ancient filipino communities.” Filipino cultural heritage. Edited by F. Landa Jocano. Manila: Philippine Women’s University.Francis, Pope. (2015). Laudato si. Vatican Press. https://dokumen.tips/documents/notes-on-philippinedivinities.html.Hurley, R. (Ed) The history of sexuality: An introduction. (1990). 1..New York: Vintage Books.Jocano, L. (1969). Outline of Philippine mythology. Retrieved from https://www.amazon.com/Outline-Philippine-Mythology-Landa-Jocano/dp/1790400864#reader_1790400864 on December 10, 2018Kelly, M. (Ed). (1998). Foucault/Habermas Debate. Cambridge: The MIT Press.Licuanan, V. and Llavador, M. (1996) Philippines under Spain. (eds and annots). 6, Manila: National Trust for Historical and Cultural Preservation of the Philippines.Loarca, M. (1582). Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas. 5, 38-252. Madrid: B & RMadness and civilization: A history of insanity in the age of reason. (1965) London: Random House Inc.Morga, A. (1609). Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. 15, 25-288. Mexico: B & RNational Historical Commission. (1887). Coleccion de documents ineditos de ultramar, Madrid.Notes on Philippine Divinities. (1968). Asian Studies.Pastells, P. (1925) Historia general de Filipinas in catalogo de los documentos relativos alas Islas Filipinas. Barcelona.Pigafetta, A. (1522). The first voyage around the world. 33, 24-266. Madrid: B & RPlasencia, J. (1589). Customs of the Tagalogs. 7, 173-198. Manila: B & RPre-history of the Philippines. (1967). Manila: National Museum.Ramos, M. (1990). Philippine myths, legends and folktales. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.San Agustin, G. (1998) Conquistas de las Islas Filipinas: 1565-1615. (Bilingual Edition.) Translated by Luis Antonio Maneru. Manila: San Agustin Museum.Second Plenary Council of the Philippines. Manila: CBCP Press.Sulod Society. (1968). Quezon City: Punlad Research House, Inc.Villote, R. (1987). My tenth hour. Syneraide Consultaties.Zaide, G., (1990) Documentary sources of Philippine History. (eds. at annots.) 14, Manila: National Bookstore.

This study looks into the dynamics of fantasy in the so-called telepantasya or pantaserye, particularly in how it uses the concept of space. It shows how the worlds of reality and fantasy are differentiated in these locally-produced television series. Encantadia and Majika on GMA 7, and Super Inggo and Da Adventures of Pedro Penduko on ABS-CBN 2 are analyzed for this purpose. An in-depth analysis of these shows leads the writer to conclude that there are many elements of “fantastic narratives” adapted from the West, particularly the dichotomy between reality and fantasy. This dichotomy is not found in Philippine mythology, where the “mysterious” (kababalaghan) coexists with and impinges on the real.

The article deals with the issues of physical and geographical features of the territory of Mount Vottovaara (which is the highest point of the West Karelian Upland) and its geological history. It is compared with one of the most famous attractions in the UK – Stonehenge Jam. Hypotheses of the origin and formation of this area are presented. The mountain keeps a large number of secrets, the main and most interesting among which are up to 1,600 individual stones located on its top – components of an ancient cult complex. They can be fully considered seids, many of which resemble unusual stone buildings, and according to a number of researchers who played a cult role and belonged to the culture of the ancient Sami. One of the hypotheses of the origin of the Votovaara seids connects them with the manifestation of glacial exaration processes during the periods of ancient glaciations. Another explains the presence of numerous traces of paleoseismic dislocations by a strong catastrophic palaeo-earthquake that occurred at the end of the Preboreal – the beginning of the Boreal period due to the degradation of the Late Valdai (Ostashkovsky) glaciation and the тrapid removal of glacial load. There is also a hypothesis, partly related to the ancient mythology of a Worldwide Flood, or a catastrophic flood of universal scale. According to one version, it could have happened due to the fall of a large meteorite in the area of the Philippine Sea. The tangential impact of the meteorite led to a shift of the solid earth’s crust along the surface of the liquid mantle, and the shock wave passing through the earth’s crust (compression wave) formed a ridge on the territory of modern Karelia, which includes Vottovaara. Finally, there is a version of the formation of the massif as a result of a powerful volcanic eruption that occurred several million years ago.

Cet article critique la conception du mythe littéraire chez Philippe Sellier et Pierre Brunel, pour lesquels les mythes littéraires sont issus des mythes ethno-religieux et n’ont pas leur source dans la littérature. Cette définition apparaît comme ethnocentrée et n’est pas applicable universellement. La Perse présente trois périodes mythologiques : l’ère pré-sassanide, l’ère post-sassanide persane et l’ère post-sassanide shi’ite. La mythologie shi’ite est une mythologie littéraire. Elle possède à la fois des caractéristiques du mythe littéraire et des caractéristiques du mythe ethno-religieux. Il s’agit donc d’une mythologie qui est née de la littérature, avec auteur et datation, mais en même temps elle fonde une vérité et instaure la civilisation shi’ite. La mythologie shi’ite ne peut s’inscrire dans la définition de Brunel-Sellier, et il faut donc définir le mythe littéraire d’une autre manière. Cette nouvelle définition doit prend sa source dans la littérature, et être capable de comprendre tous les mythes littéraires du monde. Ce que le mythe littéraire de Brunel-Sellier ne parvient pas à faire.

Cet article critique la conception du mythe littéraire chez Philippe Sellier et Pierre Brunel, pour lesquels les mythes littéraires sont issus des mythes ethno-religieux et n’ont pas leur source dans la littérature. Cette définition apparaît comme ethnocentrée et n’est pas applicable universellement. La Perse présente trois périodes mythologiques : l’ère pré-sassanide, l’ère post-sassanide persane et l’ère post-sassanide shi’ite. La mythologie shi’ite est une mythologie littéraire. Elle possède à la fois des caractéristiques du mythe littéraire et des caractéristiques du mythe ethno-religieux. Il s’agit donc d’une mythologie qui est née de la littérature, avec auteur et datation, mais en même temps elle fonde une vérité et instaure la civilisation shi’ite. La mythologie shi’ite ne peut s’inscrire dans la définition de Brunel-Sellier, et il faut donc définir le mythe littéraire d’une autre manière. Cette nouvelle définition doit prend sa source dans la littérature, et être capable de comprendre tous les mythes littéraires du monde. Ce que le mythe littéraire de Brunel-Sellier ne parvient pas à faire.

The 1945 battle for liberation witnessed the massive decimation of Manila’s urban built-heritage and the irreplaceable treasures of colonial architecture. Despite the seemingly impossible task to resuscitate war ravaged Manila, it rose again. Out of the ashes, modernism provided the opportunity to craft a new architecture for a newly independent nation. Modernism emerged as the period’s architectural symbol of survival and optimism. In a post-colonial cultural milieu, Filipino architects pursued the iconography of national mythology channeled through the pure surfaces and unadorned geometries of modern architecture. They found in modernism a convenient aesthetic modus to denounce the colonial vestiges embodied in the infrastructure of American neoclassicism in pre-war Manila and sought to create new-built environments that conveyed emancipation from the colonial past and celebrate the vernacular forms processed through modernist geometric simplification. Modernism, therefore, was a logical choice, for it provided a progressive image. The Philippines post-independence architecture endeavored to dispense an image that stimulated a national spirit, inspired patriotism, and invoked faith in the unknown future of the national imagination.

This article aims to show the postcolonial discourse of the Philippines through the utilization of magical realism in the novel When the Elephants Dance (2002) by Tess Uriza Holthe. When the Elephants Dance is intrinsically structured into four main sections which describe the events leading up to Japan’s surrender. Inside these four sections, the story is integrated with five sub-stories from accompanying characters which are A Cure for Happiness, Mang Minno, Ghost Children, The Twilight People, and The Portrait of an Aristocrat. These sub-stories act as one of the highlights of the novel since they are utilized by the characters as a way to retain their sanity and cope with the tragic experiences of living in the middle of a war. The characters’ coping mechanism of telling their life stories that are filled with Filipino mythology reflects the postcolonial discourse of the Philippines prior to and during World War II. With the research limitation of analyzing the story of Mang Minno, this research will use the theory of magical realism by Wendy B. Faris to see the presence of magical realism, as well as the utilization of New Historicism as a bridge to analyze the postcolonial discourse. The results show that by integrating magical realism and history, Holthe was successful in depicting historical events that occurred in the Philippines under the fictional aspect of the novel. Holthe used magical realism to conceal the postcolonial discourse of alterity and emphasize the magnificence of Catholicism in the Philippines.

Edgar Calabia Samar’s Janus Silang book series is a significant body of contemporary young adult fantasy novels in the Philippines. Samar’s ambitious series that successfully melds alternate online tech-worlds, everyday Filipino life, and ancient supernatural, god-inhabited worlds, is worthy of study. In creating this fantasy world, the Janus Silang series underscores the richness of Filipino mythology and lore by cohesively layering these lived worlds by way of spatial and temporal play. This paper wishes to study the value of this “world(s)-building”, entering this by way of the study of onomastics, the study of proper names of all kinds and the origins of names. Using both toponomastics and anthroponomastics, or the study of place names and human naming, respectively, this inventive, powerful focus on naming solidifies the Janus Silang series’ development of unique Filipino characters and narratives and its reintroduction of the cultures of its imaginary worlds for young, contemporary Filipino and global readers

Abstract Psalm 91 has found many enthusiastic believers among the new and rapidly expanding churches of Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It is a central part of Christian popular culture in many of those countries, and is often the subject of musical treatment by gospel, rock and rap artists. It also features heavily in street signs and graffiti. So popular is the psalm that it even played a role in the Philippine Revolution of 1986, a story that forms part of its ever expanding mythology. Although most such usage in strictly mainstream and respectable, the psalm has a special appeal for criminals, gangs, and convicts. Some of the psalm’s uses in Global South nations do veer into superstition and magic. As in the global North, the psalm was especially popular as a source of aid during the coronavirus pandemic.

Since war and religion are similar conceptual entities—imagined views of alternative reality—the question this chapter explores is whether either will ever wither away or cease interacting with the other. This chapter begins with the case of the Moro movement in the Philippines and how peace began to descend upon the region in part by transforming images of warfare into peaceful struggle and reverting religious images into the traditional mythology of religious activity. There are several ways that religion can play a positive role in lessening the violence of war: by limiting war as the ethical idea of a just war suggests; by treating war metaphorically, as in the war on poverty; or in the symbolic displacement of violence that war images provide. More likely images of war and religion will persist in our culture and in personal imaginations. As long as we understand that these are imagined constructs and contain them within our own imagination, and make a clear distinction between the mundane worlds and the alternatives, we will be able to abide the continuation of these two creative though potentially destructive ways of perceiving the world.