Sari-Saring Saliksik

Literature and society HINDSIGHT (The Philippine Star)  By National Artist for Literature F Sionil Jose   On the invitation of Shiela de Leon, literature teacher, I was at the University of Bulacan in Malolos last week speaking to students, some of whom I knew wanted to be writers. My topic was “Literature and Society” — the same topic discussed fully by the late Salvador Lopez in the 1930s. For this book, he won the Commonwealth Literary Prize, a cool one thousand pesos. It doesn’t look much now but in 1935 the salary of government clerk was P18 a month. In this book SP postulated that the writer has a great responsibility to society. This in contrast to the view held by the poet Jose Garcia Villa, that art is absolute — the artist’s responsibility is to art alone. I cited SP’s book primarily to show that the subject is not particularly fresh — the discussion on the purpose of art, or in this case literature — was made in ancient Greece long before Christ w...

Photo taken from Allen National High School in Allen, Samar

The moral obligation of writers HINDSIGHT  (The Philippine Star)  By National Artist for Literature F Sionil Jose  First, the good news, particularly to all of you who teach literature courses. The retired Fil-Am academic, Dylan Dizon who is now working pro bono in the Philippine educational system, handed me this information only last week about a scientific study in the United States which has just been concluded. It showed that reading novels “expands the capacity of the brain, stimulates it for creative thinking” and equips novel readers with higher “emotional quotient” (EQ) thus enabling them to have better social relations and understanding of the human condition. The study does not mention what kind of novels should be read; with this information, I hope there will be more readers of my novels. I have, of course, already spoken at length on the importance of literature. It helps us in the building of a community, a nation, by strengthening our memor...

The message behind the popular drink (Ang mensahe sa likod ng sikat na inumin.)

ANG MGA BABAE..... 1. Moody: Inborn na sa mga babae to. Kung badtrip kami, wag niyo nang sasabayan. 2. Pag sinabi naming nagtatampo kami, lambing lang katapat: Yung salitang tampo way lang namin yun para sabihing lambingin niyo kami. Konting I love you niyo lang, okay na kami. 3. Gusto namin yung palagi kaming kino-compliment: Pag may bago sa itsura namin, gusto naming mapansin niyo. Kasi nakakataas ng self-confidence namin yun. 4. Pag napansin niyong naging sersyoso yung mga text namin, may mali: Kapag ganun, may nagawa kayong di namin nagustuhan. Kaya be alert. Kapag sinabe naming wala, meron talaga. Nahihiya lang kami. Kaya pilitin niyo kaming sabihin sa inyo. At pagtapos naming masabi, konting lambing lang. Back to normal na ulit. 5. Selosa kami: Kaya iwasan niyong makipag harutan sa ibang girls. Lalo na sa harapan namin. Pero may ibang babae na tahimik lang kung mag-selos. Inoobserabahan lang kayo. Pero kapag napuno, simula na ng away. 6. Kaming mga babae,...