Clear-Cut (and a Rebut?), plus a Cat! (and then some)
Links last updated 5:00 p.m., October 9, 2007, Manila time
(I'll update this post for as long as there are bloggers posting their opinions. Please let me know if you or anyone writes something new so that I can link to those entries here. And please do take time to read all the links and the comments. There are a lot of heated (but civil!) exchanges going on that can give you food-for-thought. It will at least make you look again at your own position, reassess it, and maybe even strengthen it.
In addition, I've been trying out Multiply because a lot of people I know are there. It isn't perfect--updates here don't reflect there, comments there don't reflect here--so you might want to check out the comments on the PGS Multiply Blog too.)
After this post last September 17, 2007, I discover that Bhex of the Philippine Speculative Fiction blog gives her own insights into "Filipino" speculative fiction:
"Filipino" Speculative Fiction, Read: The Rambling of the Overly Simplistic
The "Filipino" In Philippine Speculative Fiction, And More Quotation Marks
Links and Announcements (where Bhex posts the other opinions she found on the web about Pinoy Speculative Fiction).
"Filipino" Spec. Fic.: We're Nowhere Near Done Talking About This
Quite clear-cut. A very neat slice. What do you think? Do her posts address the confusion?
The Bibliophile Stalker weighs in too, looking for a compromise:
Does One Need To Use Filipino To Write Filipino Fiction?
More Thoughts on "Filipino" Speculative Fiction
Just A Comment On The Present Discussion (And Not What Is Being Discussed)
Banzai Cat has his say as well, highlighting the quotable quotes:
Of Conceits and Agendas
The Plot Thickens...Like Dinuguan
Anyone For A Round Of Literary Tennis?
and summarizes what has happened so far (as of October 9, 2007): Trying To Get The Last Word In First.
And thanks also to Bhex, there is this, in Filipino:
Planetang Pinoy Scifi
Capsula Stories makes a point: Filipino Speculative Fiction
Read Or Die, through Tin Mandigma, Mia, and Kristel Autencio, have posts (and rebuttals) about this too:
Speculating About Filipino Speculative Fiction
Say What?
Sounding Off On Philippine Fiction
Eating The Sinigang Of Words
Kthx
And Tin Mandigma makes a further statement (I think) on all of this in the form of a story, Excerpt From A Letter By A Social-Realist Aswang, on Clarkesworld Magazine.
And To The Tale, And Other Such Concerns answers back from where he stands as a "stranger" (as Banzai Cat has jokingly mentioned in his comments-box):
On Being Nationalist
The Coffee Goddess raises her concerns on--and "cringes" at--some of what's been written about the issue: A Speculative Discussion
Electrick Twilight Boogaloo gives his thoughts: Writhing?
The Last Of Me puts up his post: Defining Filipino Spec. Fic.: Can We Skip This For Now?
Gloss Girl's two cents: Gloss Girl
Jeff-Reiji of Me And My Delusions of Grandeur thinks all this talk is Beautiful Chaos.
Wandering Star speaks her mind: About Being Pinoy In An Opening Field
Anton makes definite and clear judgments, drawing the lines clearly as to his thoughts versus some of the other arguments raised earlier: Philippine Speculative Fiction: Points to Consider; Other Points To Consider Parts 1, 2, 3, 4; More Details On Speculative Fiction; and My Conclusions Regarding Philippine Speculative Fiction.
Musings from Dominique Cimafranca of Davao: Filipino Science Fiction, Part 1, 2, 3.
The Doppler Effect sees a similarity between the discussion and what Margaret Atwood went through. He writes about it in this post.
The Manila Litcritters at the recently concluded 2007 Manila Book Fair talked about Speculative Fiction in the Philippines, as reported in an entry by Miamor: The Imagination To Ask
And one of them, Laughter At The Fringes Of Sanity, lists his own criteria for Philippine fiction: What Makes Fiction Truly Filipino?; and offers a distinction that might clarify things: Philippine Fiction: "Author" vs. "Genre"; and goes further by posting Write Something Filipino, Man.
Another Litcritter, My Life As A Bed, makes a clear statement: Release The Elves!
From a Litcritter in Dumaguete, The Spy In the Sandwich gives his take on the discussion: The Filipino-ness In Our Literature.
Accidents Happen writes A Love Letter To Susan and discusses this issue through the crime/mystery genre.
Professor Emil Flores has his say on the matter: From Professor Emil Flores of U.P.
Notes From the Peanut Gallery has promised to continue from where he left off:
Towards Philippine Speculative Fiction 1, 2, 3
And says something about all these discussions: A Wondrous Can Of Worms, and Write Here, Write Now.
The Pinoy Penman, Sir Butch Dalisay: Filipino-ness In Fiction
(I'll update this post for as long as there are bloggers posting their opinions. Please let me know if you or anyone writes something new so that I can link to those entries here. And please do take time to read all the links and the comments. There are a lot of heated (but civil!) exchanges going on that can give you food-for-thought. It will at least make you look again at your own position, reassess it, and maybe even strengthen it.
In addition, I've been trying out Multiply because a lot of people I know are there. It isn't perfect--updates here don't reflect there, comments there don't reflect here--so you might want to check out the comments on the PGS Multiply Blog too.)
After this post last September 17, 2007, I discover that Bhex of the Philippine Speculative Fiction blog gives her own insights into "Filipino" speculative fiction:
"Filipino" Speculative Fiction, Read: The Rambling of the Overly Simplistic
The "Filipino" In Philippine Speculative Fiction, And More Quotation Marks
Links and Announcements (where Bhex posts the other opinions she found on the web about Pinoy Speculative Fiction).
"Filipino" Spec. Fic.: We're Nowhere Near Done Talking About This
Quite clear-cut. A very neat slice. What do you think? Do her posts address the confusion?
The Bibliophile Stalker weighs in too, looking for a compromise:
Does One Need To Use Filipino To Write Filipino Fiction?
More Thoughts on "Filipino" Speculative Fiction
Just A Comment On The Present Discussion (And Not What Is Being Discussed)
Banzai Cat has his say as well, highlighting the quotable quotes:
Of Conceits and Agendas
The Plot Thickens...Like Dinuguan
Anyone For A Round Of Literary Tennis?
and summarizes what has happened so far (as of October 9, 2007): Trying To Get The Last Word In First.
And thanks also to Bhex, there is this, in Filipino:
Planetang Pinoy Scifi
Capsula Stories makes a point: Filipino Speculative Fiction
Read Or Die, through Tin Mandigma, Mia, and Kristel Autencio, have posts (and rebuttals) about this too:
Speculating About Filipino Speculative Fiction
Say What?
Sounding Off On Philippine Fiction
Eating The Sinigang Of Words
Kthx
And Tin Mandigma makes a further statement (I think) on all of this in the form of a story, Excerpt From A Letter By A Social-Realist Aswang, on Clarkesworld Magazine.
And To The Tale, And Other Such Concerns answers back from where he stands as a "stranger" (as Banzai Cat has jokingly mentioned in his comments-box):
On Being Nationalist
The Coffee Goddess raises her concerns on--and "cringes" at--some of what's been written about the issue: A Speculative Discussion
Electrick Twilight Boogaloo gives his thoughts: Writhing?
The Last Of Me puts up his post: Defining Filipino Spec. Fic.: Can We Skip This For Now?
Gloss Girl's two cents: Gloss Girl
Jeff-Reiji of Me And My Delusions of Grandeur thinks all this talk is Beautiful Chaos.
Wandering Star speaks her mind: About Being Pinoy In An Opening Field
Anton makes definite and clear judgments, drawing the lines clearly as to his thoughts versus some of the other arguments raised earlier: Philippine Speculative Fiction: Points to Consider; Other Points To Consider Parts 1, 2, 3, 4; More Details On Speculative Fiction; and My Conclusions Regarding Philippine Speculative Fiction.
Musings from Dominique Cimafranca of Davao: Filipino Science Fiction, Part 1, 2, 3.
The Doppler Effect sees a similarity between the discussion and what Margaret Atwood went through. He writes about it in this post.
The Manila Litcritters at the recently concluded 2007 Manila Book Fair talked about Speculative Fiction in the Philippines, as reported in an entry by Miamor: The Imagination To Ask
And one of them, Laughter At The Fringes Of Sanity, lists his own criteria for Philippine fiction: What Makes Fiction Truly Filipino?; and offers a distinction that might clarify things: Philippine Fiction: "Author" vs. "Genre"; and goes further by posting Write Something Filipino, Man.
Another Litcritter, My Life As A Bed, makes a clear statement: Release The Elves!
From a Litcritter in Dumaguete, The Spy In the Sandwich gives his take on the discussion: The Filipino-ness In Our Literature.
Accidents Happen writes A Love Letter To Susan and discusses this issue through the crime/mystery genre.
Professor Emil Flores has his say on the matter: From Professor Emil Flores of U.P.
Notes From the Peanut Gallery has promised to continue from where he left off:
Towards Philippine Speculative Fiction 1, 2, 3
And says something about all these discussions: A Wondrous Can Of Worms, and Write Here, Write Now.
The Pinoy Penman, Sir Butch Dalisay: Filipino-ness In Fiction
posted by pgenrestories at 10:56 AM
6 Comments:
http://ekmisao.livejournal.com/176383.html
This is the Two Birds one-shot writer. Hoping it is useful to you. ^^;;
Thanks, ek_kaoru! I'll link up your post to this list. Much appreciated!
The important thing to consider is the term “speculative.” To speculate means “to think over possibilities.” If there are no constraints to these possibilities, then speculative fiction can refer to any type of fiction. In which case, any debate on the meaning of speculative fiction is meaningless, never mind Philippine speculative fiction.
If these possibilities are constrained to historical realities that may have taken place (e.g., Britain stays on in the Philippines and the Spaniards never return) then one can call this genre “alternate history.” If one imagines ancient gods taking control of the region, then that’s fantasy. If one imagines the Philippines not giving in to IMF-WB restrictions and eventually becomes a superpower nation, and from which we develop a space age consisting of Filipino space explorers, then that’s alternate history and science fiction. If one imagines a small Filipino barrio where it rains flowers everyday, then that’s marvelous realism. In which case, given different possibilities and constraints, the term “speculative fiction” is meaningless.
What about “Philippine”? In literary studies, the label is usually applied to literary works where a Philippine local language is used or the author is generally recognized as a Filipino, whether through his citizenship or ancestry. Thus, Jessica Hagedorn’s novel is part of Philippine literature.
What, then, is Philippine speculative fiction? If there is no agreement on constraints to possibilities mentioned earlier, then it refers to any fictional work written by authors recognized as Filipinos or written in a Philippine local language.
Thanks for spending time in sharing your ideas, Anton.
When people here use the term "speculative fiction", I believe they use it as the umbrella term to mean stories that can fall under those categories you mentioned: fantasy, alternate history, magical/marvelous realism, scifi, horror, etc. (sadly, it doesn't include the very realist crime/detective fic). If you google the term, a lot of websites should come up explaining it.
Your viewpoint is similar to that of Mr. Butch Dalisay's (his column about the ongoing discussion was printed today, by the way) where all fiction is speculative because, as you defined it, it means to "think over possibilities". All fiction does that, think over possibilities. It's similar to what a Jesuit priest once told me back when I was in high-school when the Born-Again movement was rising. "Why call yourself a "Born-Again" Christian?" he said. "To be Christian means to be born again. Why be redundant?" So thus, putting "speculative" before "fiction", to you and to sir Butch, may carry that same redundancy. But I think for the sake of the discussion, the term "speculative fiction" is being used as that umbrella term for all those above-mentioned genres (except crime/detective--*sniff*).
I decided to create a web log and post my points there.
Thanks, Anton. I'll link your post here.
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