On Literary Education In The Country
M.R.R. Arcega, author of "The Magic Christmas Box" from the PGS Holiday Issue, has written a blog entry: "On Literary Education In The Country". It's an English translation of award winning author and poet Roberto Anonuevo's post, "Kung Paano Pumatay Ng Mga Manunulat Ng Panitikan". An excerpt:
"Over the years I've ranted so much about the lousy educational system in the country, and very little has changed. Finally it's sinking in that I don't even have the right to rant, because I'm not in education. I don't know exactly what difficulties our teachers have to face. I suppose this goes for every other industry that frustrates me - the publishing industry, the healthcare industry, the mass media, and the maritime travel industry among them...
...However, there are certainly other people who are more respected in their chosen fields, whose words bear more weight than mine, and who are blessed with much greater eloquence. Award-winning author and poet Roberto Anonuevo is one of them. This is why instead of posting my own rant about the poor state of literary education in the country, I'm borrowing his words - in a sense.
The original Filipino version of this post is on his blog, Alimbúkad. I apologize if a lot was lost in my translation. I welcome corrections.
How to kill writers of literature
It is easy to kill writers of literature, and you don't need armed assassins. This happens everyday, and because literature is not prized in our country, permit me to impart some observations on how writers are killed inside and outside the classroom.
1. Erase the decent novelists, storytellers, poets, and playwrights from textbooks. Don't include in textbooks the likes of Ed. Regalado, Lope K. Santos, Julian Cruz Balmaseda, Valeriano Hernandez Peña, and even the high-caliber Rene O. Villanueva, Rio Alma, Mike L. Bigornia, and Teo T. Antonio. Don't study the long history of Filipino literature in the Philippines. Use textbooks with erroneous contents. The more mistakes, the quicker the killing of writers of literature.
2. Related to what was said above, replace them with authors or educators who pose as writers, and it's even better if the author of the textbook is also the one who will write the poem, story, play, essay et cetera in order for the publisher to cut costs.
3. Choose only the frail works of the canonical writers, like Lazaro Francisco, Efren Abueg, Liwayway A. Arceo, and Amado V. Hernandez. And if you are the publisher, also meddle in the contents of the book, even if you don't know a thing about literature."
Click here to read the whole entry.
"Over the years I've ranted so much about the lousy educational system in the country, and very little has changed. Finally it's sinking in that I don't even have the right to rant, because I'm not in education. I don't know exactly what difficulties our teachers have to face. I suppose this goes for every other industry that frustrates me - the publishing industry, the healthcare industry, the mass media, and the maritime travel industry among them...
...However, there are certainly other people who are more respected in their chosen fields, whose words bear more weight than mine, and who are blessed with much greater eloquence. Award-winning author and poet Roberto Anonuevo is one of them. This is why instead of posting my own rant about the poor state of literary education in the country, I'm borrowing his words - in a sense.
The original Filipino version of this post is on his blog, Alimbúkad. I apologize if a lot was lost in my translation. I welcome corrections.
How to kill writers of literature
It is easy to kill writers of literature, and you don't need armed assassins. This happens everyday, and because literature is not prized in our country, permit me to impart some observations on how writers are killed inside and outside the classroom.
1. Erase the decent novelists, storytellers, poets, and playwrights from textbooks. Don't include in textbooks the likes of Ed. Regalado, Lope K. Santos, Julian Cruz Balmaseda, Valeriano Hernandez Peña, and even the high-caliber Rene O. Villanueva, Rio Alma, Mike L. Bigornia, and Teo T. Antonio. Don't study the long history of Filipino literature in the Philippines. Use textbooks with erroneous contents. The more mistakes, the quicker the killing of writers of literature.
2. Related to what was said above, replace them with authors or educators who pose as writers, and it's even better if the author of the textbook is also the one who will write the poem, story, play, essay et cetera in order for the publisher to cut costs.
3. Choose only the frail works of the canonical writers, like Lazaro Francisco, Efren Abueg, Liwayway A. Arceo, and Amado V. Hernandez. And if you are the publisher, also meddle in the contents of the book, even if you don't know a thing about literature."
Click here to read the whole entry.
posted by pgenrestories at 6:07 AM
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