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As a lover of literature, I have no problem reading
English and Filipino texts. Each category entails a specific
discipline and artistry that I enjoy following. Over the years, I
have formulated a list of favorites and learned to exclude those
that don’t interest me for some reason or another. I am attracted
to works that challenge normative narrative structures and present
new, often poignant insights to existing life situations. But
that’s just me.
If you have different motivations
for liking or disliking literary texts, you should be able to
substantiate your reasons very well. But if you just pass on your
hate lists—especially to ones with impressionable minds, like
children—without thoroughly explaining your reasons, then that is
a huge problem for Philippine literature.
To allude that a book written in
Filipino—a required reading in high school, at that—is already
obsolete because the language used to write it is outdated (not
contemporary) and highfaluting (not simple) is an effective way to
turn off younger generations from appreciating our literary
classics. We may as well spell the death of Noli Me Tangere, El
Filibusterismo (oh no, written in Spanish) and those that notable
Philippine writers in Filipino wrote in the last century. While
we’re at it, shall we throw away their foreign counterparts as
well—those old, old men named Shakespeare, Yeats and whoever else
in their literary barkada who wrote in a non-call center English
fashion? Shiver at the thought.
If Balagtas doesn’t work for
you, that’s okay. Don’t blame the poor dead poet just because
you think he used “archaic” words to describe a love story’s
conflicts or narrate a treacherous tale. Some readers get him, and
understand what he was trying to say. If you don’t understand him,
the reason is simple: his works are not for you. Move on and find
other authors you like. But don’t lecture your kids that Balagtas
is “bad reading” because you didn’t understand his deep
Tagalog words.
Writers write to reach audiences,
but no one writer is able to reach all audiences. That is why we
have favorites. That is why there is such a thing as genres (and
different bookstore sections), and cult followings (“Our book club
is better than your book club”), and categories to help us decide.
You say Coelho, I say Rushdie. They say E.E. Cummings, we say Rio
Alma.
To simply dismiss a literary work
because you cannot understand the language is a fallacy not worth
handing down to children.
For one, we should encourage them
to support our literature, no matter what language was used to write
it. It is our literature, our culture, our heritage that we want our
kids to inherit, to understand, to appreciate. It is ours. It is
theirs. Our past is their history. Our cultural products are their
artifacts. Our identity, and theirs, is embedded in these products.
If we don’t do this, what will Philippine culture be like in the
next 50 years? More importantly, what kind of identity will these
children have?
Comments? Suggestions? E-mail libay.scribevibe@gmail.com.
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