the wily filipino

followyourbliss:

Meet Miguel Syjuco, Author of Ilustrado

What does being Filipino mean to you?

Being Filipino means a lot to me. Though another thing I’ve learned from writing my novel is that one should be suspicious of easy answers, and ready definitions are sometimes easy answers. The Filipino experience is vast and always evolving, and one of the great opportunities for Filipino writers is the fact that so far our literary tradition hasn’t been sufficient in exploring all the different facets of that experience. I think being Filipino should be defining but limiting, and we should embrace the fact that Filipinos come from influences that are Malay, Chinese, Spanish, American, mixed race, Christian, Muslim, Animist, socialist, conservative, rich, poor, middle class, etc. Because of our colonial experience, for a very long time we sought to find the “authentic” sense of pagka-Pinoy, without realizing that that doesn’t exist anymore and that we stand to exoticize ourselves if we’re not careful. We’re a nation that is still emerging, and that is why art can be so important because it is through art that we can come to view ourselves a little more deeply.

Read more of the interview on Fil-Am Ako (via followyourbliss)

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