Papers by Michael Carlo C . Villas
Annals of Tropical Research, 2019
This study investigated the folk beliefs and practices of bagong farmers of San Roque, a coastal ... more This study investigated the folk beliefs and practices of bagong farmers of San Roque, a coastal town 29 kilometers from Catarman, the capital town of Northern Samar. Going by Spanish sources, initial readings suggest that bagong, a root crop of genus Amorphophallus, has long been cultivated in Samar (Alcina 1668/2005). Unlike in other parts of the country where the plant is primarily utilized for pig feeding, the bagong in San Roque is served during special occasions like Christmas and New Year. These occasions are preceded by folk practices unique to the community. This study documents bagong farming and analyzes folk practices, with their attendant narratives and beliefs. Ethnographic observations and interviews were conducted among farmers and townsfolk. Results of the study will have implications on cultural education and cultural policy formulation.
Likhaan: The Journal of Contemporary Philippine Literature, 2020
Humanities Diliman: A Philippine Journal of Humanities, 2009
It was probably the fourth or fifth draft of An Maupay ha mga Waray (National Commission for Cult... more It was probably the fourth or fifth draft of An Maupay ha mga Waray (National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2008) when Voltaire Oyzon first showed it to me for review. It was a sheaf of poems from seven years of writing. Forty-seven (47) poems in Waray, a major Philippine language spoken in Samar island and Leyte’s eastern half, fill this volume. From its very title, An Maupay ha mga Waray is a book for and about the Warays. It means “The Good Thing about Warays” or “Our Virtue as Warays.”
Katig Publications, 2019
This is a foreword to Pinili: 15 Years of Lamiraw edited by Merlie M. Alunan, Aivee C. Badulid, a... more This is a foreword to Pinili: 15 Years of Lamiraw edited by Merlie M. Alunan, Aivee C. Badulid, and Phil Harold L. Mercurio.
Tinalunay: Hinugpong nga Panurat nag Winaray (edited by Merlie M. Alunan, University of the Philippines Press), 2017
This paper traces the development of the siday in relation with language policies in the Philippi... more This paper traces the development of the siday in relation with language policies in the Philippines. It examines siday that dealt with the language issue from the early 20th century to the present.
Ateneo de Naga University Press, 2017
This is a critical introduction to the first Waray poetry collection of Jerry B. Gracio, Waray Hi... more This is a critical introduction to the first Waray poetry collection of Jerry B. Gracio, Waray Hiunong sa Gugma/Walang Tungkol sa Pag-ibig.
Humanities Diliman, Oct 22, 2009
It was probably the fourth or fifth draft of An Maupay ha mga Waray (National Commission for Cult... more It was probably the fourth or fifth draft of An Maupay ha mga Waray (National Commission for Culture and the Arts, 2008) when Voltaire Oyzon first showed it to me for review. It was a sheaf of poems from seven years of writing. Forty-seven (47) poems in Waray, a major ...
Likhaan: The Journal of Contempoary Philippine Literature, 2020
This paper is a brief biographical sketch of Merlie M. Alunan, Philippine poet in English and Ceb... more This paper is a brief biographical sketch of Merlie M. Alunan, Philippine poet in English and Cebuano, with particular focus on her post-Silliman years in Tacloban City, her "last stop" in her long sojourn across many islands of the Philippine South. This is part of a larger project of documenting her life, works, and contributions to Philippine Literature.
Unitas, 2020
Routes and roots form the dominant themes of the poetry of Merlie M. Alunan. Her translation prac... more Routes and roots form the dominant themes of the poetry of Merlie M. Alunan. Her translation practice exhibits these same tendencies as well in that her mobility across the islands of the Philippine South has allowed her to learn the Visayan languages from West to East: Hiligaynon and Kinaray-a in Western Visayas, Cebuano in Central Visayas, and Iligan City in Mindanao, and Waray in Eastern Visayas. It is not surprising that she would describe her writing in both Cebuano and English as a kind of “crossing borders” and “coming home” (“Crossing Borders, Coming Home” 138-145). This paper engages with Alunan’s self-translations from Cebuano, also called Sebwano or Sugbuanong Binisaya, to English or, as current Southeast Asian linguists and literary scholars put it, english. Selections are taken from her first poetry collection in Cebuano, Pagdakop sa Bulalakaw ug uban pang mga balak (To Catch A Firebird and Other Poems, Ateneo de Manila University Press 2012), which contain her translations of her poems. This paper argues how hetrolingualism or multilingualism brings a repertoire of strategies, though not mutually exclusive, in addressing a particular intertext, enabling the poet to navigate between signs. Alunan’s self-translations, for one, can be identified with the broader literary tradition of Philippine postcolonial Anglophone writing. In the same way, her self-translations amplified what was suggested in the Cebuano poems, thus, adding more texture and intricacy to the self-translations. In a way, her back and forth, to and fro movements between languages, cultures, and traditions produced her self-translated texts. Alunan’s Cebuano balak may have “migrated” into her translations in English. However, it may also be said that her self-translations, informed by the poetics of her writing in English, also traveled back to her Cebuano balak.
Reading the Regions: Teaching Philippine Literature from Multi-Perspectives (edited by Isidoro M. Cruz, National Commission for Culture and the Arts), 2019
This paper proposes a framework for reading the susumaton or oral narratives of Leyte for teacher... more This paper proposes a framework for reading the susumaton or oral narratives of Leyte for teachers' use in the classroom. The paragsumat/raconteur, historical and social contexts, poetics, and the aural-oral community are the four coordinates of this framework. With examples from Merlie M. Alunan's Susumaton: Oral Narratives of Leyte (Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2016), the paper demonstrates the viability of such a framework for reading folk literature. It ends with guide questions and suggested activities for the literature teacher.
Journal of English Studies and Comparative Literature, 2019
This paper traces the trajectory of American New Criticism from the Iowa Writers Workshop to the ... more This paper traces the trajectory of American New Criticism from the Iowa Writers Workshop to the Silliman National Writers Workshop in Dumaguete to the Visayas Writers Workshop in Tacloban. It argues that New Criticism has been revised, first in the hands of Edith Tiempo and then, in the writings and cultural work of Merlie Alunan. The essay demonstrates this by a reading of the Waray poetry of Victor N. Sugbo, Voltaire Q. Oyzon, and Janis Claire B. Salvacion.
Annals of Tropical Research, 2019
This study investigated the folk beliefs and practices of farmers of San Roque, a coastal town 29... more This study investigated the folk beliefs and practices of farmers of San Roque, a coastal town 29 kilometers from Catarman, the capital town of Northern Samar. Going by Spanish sources, initial readings suggest that , a root crop
of genus Amorphophallus has long been cultivated in Samar (Alcina 1668/2005). Unlike in other parts of the country where the plant is primarily utilized for pig feeding, the rootcrop in San Roque is served during special occasions like Christmas and New Year. These occasions are preceded by folk practices unique to the community. This study documents farming and analyzes folk practices, with their attendant narratives and beliefs. Ethnographic observations and interviews were conducted among farmers and townsfolk. Results of the study will have implications on cultural education and cultural policy formulation.
Uploads
Papers by Michael Carlo C . Villas
of genus Amorphophallus has long been cultivated in Samar (Alcina 1668/2005). Unlike in other parts of the country where the plant is primarily utilized for pig feeding, the rootcrop in San Roque is served during special occasions like Christmas and New Year. These occasions are preceded by folk practices unique to the community. This study documents farming and analyzes folk practices, with their attendant narratives and beliefs. Ethnographic observations and interviews were conducted among farmers and townsfolk. Results of the study will have implications on cultural education and cultural policy formulation.
of genus Amorphophallus has long been cultivated in Samar (Alcina 1668/2005). Unlike in other parts of the country where the plant is primarily utilized for pig feeding, the rootcrop in San Roque is served during special occasions like Christmas and New Year. These occasions are preceded by folk practices unique to the community. This study documents farming and analyzes folk practices, with their attendant narratives and beliefs. Ethnographic observations and interviews were conducted among farmers and townsfolk. Results of the study will have implications on cultural education and cultural policy formulation.