Philippine Crime Fiction Scene 2024 Balisi

1995

In the meantime, the acquaintance with European prose-literature has brought about a further positive result. A number of talented people have successfully tried to creatively produce such work on their own. Thus, several publications have appeared that introduced this innovation to the indigenous literature in a very positive way." (Rinkes 1923:184) 2 When the novel as a genre emerged in the Netherlands East Indies in the 19th century, it was very much approved by the colonials. In the first decades of this century it quickly developed into the predominant literary form. The western educational or psychological novel in particular was fully supported, actually launched, by the Dutch, whereas its counterpart-crime fiction-did not find a warm welcome. On the contrary, the indigenous population fancied the latter genre. Hence, crime fiction s flourished despite colonial opposition, though well under western influence. Numerous translations and adaptations of European detective stories came first (mainly Sherlock Holmes stories). These were followed by 'original' indigenous crime novels, initially written and published in Malay by peranakan Chinese, then by Sumatran and also Javanese authors and publishers. The Dutch publisher K o l f f B u n i n g even produced a series of Malay crime novels. Some Dutch and Eurasians wrote crime novels, too, in the Dutch language and with a colonial setting. Under the Japanese Occupation the genre seemed to have vanished completely. There were hardly any crime novels until the late fifties. First, weekly magazines started to feature so-called 'crime reports'. Eventually, the subsequent success of the Indonesian serials Naga Mas and Garuda Putih revitalized the genre. These were slowly superseded by Javanese crime novels in the sixties. Authors like Any Asmara and Suparto Brats, just to mention two, dominated this field of popular literature for about a decade. For reasons still unknown, the genre ceased again in the seventies. Only a smaller number of Agatha Christie titles, translated and published by Gramedia, seemed present on the literary market. Hino Minggo's indigenous 'super-spy' Six Balanx is probably the first successful crime serial in Indonesian since the fifties. As the success of the Javanese crime

This paper examines authoritative digital sources and five Philippine speculative fiction texts to establish taxonomy of contemporary Philippine speculative fiction genres.

This essay constitutes the first step in solving an enigma of Indonesian letters, one that is little noticed but unfathomable: the absence of crime fiction from the canon of the national literature. This is surprising for two reasons, the widespread popularity of crime in popular culture, both literature and film, and the g\high esteem that the genre is held in other East Asian national traditions (Japan; Thailand; South Korea). This paper argues that contemporary Indonesian writers would be well advised to familiarize themselves with the various strands of crime fiction, in particular the American variant known as Noir, and adopt these traditions to local conditions. When Noir is examined closely, the attentive student will realize that the political and aesthetic concerns of American Noir writers are essentially those of Indonesian authors—the social depredations of neo-colonialism and the traumatic effects of international Cold War politics. 'Life is full of dark riddles and secrets. We think that we know so much, and all the time we know nothing! We think that we have a will, an iron will, and picture ourselves strong enough to move mountains —then a burning tear, a sorrowful look from eyes that we love, and our strength is gone.'— Raden Adjeng Kartini

This paper is the Introduction to the recently published conference proceedings on Southeast Crime Fiction held at Monash Malaysia, Sunway Campus, Kuala Lumpur, in May 2017. The collected papers appear in The International Journal of Indonesian Studies: Special Issue Southeast Asian Noir (June 2018). My paper concerns itself with the issue of 'magic realism' within the Indonesian crime novel, primarily the work of Eka Kurniawan. The relative absence of a Western -style tradition of crime (and detective) novels in Indonesia has nothing to due with the culturaly alien status of ratiocination; rather,, within Indonesian literature, Horror and the supernatural folktale have ben press-ganged into performing the cultural critique function of the Western crime novel: the occluded discussion of repressed truths and traumatic histories by oblique means. My paper concludes with a brief comparison between Indonesian fiction and the surrealist tradition of 'negritude' in the Caribbean--what we are looking at in both instances is not 'magic realism' but 'realist magic'.

Brief summary and critique of a selection of Philippine literature: the two novels of Jose Rizal, Noli me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, two short stories, one in Tagalog and the other in Hiligaynon, and selected poems including Balagtas' Florante at Laura. (I delivered this paper to the West London Gastronomico and Philosophical Society, UK on 10 November 2020.)

F1000Research, 2023

Background: The war on drugs campaign led by President Duterte increased the prevalence of extrajudicial killing themes in Philippine cinema, reflecting societal issues and influencing the film industry. This study analyzed the representation of extrajudicial killings (EJK) through the mise-en-scene elements of aesthetics and configuration, and the common themes of the genres such as war and society, drama, action, and crime/thriller of the selected extrajudicial killings related films: Buybust (2018), Respeto (2017), and Neomanila (2017). The EJK-related films were selected due to their categorization as narrative films and exposure to the 17th New York Asian Film Festival. This study aims: (1) to identify the representation and the common themes used when representing EJK under the film genres, (2) to analyze the mise-en-scene elements of aesthetics and configuration used in the genres, (3) and to develop an understanding of how EJKrelated films can represent the voiceless. Methods: This study analyzed selected films across the respective genres in determining the filmmakers' creativity using comparative contextual analysis. Results: The results have shown that EJK in films is represented by configuration: genre conventions, aesthetics: cinematic techniques, and common themes. (1) Configuration: the genre conventions of the films similarly fall under the genre of society and war, drama, and crime and thriller which are similar in the portrayal of the catalyst, and Open Peer Review Approval Status

Southeast Asian Review of English

Malaysian crime fiction in Malay is still under researched, with the main stages of its development yet to be identified. This article aims to partially close this gap by addressing the period before World War II. The study uses the comparative method, applied synchronically to determine the extent of Western influence on Malay crime fiction at a particular time; and diachronically, to outline the historical evolution of the genre. The analysis demonstrates that in the 1920s, the influence of Western crime fiction resulted in borrowings and imitations of foreign plots. Action took place predominantly abroad and the riddle formed the core of the narrative. In the 1930s, the genre had evolved to depict local realities, and the stories became politically engaged and coloured by Malay nationalism. The focus in the narratives shifted from the riddle to the sociopolitical message of the author. Consequently, by the 1940s, Malay crime fiction rapidly lost its generic features, and this brought about the subsequent decline of the genre in Malaysia.

Crime and Punishment in the Philippines: Beyond Politics and Spectacle (Edited Volume), 2020

The edited volume assembles chapters on topics that focus on crime and criminal punishment in the Philippines based on research works conducted by social scientists. These include chapters on indigenous justice systems, the colonial history of criminal punishment, the legislation of the death penalty, an ethnography on drug users, drug trafficking and markets in Asia and the Philippines, crime victimization and fear of crime among Filipinos, inmate gangs in Philippine prisons, community-based programs against drugs, and representative perspectives on the war on drugs from law enforcement, jail system and the arts.

This essay constitutes the first step in solving an enigma of Indonesian letters, one that is little noticed but unfathomable: the absence of crime fiction from the canon of the national literature. This is surprising for two reasons, the widespread popularity of crime in popular culture, both literature and film, and the g\high esteem that the genre is held in other East Asian national traditions (Japan; Thailand; South Korea). This paper argues that contemporary Indonesian writers would be well advised to familiarize themselves with the various strands of crime fiction, in particular the American variant known as Noir, and adopt these traditions to local conditions. When Noir is examined closely, the attentive student will realize that the political and aesthetic concerns of American Noir writers are essentially those of Indonesian authors-the social depredations of neo-colonialism and the traumatic effects of international Cold War politics.