ANNOUNCEMENTS Please fill out CAPES Questions on final

ANNOUNCEMENTS • Please fill out CAPES =) • Questions on final paper? • Office hours: W 2 -4 @ SSB 254, T/Th by appt @ CCC • Presentation: M 3/11 • Erin Chan • Anne Lu • Zhi Li • Tristan Parkinson

THE WOMAN WHO HAS TWO NAVELS • What defines identity, essence or existence? • Pepe & Fr Tony - forcing Connie to choose; forcing Connie to turn away from nihilism • Biliken - “God of Things as They Ought to Be” • Connie’s four deaths – death to the past forces which once defined her

CONNIE AND DR. MONSON • Connie as Dr. Monson’s closure “For it now seemed inevitable that she should have come – to close a circle, to end a history” (291) • Dr. Monson as Connie’s confessor “’Bless me, Father, for I have sinned’” (303) • Connie as Dr. Monson’s revelation “But now that he knew himself ended, he felt drawn, in penitence, towards the unknown life, willing to be dragged into it” (305) • Connie actually makes a choice (317)

DR. MONSON & LA VIDAL’S DEATHS • Redefining concepts of independence and the Republic “Here it was before him (and he strove to rise to salute it) in the faces of his sons” (332) • Macho shoots La Vidal self-destruction of the corrupt north and south • Monson family & Connie the choice to reaffirm values & identity, to persist in ethical behavior despite the inevitability of power and defeat, even while in exile

E T A E G O D M A R T IA L L A W & U N S R R U L Y M U L T IP L IC IT Y

THE COLD WAR & MARCOS-ERA MANILA • 1946 – recognition of Philippine independence by US • 1947 – Truman Doctrine • 1949 – Ferdinand Marcos elected to Philippine Congress • 1953 – Marcos marries Imelda Romualdez • 1955 – Vietnam War begins • 1965 - Marcos becomes President of the Philippines • 1970 – First Quarter Storm • 1972 – Marcos declares Martial Law • 1983 – Ninoy Aquino’s assassination sparks mass protest, People Power • 1986 – Marcos flees Philippines for HI; Corazon Aquino becomes president

MARCOS’S LEGACY 3, 257 extrajudicial killings; 35, 000 torture victims; 70, 000 to 120, 000 victims of arbitrary detention; $5 billion looted

POINT OF VIEW CHARACTERS • Rio Gonzaga – ten-years old, upper-class mestiza but alternately disgusted and fascinated by the corruption around her; will eventually leave Manila for US – novel seems to be an attempt to reckon with her personal memories of the period • Joey Sands – roughly in his early 20 s; child of a “whore” and African American soldier stationed in the PI; works as a DJ and gay prostitute; addicted to cocaine • Why entwine Rio and Joey as narrators? • Major families: • Gonzaga • Alacran • Avila

GONZAGA FAMILY Lola Narcisa Whitman Logan Dolores Florence Rio Raul Socorro Don Carlos Freddie Agustin Pucha Mikey

ALACRAN Severo Isabel Gen Ledesma Lolita Luna Baby Carreon Andres (Cocorico ) Pepe

AVILA Sen. Domingo Avila Clarita Daisy Malcom Webb Tirador Santos Prof. Ma. Luisa Avila Aurora

MASA (THE MASSES) “Uncle” Orlando “Romeo” Rosales Joey Sands Trinidad Gamboa

MAJOR THEMES & MOTIFS • Popular culture films, movies, television, radio • High versus low culture; cultural imperialism • Hybridity cultural, linguistic, ethnic • Multiple forms of mestizaje • Tagalog vs Spanish vs English vs Taglish • Beauty and the role of women in society • Daisy Avila as beauty queen vs Daisy Avila as guerilla rebel • Homosexuality and queerness • Joey Sands’s practices of survival vs Manila as space of sex tourism • Imposition of order vs chaos of multiplicity • Madame & President vs multiple characters/viewpoints