LGBT Criticism Agua de Mayo by Maryanne Moll

LGBT Criticism: “Agua de Mayo” by Maryanne Moll

Roland Raymond A. Roldan   LIT230   Prado Ateneo de Naga University

                                                    

In Maryanne Moll’s “Agua de Mayo,” one can say that lesbianism is seen the expressions of love between two girls: the protagonist, Clara, who is also the narrator and Anita, her cousin from Manila. According to the Adrienne Rich, there are many ways to identify a lesbian and one of which is women-dentification; and this is the case in the story. It begins with the present Clara’s definition of true love. She compares it to a ghost, elusive and fleeting yet unforgettable. In this introduction, she is referring to Anita who is her true love. She then proceeds to tell the story about her true love. As such, the narrator, present-day Clara indirectly identifies herself as lesbian.

Besides this self-identification, Rich says that women may define themselves as being in the lesbian continuum which consists of experiences that woman go through in loving another woman. She concludes that to be identified as lesbian does not require sexual desire nor intimacy with other women, but it does not preclude them either. In the story, one can see this lesbian continuum in the shared experiences of Clara and Anita as they express their lesbian feelings during moments such as: 1) Kissing a number of times and physical/sexual intimacy - “Under the covers, she moved to cover my body with hers…she began to kiss my neck…her hand slowly slipping up the hem of my nightgown to my waist,” 2) when Clara declares to Anita, “Take me away…To Manila!” and 3) when Anita says to Clara “I love you and I’ll always be here. I love you. Remember that,” and then risks her life to save Clara who nearly drowns in the creek.

Given these instances of lesbian expression, one can say that the story successfully portrays homosexual relationships to be as real as any heterosexual relationship. However, that Clara and Anita did not speak of it, nor show their feelings in public, because the society in which they live in does not acknowledge its existence nor accept it, shows their blind acceptance of heterosexist values. This can also be seen when they do not fight for their relationship when it was threatened by Clara’s pending marriage to Carlos. Additionally, the fateful death of Anita leaves the reader questioning whether or not they would have continued their relationship if Anita had lived. Furthermore, the consummated marriage of Clara to Carlos questions her identity yet again, if she is, indeed, lesbian. Moreover, in the story, there was no mention of other lesbian relationships she could have had after Anita.

The lesbian love between Clara and Anita is likened to a ghost. Aside from its characteristics found in the beginning of the story, lesbian love and ghosts are implied as being real even when left unacknowledged or even unrecognized. Appearances of Greta, possibly a ghost whose identity cannot be ascertained, speaking “true love” a number of times can be seen as a representation of the momentary arousals of desire between Clara and Anita as their feelings for one another surface and become explicit. The lingering jasmine scent of the ghost after it disappears is also comparable to the lingering quality of the love between the two even after Anita’s death. In one scene, Clara sees the reflection of the ghost’s face which looks like her; and the blurring of her vision made the two faces come together. This could represent the identity crisis she is going through as she explores her sexuality by sharing intimate moments with someone like her – a girl. Clara’s own heterosexist reactions to her feelings and desires is shown in an instance when she had a nightmare right after a night of sexual intimacy with Anita. The ghost is seen crawling in her bedroom with its face covered and Clara being fearful of looking at it. This dream could mean that Clara, though acknowledging her lesbian feelings and expressing it outwardly to Anita, cannot face its immorality as adjudged by the social norm. Her fear resulting to physical rigidity during the nightmare, shows her deep-seated feelings of denial, guilt helplessness and inability to cope with her situation.

            Water in the story may have been used as a metaphor for the varied intensities of Clara and Anita’s desire for each another. The creek with flowing water may represent the lesbian continuum and Clara’s desire to wade in its waters as well as Anita’s statement “If I were to die, I’d rather die in the water” may be viewed as their mutual consent to continue exploring their relationship. This metaphor of water is also seen in the rain showers “agua de mayo” which could mean to be the moments of love they shared. The rain itself marks the beginning and end of this lesbian love affair - “It rained the night she came; It was also raining the night she left.”

In conclusion, the story shows how a young adolescent reacts to her homosexual awakening amidst heterosexist values and ultimately accepts her fate, imprisoned in a heterosexual marriage. Like agua de mayo, her memory of her lesbian lover comes and goes, and like a ghost, her homosexuality unrealized will continue to haunt her for the rest of her life.

World Englishes: History, Theories and Debate

World Englishes: History, Theories and Debate

Roland Raymond A. Roldan

Introduction

The article will briefly trace the history, development and dispersal of the English language to the world. It will also dwell on the thoughts of foremost figures in the study of World Englishes, among them Henry G.  Widdowson, Edgar Werner Schneider, Randolph Quirk and Braj Kachru regarding how the English language and its different varieties have evolved in the twenty-first century.

The English Language

English is a West Germanic language brought by Germanic invaders into Britain. Initially, a diverse group of dialects, from varied origins of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England, with the Late West Saxon, one of these dialects, came out dominant. It was then influenced by speakers of the Scandinavian branch of the Germanic language family, and by the Normans in the 11th century, developing a Norman variety called Anglo-Norman.

Two hundred years after the Norman Conquest, French became the language of the upper classes in England, while the language of the masses remained English. A process of separation was experienced by France and England during the Middle English period, later termed as the Hundred Years' War. By the 14th century, English was universally used, becoming the principal tongue of all England.

The Renaissance saw an English patriotism bringing about English as England's national language, advocated as acceptable for learned and literary use, the Great Vowel Shift showing maturity to a modern “standard”. During the 18th century, the English language had three main forces that directed further refinement: to reduce the language to rule and effect a standard of correct usage; to refine the language by removing supposed defects while introducing improvements; and to fix English permanently in the desired form, as well as the regularity in the language contrasted with the individualism and spirit of independence. The expansion of the British Empire in the 19^th century, as well as the development of world trade, further spread the use of the English language worldwide.

World English

World Englishes is the study of identifying varieties of English used in diverse sociolinguistic contexts, on how English variants developed in territories colonized or influenced by the United Kingdom or the United States, as well as how sociolinguistic histories, multicultural backgrounds and contexts of function influence the use of English worldwide.

The First Dispersal transported English to the 'new world',  involving large-scale migrations  to North America and the Caribbean, Australia, South Africa and New Zealand,  gradually developing into modern American, Canadian, West Indian, South African, Australian, and New Zealand Englishes. The Second Dispersal transported English to Asia and Africa as a result of the colonization of Asia and Africa, which led to the development of 'New Englishes', the second-language varieties of English.  The arrival of the Americans in Southeast Asia saw reforms on education in the Philippines which made English a major language in the Philippines in less than fifty years, gradually turning into a variety called Philippine English.

Inner, Outer and Expanding Circle

Braj Kachru (1997) proposed three circles dividing the English-using world: The Inner Circle, the Outer Circle and the Expanding Circle.

                      

                 Figure 1. Concentric circle model (Adapted from Kachru, 1997)

The Inner Circle, according to Kachru, includes the Native English-speaking countries such as England, USA and Canada, while the Outer Circle consists of the former colonies such as India, Africa and the Philippines. The Expanding Circle, on the other hand, have countries like China, Japan and Turkey, where English is becoming an important language in business, science, technology and education or affected by English. Kachru also focused on the English language’s historical context, its status, and the functions in several regions of the world: England being the origin of the language, while the United States, as a world superpower, being most dominant country today. 

Schneider's Dynamic Model of Postcolonial Englishes

Edgar Werner Schneider, in his efforts to avoid a purely geographical and historical approach evident in the 'circles' models, incorporates sociolinguistic concepts pertaining to acts of identity, and defines five characteristic stages in the spread of English: foundation, exonormative stabilization, nativisation, endonormative stabilization and differentiation.

Foundation is the initial stage of the introduction of English to a new territory over an extended period of time, with two linguistic processes operative: (a) language contact between English and indigenous languages; (b) contact between different dialects of English of the settlers   eventually resulting in a new dialect, with bilingualism being marginal at this stage. Exonormative stabilization is when settler communities stabilize politically, English increases in prominence and local vocabulary continues to be adopted. The indigenous population becomes bilingual through education and increased contacts with English settlers; knowledge of English is an asset, with the development of indigenous elite. Nativisation is when transition occurs as the English settler accepts a new identity, rather than sole allegiance to their 'mother country'. An L2 system for the indigenous strand with interlanguage processes and features adopted from the settlers’ English. New words are used as English to adapt to local situations and realities.

Endonormative stabilization shows acceptance of local norms, with a new locally rooted linguistic self-confidence. The settler and indigenous strands are inextricably bound in a sense of nationhood independent of the motherland, with local English(es) expressing this new identity. National dictionaries, at least for new lexis (and not always for localized grammar) are enthusiastically supported, and literary creativity in local English flourishes. Differentiation is the alteration of change of identity dynamics,   seeing itself as less defined by its differences from the motherland, the simple effects of time effecting language change which shows more differentiation in the new language.

Quirk-Kachru controversy: Monocentric vs. Pluricentric English

The ownership of English has been thoroughly discussed, since standards are typically set by the “owners” of the language. The original arbiters were the Inner Circle: Britain, the United States and Canada. However, the global spread of English in the last few decades has caused an unprecedented growth into great many varieties. An important fact about the rise of different varieties of English is that they are not only limited to the outer- and expanding-circle countries, rather varieties of English are equally prevalent in inner-circle countries (Widdowson, 1994, p. 378). With so many existing varieties, maintaining standard norms for English to be used as a single reference point has always been a challenge.

Kachru presented arguments against Interlanguage theory (IL) and specifically the main components of this theory: Errors, fossilization, and socio-cultural contexts. In 1992, Selinker reproduced his IL theory and particularly applied fossilization to World Englishes context. According to the IL theory, competence of second language learners is based on an interlanguage continuum between their first (L1) and their second (L2) language. If their output is different from Standard English (American or British), it is regarded as an error (interference of L1 mainly) and if they continue producing errors (fixing), this is known as fossilization.

In addition to the standardization, Kachru’s main argument against IL theory was that Outer Circle English speakers were not trying to identify with Inner Circle speakers or native speakers. That is, they were not interested in the norms of English based in Inner Circle such as requesting and complaining. Thus, he criticized the attempts to label the Englishes in the Outer Circle as deviant or deficient and fossilized since these views were not considering the local Englishes (Outer Circle) and the sociocultural context. He was also against the label ‘errors’ since again utterances which are considered as errors may not apply to the local Englishes as they may be perfectly acceptable.

Kachru suggested challenging traditional notions of standardization and models as they tend to be related to only Inner-Circle or users, that the “global diffusion of English” caused the native speakers of this language losing the exclusive prerogative to control its standardization, and have become a minority. He further said that new paradigms and perspectives for linguistics and pedagogical research and for understanding the linguistic creativity in multilingual situations across cultures should be contemplated.

Widdowson agreed with the Kachru’s statement against Standard English and the ownership, maintaining that native speakers cannot claim ownership of English, and that its development is not the business of native speakers, having no say in the matter, no right to intervene or pass judgment.  “The very fact that English is an international language means that no nation can have custody over it. To grant such custody of the language is necessarily to arrest its development and so undermine its international status,” Widdowson said. He further stated that though native speakers such be proud and satisfied that their language is an international means of communication, but they cannot declare sole ownership.

World Englishes and Standard English were hotly debated by Quirk and Kachru, with Quirk suggesting that these varieties of English be just “interference varieties,” advising teachers of English to focus on “native norms and native-like performance” and stressed the need to “uphold one common standard in the use of English not only in the Inner Circle countries but also in others”. He also pointed out that a common standard was necessary for regulation purposes, to prevent the English language from dividing into unintelligible varies or different forms.

In response, Kachru claimed that such norms were “irrelevant” to the Outer Circle in their ways of using English.  He also believed that acknowledging a variety of norms would not lead to a lack of intelligibility among different users of English.  

Reaction

American imperialism in the early part of the twentieth century, being the reason of the Philippines being annexed to the Unites States, saw the rise of Philippine English. The Second Dispersal, which transported English to Asia and Africa as a result of the colonization of Asia and Africa, led to the development of 'New Englishes', the second-language varieties of English.  From being non-Spanish speaking colonials, the Filipino indio finds himself being taught a language that the colonial masters use in their everyday interaction with both equals and subordinates. He accepts the privilege fully, and after thirty years, the new Commonwealth is the third English speaking country in the world. The reforms on education in the Philippines, the writing of laws and legal instruments in English, and Hollywood movies showing famous actors and actresses showing the “western lifestyle” to be emulated are but parcel of what caused interlanguage processes and features, as enforced by the United States, and adopted by the rising indigenous elite,   interweave the English language into the country’s sociocultural consciousness in such a short period.

As part of the Outer Circle, which consists of the former colonies such as India and Africa, the Philippines finds her way through a world order wherein the United States continues to be the dominant force in world affairs. This situation of being one of the USA’s most successful educational experiments puts this particular country in a position that the development of a variety of local strains of English, in accordance with their L1 and L2 native languages, gives out a particular richness of heritage. In the Bicol region, at least five dialects (Bicol Daet, Naga, Partido, Rinconada, and Albayonon come to mind) plus the primary Filipino language (or Tagalog),  intermingling standard of the Queen’s language with the rich indigenous sounds of such native languages, remind us of Schneider’s endonormative stabilization, characterized by the gradual acceptance of local norms, the settled English and indigenous strands inextricably bound by a sense of nationhood independent from the United States and Spain.

The Philippines is also surrounded by many countries that are part of the Expanding Circle,   like China, Indonesia, Vietnam and Japan, where English has become an important language in business, science, technology and education. This presents a unique position to our country, where our advantage to the language is still evident even with these trying times.

Kachru’s argument against Salinger’s Interlanguage Theory (IL) also gives teachers of English the reason to pause in order to reevaluate measurement and teaching strategies. If Kachru is right in his argument,  specifically against main components of the IL theory (errors, fossilization, and socio-cultural contexts), then not only the way we conduct recitation, quizzes, tests and group activities, but also our options of whether or not to introduce local English literature in our  classes will have to be altered to accommodate these paradigm shifts.

I am with Widdowson’s agreement with Kachru to the fact that English is an international language, and that no nation can have custody over the English language, because granting a country custody of their language will be stifling development of the language, which will undermine its international status. Inner circle English speakers should be proud of the legacy their heritage has done to the world:  English is now an international language, but that should not give them the right to exclude others from speaking it as how they have learned this language to their parents, friends and many others.

“Language is not a possession which they lease out to others,” Widdowson said, “while retaining the freehold. Other people actually own it.”

References:

Baugh, A. C. and Cable. T. (1993). A History of the English Language. Routledge.

Jenkins, Jennifer (2006). World Englishes: a resource book for students (1. edition, 3. reprint ed.). London: Routledge. pp. 14–15. ISBN 0-415-25806-5.

Kachru, B. B. (1997). World Englishes and English-using communities. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 17, 66-87.

Kachru, B. B. (1991). Liberation linguistics and the Quirk concern. English Today, 25, 3-13.

Kachru, B. B. (1985) Standards, codification and sociolinguistic realism: the English language in the outer circle. In R.

Schneider, E. W. (2007). Postcolonial English: Varieties around the world. Cambridge University Press.

Quirk and H.G. Widdowson (Eds), English in the world: Teaching and learning the language and literatures (pp. 11-30). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Quirk, R. (1990). Language varieties and standard language. English Today, 21, 3-10.

Quirk, R. (1985) The English language in a global context. In R.

Quirk and H. G. Widdowson (Eds), English in the World: Teaching and learning the language and literatures (pp. 1-6). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Pennycook, A. (1994). The cultural politics of English as an international language. London: Longman.

Selinker, L. (1992). Rediscovering interlanguage. London: Longman.

Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics, 10, 209-231.

Patriarchal Influences in Maryanne Moll’s Married Women

Patriarchal Influences in Maryanne Moll’s Married Women

Roland Raymond A. Roldan    LIT230   Prado     Ateneo de Naga University

Abstract:

The paper provides a reading of Maryanne Moll’s selected stories in Married Women to augment the intricacies of Bicol feminist thought in the early part of the twenty-first century. The short stories in Married Women add to the existing understanding of what it means to be women in a time when Bicol literature is in full resurgence. A third prize winner at the 55th Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature (2005), Moll reveals sensibilities that are colorfully her own, as a writer and as a person, as she finds her place in a society that has been thoroughly dominated by patriarchy. Maryanne Moll’s literary world is perceived as familiar to those who have lived similar lives as hers, a retelling of stories of grandmothers, mothers, aunts and neighbors in contemporary literature.

Among the stories of Married Women to be discussed here is “This House,” “Home Improvement,” “God is the Space Between,” “Hearth,” and  “Tepid Waters,”   All the stories feature women characters and setting that evoke the familiarity of various places in the Bicol region.  The stories’ narration, exposition of the characters and many other aspects of interweaving of stories   seen as a multifaceted whole, are able to depict facets of a literary universe as only an author would be able to give life—whether it be a vivid depiction of a house teeming with childhood memories, a husband and wife’s argument on how a bathroom should be renovated, portrayals in how one murders a spouse, or a woman’s retelling of marital infidelity as a way to get back at patriarchy.

The writer also assumes his view of reading these short stories regarding issues of feminist discussion in mind, particularly patriarchal assumptions about gender and gender roles that continue to oppress women,  alternatives to the current way on conceptualizes gender as either feminine or masculine,  the relationship between sex and gender (between the ways our bodies are biologically constructed and the genders to which we are assigned), and the relationship between sexuality and gender (between our sexual orientation and the ways in which we are viewed in terms of gender).

As Leah Fritz wrote in Dreamers and Dealers, a discussion of the current women's movement published in 1979: “Women's suffering under sexist tyranny is a common bond among all women, transcending the particulars of the different forms that tyranny takes. Suffering cannot be measured and compared quantitatively. Is the enforced idleness and vacuity of a "rich" woman, which leads her to madness and/ or suicide, greater or less than the suffering of a poor woman who barely survives on welfare but retains somehow her spirit? There is no way to measure such difference, but should these two women survey each other without the screen of patriarchal class, they may find a commonality in the fact that they are both oppressed, both miserable.”

Betty Friedan also writes about the unfortunate condition of women in a patriarchal world: "It is urgent to understand how the very condition of being a housewife can create a sense of emptiness, non-existence, nothingness in women. There are aspects of the housewife role that make it almost impossible for a woman of   adult intelligence to retain a sense of human identity, the firm core of self or "I" without which a human being, man or woman, is not truly alive."

Woman as Other: This House

The short story “This House” by Maryanne Moll seeks to ponder on a woman’s patriarchal oppression, its economic, political, social, and psychological effects wherein the woman is kept in her place. Gender issues play a part in every aspect of human production and experience, including this narrative, whether one is consciously aware of these issues or not, and here it is shown that the behavior of accepting or rejecting how one behaves “like a woman”  not because it is natural to do, so but because one was taught to do so.

This oppression is most apparent in the course of the narration, repeatedly favoring paternal qualities in her choice of words as well as use of metaphors. The narrator’s choice of the pronoun “you” when referring to herself is symbolic to a dogma where the woman is other: she is objectified and marginalized, defined only by her difference from male norms and values, defined by what she allegedly lacks and that men allegedly have.

The pervasiveness of patriarchal ideology raises some important questions in the story. Indeed, patriarchal ideology influences identity and experience so powerfully in ones very modes of thinking and our emotions, can we ever think or speak in a way separate from it? 

In the story’s conclusion, the oppression is manifest and once again complete, as the narrator succumbs to the clutches of patriarchy, deeming her father as her ultimate savior: “You see him before you, as large and perfect as the as the days you spent running…on and on and on…knowing that you will never fall.”

Colors of Loss: Home Improvement

Maryanne Moll’s “Home Improvement” ponders on the strong hold of patriarchy even during times of change and loss. The bedroom argument between Greg and Susan regarding the color of their bathroom is first seen as a renewed exposition to patriarchy: the couple arguing which color to choose conceived as a retelling of the unending conflict between male and female.

The discussion of color ironically puts the argument in a perspective that patriarchy is a strong basis for the existence of racism. As the issue of black vs yellow is shown, the depiction of such a point of view suddenly unravels, revealing experiences that have somehow brought the couple to that particular moment: despite the tragedy, husband and wife are still together.

One then sees the loss of their son as a sort of deus ex machina to quell the avalanche of conflict—a sentimental yielding of patriarchy to honor a dead son.    The unborn daughter becomes a replacement, typical to a patriarchal tactic of yielding to the feminine when it cannot bear the responsibility of actual situations. The woman showing full acceptance of the soon-to-be-born daughter, even while yielding to a dark color blue,  could imply that the patriarchy still wins in the end.

Infidelity as Weapon: Tepid Waters

In the short story “Tepid Waters,” one sees the central character Pat, who is married to Michael, having a phone conversation with her lover Allan, a friend of her ex-boyfriend Bobby. “Allan was an offshoot of an affair Pat had once,” the story starts, referring to her relationship with Bobby, “…in that uneasy stage of rebounding,” which would refer to a post-break-up fling.

She later meets and has sex with Allan, and is filled with distaste, as she inwardly criticizes his undesirable looks and lifestyle. She goes home and takes a bath, and is rejuvenated by that cleansing ritual: “Smiling against the steady stream,” the narration describes at the end, “she felt Michael’s detached love, absent yet definitely omnipresent, and caressing her with constancy and indifference, bathing her in tepid water and retribution.”

The feminine concepts of bowing down to the patriarchy which is duly institutionalized in the establishment of marriage, the story here intimates that infidelity could be a silent weapon to defy the status quo. The powerful male is hereby undermined by resorting to unfaithfulness on the part of the female, as she asserts her power that it is she who has the freedom to choose her own sex partners. She replaces the powerful male with a weak one, and thus the powerful male is humiliated before her eyes, an enemy she can take care of, even in secret.

The complication of extramarital relationships as told in the story is thoroughly discussed by feminist bell hooks: “Usually adult males who are unable to make emotional connections with the women they choose to be intimate with are frozen in time, unable to allow themselves to love for fear that the loved one will abandon them. If the first woman they passionately loved, the mother, was not true to her bond of love, then how can they trust that their partner will be true to love…. This testing does not heal the wound of the past, it merely reenacts it, for ultimately the woman will become weary of being tested and end the relationship, thus reenacting the abandonment. This drama confirms for many men that they cannot put their trust in love. They decide that it is better to put their faith in being powerful, in being dominant.”

And yet, hooks also declares: “For me, forgiveness and compassion are always linked: how do we hold people accountable for wrongdoing and yet at the same time remain in touch with their humanity enough to believe in their capacity to be transformed?”

Male and Female as partners: Hearth

In the short story “Hearth”, Elmo, Clarissa, and their sons Tommy and Jimmy are on their way from a middle-class residence in Paranaque to an ill-maintained ancestral house in Tigaon, Camarines Sur. Their family suffered a terrible misfortune: the house that they thought was theirs is gone, and worse, Elmo is now on the run, evading arrest.  Elmo’s realization to this reality gives him an idea, that of living the simpler life at the countryside. His efforts to ensure acceptance to this idea led him to “sell” it to Clarissa and the boys. He first presents it as a summer vacation, and all seem fine, except that by not telling the truth.

This repression of reality, and the debilitating feeling that accompany it, would be viewed as evidence of patriarchy’s unrelenting control despite his utter failure to manage the household.  It was only much later that Elmo decides to tell the truth to Clarissa: they will be living there, from then on. Clarissa, very much angry by the deception, had this to say: “how can you do this to me, Elmo?’ Clarissa's initial inability of understanding the situation, as well as the fear of losing everything she held dear, opens the narration, with his husband saying, "...you just have to start accepting that we'll be living a different life out here."

The moment of illumination comes when Elmo decides to tell the whole truth regarding their predicament. That is still the best way to restructure society into a step forward in post-patriarchal status.

Feminism against Satan: God is the Space between

The short story “God is the Space Between” is   patterned after two sides of representations: an ideal world and a real world, separated by “a dark-colored, very ornate tapestry behind a door.” In this story one sees the falling of the heroine from an ideal world to the real.  

The narration, being told in the first person, is the tale of a woman finding her strength to finally end the years of pain and suffering in the hands of her husband by killing him in his sleep. It was told in almost mythical fashion: a forty-one year old woman coming into terms of a monster-like change within her so that she can rescue herself from “Satan,” her husband who has been abusing her for years.

The author furthers the story using words characterizing its veiled structure. “These are the stories,” the narration continues, “that hold no deep, numbing sensation, cause no smarts, create no stigmas, but stay on the heart like a bottomless hollow.” One can see that the story, far from being a romantic hero’s tale, is structurally also a tragedy, referred to as the mythos of autumn by Frye.

 According to Northrop Frye, The mythos of autumn is when “a hero with the potential to be superior, like a romantic hero, falls from his romantic height into the real world, the world of loss and defeat, from which he can never rise.” In the story one can see the ideal world briefly being described when the narrator opens a blue box, bearing the jewels that she usually wore daily. Her family’s bloodline presents a world of adventure, the blood of a patriarch, “a Spanish cartographer of German descent,” an ideal reference to her heroic lineage. The reference to her mother giving her an antique cross of St. Benedict, whispering “All you need to say is ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’” as a prophetic advice, reinforces the romantic bravery and virtue of such a world.

On the other hand, the real world is revealed when she sees herself in the mirror as a wife brutally battered for eleven years. The narrator, in true tragic fashion, falls from her romantic height into the real world, the world of loss and defeat, from which she can never rise. The real world which is the world of experience, uncertainty, and failure is thoroughly seen, as the gradual transformation of the innocent to the monster is exposed: she is her husband’s killer. Although her act seems heroic, in reality, it is not. She realizes it, even as she says the words: “It was done, I am free…” which are seemingly triumphant words, but end the sentence with “eleven years too late”. This fall, not victory, is also apparent in the final words of the story: “Yet some things will stay on…Like hunger.”

At this point, we see the third part of Frye’s quest-myth formula which is the irony. The husband’s death would be seen as similar to the archetypal emancipation of a powerful tyrant, like that of the beheading of Holofernes by Judith, the beautiful Jewess, where the quest of the good, and the desire for freedom is finally acted out in completion, where the closeness to the desired deity is achieved upon the demise of the abuser. However, in the real world, killing a person means imprisonment, a total emancipation to freedom. Irony is the real world seen through a tragic lens, a world in which the protagonist is defeated by the very act of liberation. Her realization of such a tragedy, as she moves from the ideal world to the real world, from innocence to experience, is apparent in the words: “There is enough of God and space to write a million epics of hurt and bestiality.”

In conclusion the stories of Maryanne Moll depict a post-20^th century condition where the quest from liberation from patriarchy is still far from over.  Benjamin Barber (1975) more or less places himself above the tray --   the real struggle should not be ""against nature"" but ""to reconstruct the polity,"" creating new institutions which will serve both ""our sexuality and our human aspirations""; personhood and maternity should not (as they often are today) be at odds.

Barber goes on to say, "Suffering is not necessarily a fixed and universal experience that can be measured by a single rod: it is related to situations, needs, and aspirations. But there must be some historical and political parameters for the use of the term so that political priorities can be established and different forms and degrees of suffering can be given the most attention."

                

References:

Moll, M (2011) Married Women: Short Stories Naga City Ateneo de Naga University Press

Tyson, L (2006) Critical Theory Today. New York: Routledge Taylor and Francis Group

hooks, bell (1984) Feminist Theory from Margin to Center.  South End Press

Fritz, Leah (1980) Dreamers and Dealers, Beacon Press

Benjamin Barber (1975)   Liberating Feminism, Seabury Press

Betty Friedan (1963) The Feminine Mystique, W. W. Norton Company

Reader Response Criticism God is the Space Between by Maryanne Moll

Reader Response Criticism:  God is the Space Between by Maryanne Moll
Roland Raymond A. Roldan    LIT230   Prado     Ateneo de Naga University

The story “God is the Space Between,” by Maryann Moll, tells the reader the story of a forty-one year old woman coming into terms with herself so that she can kill “Satan,” her husband who has been abusing her for years.

As a reader, one may react either with horror or enthusiasm to its text. Its first line, “There are stories that do not really feel like stories,” was a precursor of what is to come, an ambivalence of sorts, a possession of base emotions that slowly control the reader. “These are the stories,” the narration continues, “that hold no deep, numbing sensation, cause no smarts, create no stigmas, but stay on the heart like a bottomless hollow.”

Naming a husband to be “Satan” brings due response to many readers, female and male alike. The description may strikes one reader to be nearest to such a “dark angel” with a loathing that bears a fitting description of hell. The condition wherein a woman is abused for a very long time would be infernal in experience, and the cause of her suffering be named as such.

 Would the reader imagine his or her own mother to be in such a predicament, as he/she re-experiences a life that reflects his/her own, and upon such reenactment, one becomes seduced by a fantasy that has never been fulfilled? Would the reader be a wife who shares a common experience with the story? Or would he be a husband that realizes his folly? Such identification to a story would be like a literary mirror, revealing a symbiotic relationship between   author and reader, where acts that the reader cannot do in reality would be realized in fantasy, or a probable future that could be changed?

Does the mother’s act of giving an antique cross of St. Benedict, with the whisper “All you need to say is ‘Get thee behind me, Satan’” imply unacknowledged empowerment, that she the power all along, but chose not to use it? Or is everything in vain—that in real life, Satan cannot be rid of? The simplicity of the suggested act seemed too ridiculous to be a solution in the first place, and thus cannot be true. Yet the author’s offer of such simplicity entices the reader to continue the literary journey: such a “simple” solution proved to be in vain, and the killing had to be done, if only to exorcise the evil.

The text’s indeterminacy in its description adds more to stimulate the imagination. Is the narration but a dream? Is the act of killing but a fantasy in the story, owing the omission of typical endings, where the police closes a case, and that we can move on?  Or is it but a dream, where characters wither and die, and the persona that thinks himself a butterfly recovers a previous existence, and he finds himself hollow, after the butterfly ebbs away, again to be replaced by another.

After all the doubts brought on by the text to the reader, the former finally brings things to an end, as she says the words: “It was done, I am free…” almost messianic in tone, almost reminiscent to Christ’s “consummatum est,” but then the words of betrayal comes next, when there was a mention that murder came “eleven years too late.” The mention of time clarifies the intent of the author, a correction of sorts, wherein the depiction of possession is deemed completed, a monstrosity that overcomes humanity: “Yet some things will stay on…Like hunger.”

Post-colonial Criticism: “At Merienda” by Maryanne Moll

Post-colonial Criticism: “At Merienda” by Maryanne Moll

Roland Raymond A. Roldan    LIT230   Prado     Ateneo de Naga University

Maryanne Moll’s “At Merienda,” shows various signs of postcolonialism in the Bicol setting. Post-colonial life in Naga city presents both Spanish and American influences affecting the day-to-day lives of Annie and her extended family. One can say, just by looking at the title, that this story may be the “uncritical representation of the benefits of colonialism for the colonized” (Tyson 2006). Merienda, Spanish for snacks, evokes images of Spanish-style sweets presented as deliciously desirable and a benefit of being colonized. Furthermore, the characters’ behaviors, language, and habits are laced with Spanish affectations leading one to conclude that the story reinforces colonialist ideology.

The characters’ mimicry of the colonizers is apparent in the following instances: 1) the Spanish-influenced habit of the women in eating merienda, 2) the grandmother being called abuelita, Spanish for grandmother, 3) the use of Spanish expressions in casual conversation such as “Este, Antonia…” and “Que barbaridad!” Additionally, the household helpers being excluded from the merienda ritual, may be a metaphor for the colonized being excluded from partaking in the riches of their own country; moreover, this subjugation can also be represented by the constant obedience of Joventino, the old helper, as he says, “Yes, Señora.” multiple times.

The reinforcement of this colonialist ideology can also be seen in the younger women’s mimicry of the American ways as seen in: 1) the names of children, no longer Spanish, but English such as “Annie” and “Chandler,” 2) Gina’s recommendation of the book entitled “The Purpose-Driven Life,” a self-help book written by American pastor Rick Warren, and 3) the drinking of Coca-Cola, a soft drink brand from America.

However, Annie’s relationship with her husband which ended in divorce, may be a representation of a liberation of sorts. Although not directly stated in the story, Annie breaking free from the clutches of her husband can be a metaphor for our country being liberated from Spain and America; and their son, Chandler, may be seen as the hybrid of the cultures of the colonizers and the colonized. Just as the Americans and Spanish have left us and no longer shows concern toward us, with regard to our nationhood, so does her husband who hardly ever comes home to bond with her and their son. Ultimately, Annie divorces her husband and she is free to do what she pleases which include partaking in meriendas with her abuelita, mother, aunts and cousins.

In conclusion, the story reinforces colonialist ideology. It constantly and explicitly presents the colonizer’s ways as favorable while making no mention of its oppressive nature. In addition, one can even go as far as saying that Annie’s lonesome wifehood can be a metaphor for the colonized pining for the colonizer’s affection and love.

New Historical and Cultural Criticism Nardo Takes a Wife by Socorro Federis-Tate

New Historical and Cultural Criticism    

Nardo Takes a Wife by Socorro Federis-Tate             

Roland Raymond A. Roldan    LIT230   Prado     Ateneo de Naga University

Socorro Federis-Tate’s  “Nardo Takes a Wife,” written in 1955, almost a decade after the Second World War,  is a worthwhile artifact  that  tells us  about the interplay of discourses, as well as the web of social meanings, that were operating in the time and place in which the story was written. The human “lens” through which the reader is viewing the historical issues discussed in the short story, though clouded with personal bias, makes him aware of the influences of the times, so that a clearer picture would emerge, despite his own psychological and ideological positions.

With its subject being the pamamanhikan or the custom in asking a girl’s hand in marriage, a controversial discourse even during that time, the inevitable clash of “Spanish tradition” and “American peace time” in a time when either European or stateside sensibilities seeking dominance in postwar culture could either be scandalous or brave, depending on what side of the fence one sits on.  After all, such discourses and sensibilities are part of a social language created by particular cultural conditions at a particular time and place, expressing how human experience is understood in particular ways.

The start of the story describes a very traditional way a pamamanhikan, complete with cheap cigars, glasses of tuba and chewed buyo. The parents are doing most of the talking, while the future bride and groom remaining silent and at times uncomfortable. Tiong Berto, Nardo’s father, made a speech about his son’s being a “butterfly…flitted from flower to flower…and how he has rested on someone who he thinks is the best.”

Tiong Tacio replies that Lita is their only child, and added that they have drained their pocketbook in order to send her to a good school. “She is the most intelligent in the whole neighborhood,” he said. “Several young men have asked me for her hand in marriage, but somehow something always went awry. Perhaps it is better that way.”

Tiong Tacio’s last remark, which drew quite a reaction from Nardo and Lita—the former an amused gleam, from the latter a blush—gives the reader an idea how the previous wedding proposals were handled, and at the same time giving notice that the two lovers are aware what is to be proposed by Tiong Tacio:  a hefty price for the hand of Lita, their daughter. This tradition that has been invoked supposedly gives power to the soon-to-be bride’s father to “transact” an “exchange,” as expected in a culture where marriage is a “business.”

Nardo and Lita’s dialogue at the kitchen reveals more about the old traditions that Tiong Tacio espouses: she has no say in how the wedding will be done. She is embarrassed about how stiff her father’s price will be charged to Nardo’s family. Nardo says to Lita not to worry, and that his parents can afford it.

He then asks Lita what she wants for the wedding. This could be viewed as in opposition to the tradition that her father espouses, a different perspective, wherein the bride has a say to her own wedding. She replies, “Privacy. Simplicity. Quiet and serenity.”

As Lita lay down to sleep, Nardo and his parents walked home, letting his parents walk ahead while he leisurely followed. “He picked up a stick and absently slashed at the ferns and low shrubbery which fringed the path.” This line seem to foreshadow his decision later, which is to ask Lita to forego all that their parents discussed and elope with him.

A soliloquy goes on in Nardo’s head, first an evaluation of his palay-filled land, then a mathematical gymnastic to arrive at a figure more than what his future father-in-law asked. Certainly he could afford the asked amount, but he figured that such tradition is not his to follow, his principles will not allow it, and that he has his own preference for his own wedding—similar to one of his cousins.

The problem finally brought him to a solution. It was then when he thought of the elopement. His personal identity, being tested by such a dilemma of whether to follow tradition or not, has finally emerged, shaped by the culture that has tested him. To traditional Filipino pre-war tradition, such a decision is a travesty and dishonor; but for the new postwar breed that he is part of, elopement seem practical and sound.

As Lois Tyson would put it, ones individual identity consists of the stories he tells to himself about himself, drawing material for his own story from the circulation of discourses that constitutes the culture he lives in. His time is that of liberation, reminiscent of what happened after the Americans won the War, and granted his country the independence it wanted for so long. His personal convictions reflected that of the time he is in, a redefining of what is more honorable, a wedding that their parents wanted or what he and Lita actually wanted?   His decision, which would be to ask Lita to elope with him, becomes a fundamental principle from where he will build his family.

“Conventions would be defied,” Nardo mused, “and the ancients would feel cheated and outraged. So what?”