ANG BISA NG PAG-UULIT SA KATUTUBONG PANITIKAN
(THE EFFICACY OF REPETITION IN FOLK LITERATURE)
2023

A critical study that focuses on the feature of repetition in folk literature by using as primary text the nanang of Taguwasi, suguidanon of Humadapnon, and hlolok of Tud Bulul. The movement of repetition serves as the basis to describe a poetics of repetition that can be used to understand the process of folk creative production. This is a project of decolonization that attempts to give folk literature a primary role, particularly the epic form, in shaping national literature and assessing contemporary creative productions.

A filmmaker, novelist, and educator. His films have already been recognized and screened both locally in the Philippines, and internationally in Singapore, Bogota, Warsaw, Bucheon, Chicago, Hawai’i, Toronto, and Paris including a best digital feature win at the Cairo International Film Festival for Ang Panggagahasa kay Fe (The Rapture of Fe, 2009). His other films of note are Ang Sayaw ng Dalawang Kaliwang Paa (The Dance of Two Left Feet,  2011), winning in seven categories including best picture, director, and screenplay from the local critics of Gawad Urian, which then proceeded to tour South America, among other festival circuits, after getting the Circulo Precolombino de  Bronce Mejor Pelicula at the Bogota International Film Festival; and An Kubo sa  Kawayanan (The House by the Bamboo Grove, 2015) which won best film at the World Premieres Film Festival. His filmography has earned him his mark as a filmmaker cited for “cultural richness, originality, and lyricism.” His short stories and novels have won critical praise from Palanca Awards, the Philippine National Book Award, and the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) Writers’ Prize. With a doctoral degree in Philippine Studies, he currently teaches at the Ateneo de Manila University. His research interests include the epic genre, folk aesthetics, and literature in the vernacular.