War Horns

Dean has sounded the call for the Philippines' literature of the fantastic:

Our "tradition" of Speculative Fiction is so thin it is almost invisible. I don't see why it has to be so. I don't see why Philippine Literature has to be written in the social-realist mode, with farming boys riding carabaos in ricefields aching with unrealized epiphanies. I don't see why imagination has to goosestep to the drums of misplaced nationalism. I don't see why the fantastic, the miraculous, the impossible, the past and the future cannot be part of our literary diet. I don't see why it should be in the ghettos - unless it is badly written (in which case, burn it).

I want literature of the fantastic. Key words: "literature" and fantastic.

Now them's fighting words!

Obviously, I'm in complete agreement with Dean. From what I've observed and learned, Philippine literature seems to be stuck in a rut. Nothing new: it's the same-old-same-old where it's not what you write but who you know if you want to make a mark. (Er, present company excluded, of course.)

From my position as a fantasist from the Philippines, I see great strides being made in the field of speculative fiction: see China Mielville's Perdido Street Station, Steph Swainton's The Year of Our War, K.J. Bishop's The Etched City, Jeff Vandermeer's City of Saints and Madmen and Jeff Ford's The Physiognomy.

So I have to wonder: Why can't we use that same enthusiasm to develop Philippine literature?

In local television, I see this same enthusiasm in the rise of fantasy shows (though this may be because of the influence of the Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter movies).

One that has competition beat is GMA-7's Mulawin, about a race of half-bird/half-humans out protect both their tribe and the human race. (Check out the story notes and mythology here.)

I personally don't watch the show but I'm fascinated by this growth in local entertainment that usually goes for local counterparts of superheroes, mermaids, faery warriors and sword-bearing blacksmiths.

After all, a tribe of birdmen ruling the aeries of the Philippine jungles? Who da'thunk?

(See here for more information on Filipino heroes, whether in comics or in movies. Actually, check out the whole site for international heroes. Great stuff. I originally picked this up from the Sassy Lawyer.)