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Recommended entry:

Anderson, Benedict R. O’G.

Why counting counts : a study of forms of consciousness
and problems of language in Noli Me Tangere and El
Filibusterismo / Benedict R. O’G. Anderson. -- Quezon City :
Ateneo de Manila University Press, c2008.
ps Gini

1. Rizal, Jose Alonso, 1861—1896--History--Criticism and

interpretation. 2. Rizal, Jose Alonso, 1861-1896. Noli Me
‘Tangere--History and criticism. 3. Rizal, Jose Alonso, 1861-1896,
El Filibusterismo--History and criticism. I. Title.

PQ8897.R5 959.90076 2008 P082000449

ISBN 978-971-550-555-0
 Content,

Acknowledgments
A: Brief Word to the Reader ssssssscvisscececcccersaseesssseeeaaiieisiesesesises ix

Introd wet Ontsccwarsecssemuvierrarnenmnemmasennmeinrer

meee 1
Nolicme:tangere secsvssvoseessveccevensseaseeysecus
sisi e0teei eat engine 3
Eh UUDUSTERISIO iesecsveesssesonvoressecepesrertmsenresreneasicnenestremenproonretet
Concluding Reflections
 Ucknorlelyneent it Brief Wrid dalle Readbr

This book is intended primarily for Filipinos, particularly stu-

In preparing this small book, I have benefited enormously from
the insightful criticisms and comments given to me by Jun Aguilar, dents and teachers. It therefore assumes that readers are already
Neil Garcia, Bomen Guillermo, Carol Hau, Ambeth Ocampo,
quite familiar with the plots, the characters, and locations in
and Tony Wood. Here I would like to express my profound grati- Rizal’s two novels. It is not in any way to be understood as a
tude to them, while acquitting them of any responsibility for technical manual for ‘discourse analysis, which I am not compe-
errors or misinterpretations that readers may discover. tent to write. Rather, it suggests a hitherto untried, but quite
simple, method, for deepening our understanding of Noli me tangere
These articles first came out, separately and in a slightly different and El filibusterismo, of Rizal’s changing outlook and purposes as he
version, in Philippine Studies 51 (2003): 505-29 and 54 (2006):
composed them, and of the politico-cultural context in which they
315-56. are complexly set.

vili
 Dhaobuion

For some years now I have been struck by a number of odd fea-
tures in much of the critical writing on Rizal’s two extraordinary
novels. For example, it is surprising that so few people have
considered seriously the identity of the author’s intended
audience(s). Even fewer have looked carefully at how the com-
plexities of ‘race’ and ethnicity are played out in their pages.!
There is also the habit of tendentiously quoting this or that word,
phrase or sentence as if it expressed Rizal-the-man’s opinions,
without paying attention to the actual distribution of such terms—
‘who’ in the novel’s pages uses them, how often, to which inter-
locutors, and with what intentions. In this way, not only are the
two books treated as ethico-political treatises rather than novels,
but the reality that Rizal’s opinions were often contradictory is
occluded. I should add immediately that in no way do I exempt
myself from the above criticism.” Accordingly, it seemed a good
idea to attempt a systematic quantified study of significant

1. A striking exception is Filomeno Aguilar, Jr’s brilliant “Tracing Ori-

gins: Jlustrado nationalism and the racial science of migration waves,” Jour-
nal of Asian Studies 64, no. 3 (August 2005): 605-37.
2. In particular, the essay “Hard to Imagine,” originally composed in
1992, and, in a slightly improved form, included in my The Spectre of Com-
parisons (London: Verso, 1998), chapter 11. I should say that the present
text was partly stimulated by Floro C. Quibuyen’s criticism of “Hard to
 elements of vocabulary, style, and context in the two novels,
treating them above all as novels.?
One fundamental aim of this study is to allow readers to think
about Noli me tangere and El filibusterismo in a single comparative
frame. The first novel was published when Rizal was still 25
Nob me tanger
years old, and when his experience outside Spain was largely
confined to France and Germany. The second came out in 1891,
when the author was just 30, and when he had gone home to the
Philippines for a few months, and then traveled to Japan and the
United States, before settling in the United Kingdom and Bel-
gium. In 1887, the global turbulence that would erupt in the Great
A. Spanish-Colonial ‘Racial’ Strata and Ethnicity
War of 1914-18 was just beginning to be felt, but by 1891 it had
become quite visible.* Hence the text contains separate sections
As in other Spanish (and also Portuguese) possessions, colo-
on each of the novels; but each section uses the same analytical
methods and format. (Io make comparisons easier the quantified nial society in the Philippines was conceived theoretically as a
data on the Noli are recapitulated parenthetically alongside those ‘racial’ pyramid, with each descending stratum marked by greater
given on the Fil: in the second section.) Finally, both sections con- biological, ethical, and economic distance from a hypothesized
clude with some general reflections on quite distinct topics. metropolitan norm. At the top were the jpeninsulares, Spaniards
born and raised in the imperial center. Next below them were the
criollos or creoles, Spanish by descent, but unfortunate enough to
have been born and raised in the Philippines, where, it was be-
lieved, the local climate and culture had indelibly degenerative ef-
fects. Below the creoles came the mestizos, who were not only lo-
cally born and bred, but were the products of ‘interracial’ sexual
relationships. The Philippines was, however, distinctive within
Imagine,” in his A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American hegemony and Philippine na- the Empire, in that, while it contained no descendants of African
tionalism (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999). I do
slaves, it had from the start harbored a sizeable population of im-
not at all agree with Quibuyen’s general argument, but am grateful to him
for pushing me to more serious reflection. migrant Chinese and their descendants. Hence it was considered
3. The counting has been done manually, by going over the novels line important to distinguish between Spanish mestizos and Chinese
by line several times. Given human fallibility, there are bound to be some mestizos, and not to make much of the growth of mixed popula-
small uncaught errors, but I believe they are few enough not to affect the
tions with (eventually) Spanish, Chinese, and ‘native’ (indio)
validity of the enterprise as a whole.
4. The global context in which the Fili was composed is treated exten-
‘blood, At the bottom of the pyramid came the idios themselves,
sively in my Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-colonial Imagination (Lon- generally treated as a homogeneous mass, though the Spanish
don: Verso, 2005). were quite aware of the multitude of languages and local cultures
 cote ee eeregure —_—_—--s+-

in the archipelago. Thus ‘ethnicity’ only appeared as a census cat- ms in the novel, we find P. Damaso with 13; the Narrator,
egory after the Americans seized the islands at the turn of the unnamed friar, 5; La Victorina, 4; Elias and the Diario in
twentieth century. These strata were more than simply abstract Menila. 3 each; and the Teniente, Tasio, Ibarra, the Alférez, the
constructs. The imperial regime tried hard, almost to the end, to Dominican Provincial, an unnamed youth, an anonymous peas-
make them a concrete social reality by imposing different legal sta- amt, and an unspecified voice in a crowd, 1 each. India, as an ad-
tuses and differential tax burdens. Peripheral to the layered pyra- jective. is used once only—by La Consolacién. The noun naturales,
mid were three significant social groups: immigrant, non-Catholic 2 polite synonym for indio, occurs 5 times, distributed between
Chinese, who for centuries were called sangleyes, a term replaced the Narrator, 3; and Don Filipo and the Diario, 1 apiece.
by the more conventional chino only as the later nineteenth cen- The term chino is also very common. As a noun it shows up 35
tury wore on; largely unsubdued Muslims in the Far ‘South; and times, and its use is widely distributed: the Narrator, 18; Tasio, 5;
pagan tribes in the Luzon Cordillera and remote parts of other is- anonymous voices, 4; the gravedigger, unnamed pious women,
lands, who were mostly left to their own devices. and the Diario, 2 each, with Capitan Basilio and Iday, 1 apiece. As
It is striking that the word peninsular, either as noun or adjec- an adjective, chino is employed 3 times by Tasio, and once by the
tive, crops up only four times in the whole novel—twice in the Narrator. The evidently obsolescent sangleyes is used only once,
mouth of the elderly (and peninsular) Teniente, and twice in the by the Narrator.
commentary of the Narrator (the peculiarity of whose voice will Moros are referred to three times only, in every case by the
be discussed later on). Narrator. The word does not refer to the Muslims of the southern
The occurrence of criollos is even rarer. The male form is used Philippines, but merely to the ‘Moors’ represented in the moro-
once by an unnamed friar, while the female criolla is spoken of moro play put on for the fiesta in San Diego. As for the pagan
once by the Narrator. populations, they are mentioned just twice: once when Elias
Mestizo(s)-male and/or general—also occurs only four times, speaks of finding shelter from persecution among the fribus infieles é
typically qualified by the adjective espafol(es). (It is very striking independientes,> and once when the Narrator describes the image of
that the form mestizo chino never crops up, even though the Chinese San Diego, paraded through the town during the fiesta, as having
mestizos were a large, increasingly rich and influential group in an abundante cerquillo rizado como el de los negritos.
the late nineteenth century, and Rizal himself belonged to it, ‘ra- And ethnicities? If for the moment we set aside the numerous
cially’ at least. I will try to account for this strange absence at the mentions of Tagalog-the-language, we are left with a mere five
end of this section). Three of the mentions come from the Narra- cases where fagalos are referred to, all of them in the Narrator’s
tor, while the fourth comes from an anonymous, panic-stricken commentary. In three of these the reader is told what “the Taga-
voice in the crowd as the rumors of Ibarra’s ‘conspiracy’ spread
through San Diego. The female form mestiza is mentioned twice in
the Narrator’s paraphrasing of the thoughts of Tiburcio. P. 5. José Rizal, Noli me tangere (Manila: Instituto Nacional de Historia,
Damaso uses the contemptuous miniaturizing mesticillos twice. 1978), 250 (chap. 45 “Los perseguidos”).
6. Ibid., 164 (chap. 29 “La mafiana”). It does not seem to have oc-
By contrast, the term indio is widely used by all strata of colo-
curred to Rizal that referring to the Aeta, with their frizzy curls, as “little
nial society from the peninsulares down to the peasantry. Of the 43 Blacks” might be offensive.
o JVol me tangere

logs” call something; in the other two the reference is to an un-

named, lowly member of the Guardia Civil hunting for Elias, set tholic Philippines.
off against one of his comrades described as un visaya. Tagalo as an We can view the above data synoptically by putting them into
adjective occurs just 6 times, distributed between the school- tabular form, as follows:
teacher and the Narrator, 2 each; Primitivo and an unnamed
newspaper correspondent, 1 apiece. The nouns they are attached
Table 1. Mentions of ‘Racial’ and Ethnic Terms in Noli me tangere
to are catechism, books, an elegy, the comedia, lies, and a family.
Visaya appears four times as a noun and once as an adjective in the Total frequency Narrator’s use No. of characters
mouth of the Narrator, referring to the companion of ;the Tagalog of mention of term using term
Guardia Civil member mentioned above.’
A very strange, interesting absence is that of the Ilocanos, who 4 2 il
1 - 1
at that time formed a large part of Manila’s class of domestic ser- L 1 =
vants. Rizal himself was perfectly aware of this fact. In a letter to Mestizo/s 4 3 1
Blumentritt from Berlin, dated March 21, 1887, just a month after Mestiza 2 2 -
he finished the Noli, he commented with characteristic Tagalog and Mesticillos 2 - 1
Indio/s 43 7 13
ilustrado hauteur:
India (adj.) 1 = 1
Naturales 5 3 2
Das tagalische Stiick von Riedel lasst mich glauben, dass der Chino/s 35 18 Z
Mann der es ihn dictiert hat, kein Tagalo ist, sondern ein Chino (adj.) 4 1 1
Iocaner; so sprechen die Iocaner tagalisch. Es is noch méglicher, Sangleyes 1 1 =
da die Dienstleute in Manila fast alle Ilocaner sind. Tagalo/s 5 5 ad
Tagalo/a (adj.) 6 2 a
[Riedel’s Tagalog piece makes me believe that the man who dic- Visaya (n. and adj.) 5 5 -
tated it to him was no ‘Tagalog, but an Ilocano; such is the way Tribus infieles 2 1 1
Ilocanos speak Tagalog. This is all the more probable in that in llocanos

1
Manila almost all the servants are Ilocanos].°

Perhaps this is why not a single name-identified servant ap- It is worth noting that these categories are usually unambigu-
pears in the novel! (Nineteenth-century European novels usually ous. The one possible exception is chino; we have already seen
mention some household servants by name). But in any case, the that Chinese mestizos are never mentioned in the novel. But there
are many strong contextual indications that the word typically re-
fers to recent, unassimilated immigrants from China. Observe
7. Ibid., 287-88 (chap. 52 “La carta de los muertos y las sombras”). It
how Tasio affectionately refers to his mother: Por las gatas de sangre
is interesting to note that the Narrator has the fellow speak Tagalog with a
Visayan accent. chino que mi madre me ha dado, pienso un poco como los chinos: honro al
8. The Rizal-Blumentritt correspondence, vol. 1, 1886-1889 (Manila: Na- padre por el hyo, pero no al hijo por el padre [Because of the drops of
tional Historical Institute, 1992), 59ff. Chinese blood that my mother has given me, I think a little like
6 YVol me ltangere Wel me tangere y

the Chinese: I honor the father for his son, but not the son for his stributed between the correspondent, a voice in the crowd, and
father].? But no one, not even the /ildsofo himself, calls him a chino. Lucas, it is impossible to be certain. The four appearances of la
We may conclude this subsection on colonial ‘racial’ strata and Peninsula (La Victorina, 2; the Teniente and the Capitan-General,
ethnic categories by asking the obvious questions: why are the 1 apiece) in the text also point to an ambiguity in Espava.
upper strata so rarely mentioned—14 instances over 354 pages!— One might also suppose that the ‘national’ noun espajol had an
and why are the ‘alien’ Chinese made so prominent? One kind of obvious and unambiguous connotation. But of the 52 mentions in
answer would emphasize the rapid decay of traditional colonial the novel, clearly 24 refer to people born in Spain; 3 equally
‘racial’ categories, originally created in the sixteenth century, in clearly refer to such people plus locally-born creoles and mesti-
the face of massive penetration of Anglo-Saxon agro-industrial zos; and 25 cannot be determined. The distributions look like
capitalism and heavy steamship-carried Chinese migration. this: of the 24 in the first group, 14 come from the Narrator; 4
Another would focus on Rizal’s intellectual environment, cultural from the Teniente; and 1 each from the Capitan-General, P.
outlook and political stance. A fuller discussion of this question Damaso, Tiago, La Victorina, the Diario, and an anonymous
will be postponed to the end of this section on the Noli. voice. The 3 clearly inclusive mentions come out as 2 for the
Capitan-General, and 1 for the Diario. The spread of the ‘unclear
B. Political Vocabulary and Concepts mentions’ is: the Narrator, 9; the Diario, 8; the gravedigger, 5;
anonymous voices, 2; and Elias, 1.
If the terms used in Category A are mostly clear-cut, the oppo-
Since the Narrator shows up in each group—and he is often
site is typically the case with those we will look at in Category B.
uncritically regarded as Rizal’s reliable mouthpiece—it may be
One might think that the toponym Espajia is quite straightfor-
helpful to offer readers an example of each usage in his commen-
ward. Indeed, in 35 out of 39 instances the referent is plainly the
tary. In the novel’s opening chapter, the girls present at the party
Iberian country we know today. The distribution is Ibarra, 13;
being given in Tiago’s house are described as unas cuantas jovenes
the Narrator, 7; Elias, 4; the Capitan-General, 3; an old husband,
entre filipinas y espanolas [a few young ladies, a mixture of creoles
2; and Tiburcio, Don Basilio, Tiago, an old wife, the newspaper
and peninsulars].'! Later on, however, the Narrator notes that for
correspondent, and an anonymous voice, one each. But when the
Maria Clara’s wedding, ahora sus invitados son tinicamente espanoles y
Capitan-General talks of the Rey de las Espajias, he is almost cer-
chinos; el bello sexo estd representado por espanolas peninsulares y filipinas
tainly speaking of the Empire.!? In the four remaining cases,
[this time (Tiago’s) guests were restricted to Spaniards and Chi-
nese, the fair sex being represented by peninsular and creole
Spaniards].!* 12 The second quotation refers to two kinds of
9. Rizal, Noli, 64 (chap. “Tasio, el loco 6 el filésofo”). This is not a pub- espanoles, Spain-born peninsulares and Philippine-born criollos. This
lic statement but a humorous comment in a chat with his good friends
Don Filipo and Dofia Teodora.
10. Ibid., 181 (chap. “La cabria”). It is true that the old name for royal
peninsular Spain was Las Espajias, reflecting the plurality of small states 11. Ibid., 3 (chap. 1 “Una reunién”). The context makes it plain that
eventually united under the aegis of Castile and Aragon. But right up to the Narrator does not mean ‘Filipinas’ and ‘Spaniards’ in the modern
the end, Spain’s imperial conquests were regarded not as colonies but as sense.
overseas possessions under direct royal sovereignty. 12. Ibid., 329 (chap. 60 “Maria Clara se casa”).
sari ViveE ee wureeere

quotation illuminates the first. Here espamolas are peninsular girls, amd | fom the Teniente. The obverse of this distribution is just as
while the /ilipinas (creoles) are not included among the Spaniards. g. The novel’s first hero uses the word just once, the sec-
Finally, when, in another scene, the Narrator speaks of el Alcalde, ero, Elias, never, and the wise Tasio not at all. When Elias
Con. Tiago, Maria Clara, Ibarra, varios espanoles y senoritas, readers bes himself, what he says is soy un indio, not soy un Filipino.
can not be sure what kind of espafioles these people are—except that so necessary to note that certainly in the case of the Diario,
they are male.!8 md at least in some instances (as cited above) of the Narrator,
Espanol/a the adjective crops up only 14 times. The Narrator eee clearly denotes criollos. This in turn means that in the
uses it 7 times, attached to sangre, viejo, mestizo, empleados, and mowel’s 354 pages, the use of filipino to mean something not con-
orgullo. The Teniente (sangre), the Alcalde (gobierno), D. Filipo fimed to the criollos occurs only about 14 times, and never emerges
(refran), Ibarra (patria), Elias (comerciante), the Diario (Bossuet), and from the mouths of either Tasio or Elias. If, as some have argued,
an anonymous voice (mestizo)—each employs the adjective once. the use of the word filipino in the modern national sense was al-
The difficulties are comparable when it comes to variations on ready normal in the Philippines at the time of the Noli’s publica-
Filipinas, filipino, and filipina. tion, this whole pattern becomes completely incomprehensible.
The place Filipinas itself might seem unambiguous. It is men- We can consider synoptically the data provided above by re-
tioned 58 times, with quite a wide distribution: the Narrator, 20; presenting them in the same tabular form used for the hierarchy
Ibarra, 12; the Alférez, 7; Tasio, 5; Elias, 3; the Capitan-General, of ‘racial’ strata and ethnicities.
2; and the Teniente, the Alcalde, P. Dadmaso, Albino, La
Consolacién, Sergeant Gémez, Primitivo, the schoolteacher, and Table 2. Mentions of ‘Spanish’
P and ‘Filipino’
Pp terms in Noli me tangere
8
an anonymous young man, once apiece. But it is by no means
Total frequency Narrator’s No. of characters
clear if the word is always used to include the region of the of mention use of term using term
Moros or the territory of Elias’s tribus infieles é independientes. None-
theless, it is significant, as I shall argue below, that if we exclude Espajia(s) 39 7 11
La Peninsula 4 - 3
the peninsular Capitan-General, the Teniente, the Alférez, the
Espafioles (peninsulares) 24 14 7
Alcalde, and P. Démaso (12 mentions total), of the 46 remaining Espafioles (+creoles) a - 2
mentions, fully 40 are confined to the small ‘politically conscious’ Espafioles (vague) 25 9 4
group of Ibarra, Tasio, Elias, and the Narrator. anol/a (adj.) 14 7 7
inas (place) 58 20 14
The noun /ilipino(s) is much rarer. It occurs a total of 21 times,
no(s) (n.) 21 18 38
distributed between the Narrator, 18, and the Capitan-General, no/a (adj.) 12 7 2
Ibarra, and an unnamed journalist, once each. The same pattern
is evinced in the use of /ilipimo/a as an adjective, sometimes at-
tached to human beings, but just as often to objects. Of the 12 oc-
currences, 7 come from the Narrator, 4 from the satirized Diario, 14. Ibid., 275 (chap. 49 “La voz de los perseguidos”). His interlocutor
™ private conversation here is Ibarra, who is a mestizo—a distance of
Elias is acutely conscious. He never says somos filipinos (we two are
13. Ibid., 165 (chap. 29 “La mafiana”). nos) either.
se virveL ee eenesere

We may now turn to three terms which could be expected to

represent, more abstractly, the idea of the Philippines as a nation, word im the same sense when he speaks to Ibarra about Spain’s
namely nacion, patria, and pueblo. neighbors.!®§ The word is never used in the novel to re-
The reader will immediately be surprised by the rarity of any y to the Philippines.
words derived from the Latin root natio. Nacién(es) crops up 7 Next: the one use of nacional(es) as a noun comes in chapter 7
times (Ibarra, 4; the Narrator, Elias, and Tasio, 1 each). Naciona- die en una Azotea”) where Ibarra, talking to Maria Clara
lidades occurs twice, used once by the Narrator and once by Elias. Europe, makes it mean a member or members of a nacién. 19
The noun nacionales is mentioned once by Ibarra, and the adjective ectival form is used by Ibarra to speak of the orgullo nacional
nacional just twice, by Ibarra and Elias. Most jarringis the com- eational pride) of different European countries, and by Elias to
plete absence of either nacionalismo or nacionalista. Before turning to valk to Ibarra about the Arabs, who gave Spain cultura, ha sido
consider what the mentioned terms appear to mean, it is neces- solerante con su religion, y ha despertado su amor proprio nacional,
sary to underline that among the innumerable actors in the drama aletergado, destruido cast durante la dominacién romano y goda [culture,
of Noli me tangere, only Ibarra and Elias use any variant of the were tolerant of her religion, and awakened her national pride,
natio-based root, and then only nine times. dormant and almost destroyed under Roman and Gothic domi-
The meaning of nacion(es) most frequently corresponds to the nation].”°
now obsolete meaning of ‘nation’ that we find in the King James Finally, in chapter 4 (“Hereje y Filibustero”), the Narrator
Bible, and was still predominant when Adam Smith wrote his uses nacionalidades to describe the different ethno-racial groups
great The Wealth of Nations: in effect, a word with a broad and crisscrossing the streets of Manila; by contrast Elias employs the
vague semantic range covering ‘people, ‘country; even ‘ethnic word once, in a quite modern sense, and in direct relationship
group. For example, in chapter 46 (“La Gallera”), the Narrator with the Philippines, when he claims that for “us” Catholicism is
comments transhistorically on the analogy between cockfight afi- too costly (cara)—pues por ella hemos renunciado a nuestra nacionalidad,
cionados and ‘nations’: Tal sucede entre las naciones; una pequena que @ nuestra independencia [because in exchange we have given up our
consigue alcanzar una victoria sobre otra grande, la canta y la cuenta por nationality, our independence].”!
siglos de los siglos [So it is with nations. A small nation that wins a
victory over a large one sings of it and recounts it throughout the
ages].!5 Tasio uses the word in the same way in chapter 32 (“La 17. Ibid., 43 (chap. 8 “Recuerdos”). (Ibarra is talking to himself). In the
Cabria”).!® Sometimes the sense seems closer to the modern 1880s, there were strong Irish, Norwegian, Finnish, Czech, Polish, Hungar-
meaning of ‘nation’ as shorthand for nation-state. For example, =n. etc. nationalist movements, but none of them yet had their own state.
Ibarra contrasts Europa con sus hermosas naciones agitdndose | was not thinking about them, but about ‘beautiful’ Imperial France,
perial Germany, the Imperial UK, Imperial Austro-Hungary, Imperial
continuamente, buscando la felicidad. . [Europe with her beautiful na-
a, and Imperial-wannabe Italy.
tions, in constant agitation, searching for happiness. . .] with the 18. Ibid., 272 (chap. 49 “La voz de los perseguidos”).
19. Ibid., 36.
20. Ibid., 16 (chap. 3 “La cena”), and 273 (chap. 49 “La voz de los
15. Ibid., 259. perseguidos”).
16. Ibid., 178. 21. Ibid., 17; and 273. Elias is here talking privately with Ibarra.
 ees YNULL UG LUNES ETC

Pueblo and patria are notoriously difficult to translate into En- Peehls appears far more often than either nacién or patria, with
glish. Pueblo can refer to a place of small-scale human :habitation, rentiated meanings, and a wider range of voices. First
something like ‘town, to the human beings living there (perhaps of all, chere are at least 32 places where the reference is to some
‘townsfolk’), and to both at once; it can also be used for much eseelly unnamed township in the Philippines, by implication
larger social units, such as ‘countries’ and ‘lands’ (Switzer-land, seestly im the area around San Diego or near Manila. For ex-
Ire-land), and the ‘peoples’ inhabiting them. It can also denote emple. in depicting his early youth to Ibarra, Elias says he huyé de
‘nation’ and ‘common people. Similarly, pairia’s meanings range eaehle en pueblo [fled from township to township].2> The distribu-
from home-town, to native land, and mother-country. Further- em of this meaning is wide: Elias, 14 instances; P. Ddmaso, 4;
more, it is used quite often in a general sense, so that a person the Alcalde, 3; Tasio, Ibarra, P. Sibyla, Capitan Basilio, and the
can speak of other people’s ‘motherlands, not merely his or her Temiente, 2 each; and the Narrator, 1.
own. Then there are 53 places where the word refers explicitly or
In the Noli the noun patria appears with three reference points. by direct implication to the physical township of San Diego, per-
The first of these is general. For example, Ibarra says to Tasio s also its townsfolk. Again a wide distribution: the Narrator,
that todo hombre debe amar su patria [Every man ought to love his Ibarra, 7; the Diario and Don Filipo, 4 each; P. Sibyla, the
mother-country].”” I have found 6 cases of this usage: Ibarra 3; olteacher, and an unnamed old peasant, 3 each; and Tiago,
and the Narrator, Tasio, and Elias, 1 each. The second reference s, Rufa, Sisa, the gobernadorcillo, a young local politician,
point is Spain, of which three instances come from Ibarra and one and an anonymous woman, | apiece. A further five instances refer
each from the Teniente and an unnamed friar. The Ibarra cases to the townsfolk rather than the place, and are distributed thus:
include the famous sentence in chapter 3 (“La Cena”), where the four to the Narrator and one to the cook of the Alférez.
young mestizo speaks of Esparia, mi segunda patria (Spain, my sec- We find pueblo connoting a ‘people’ in general, comparative
ond motherland].”° (Since he is addressing an assembly of elite terms, in 10 instances. For example, in chapter 9 (“Cosas del
party guests, he may not be sincere, but no one in his audience Pais”), the Capitan-General reflects that cado pueblo merece su suerte
finds anything odd or untoward in his words). The third refer- ‘every people deserves its fate.]?° The distribution is: Elias and
ence point is Filipinas, and there are 12 cases of this usage in the Ibarra, 3 each; Tasio, 2; and the Capitan-General and Laruja, 1
novel, divided between Ibarra (7) and Elias (5). It is remarkable apiece.
that the Narrator himself never refers to Filipinas as his patria. Finally, there are 21 instances where pueblo pretty clearly
Lastly, there is one passage in which pairia appears in quasi-adjec- means the people of Filipinas. Those who use the word in this
tival form, in the phrase historia patria (Ibarra), with the clear gen- e are Elias, 8; Ibarra, 6; Tasio, 5; and the Narrator and the
eral meaning of ‘belonging to a motherland.’* itan-General, 1 apiece. For example, Elias says to Ibarra: En

22. Ibid., 41 (chap. 25 “En casa del filésofo”).

23. Ibid., 16.
24. Ibid., 273 (chap. 49 “La voz de los perseguidos”).
 virven nue wregure

el gobierno [In our country, as there is no society, the people and “het & means only one, very nationalistic thing. In fact it occurs
the government do not form a unity].?” In addition, there are four vce to the Philippines in only half the instances, and
cases, all in the discussion between Elias and Old Pablo, where ese eamber of people who use it are only two—Ibarra and Elias;
the meaning of pueblo is ambiguous-—i.e., it could refer to a town- Serthermore. both of them use the same word on occasion to
ship or to the people of Filipinas.?8 something-not-the-Philippines. In the case of pueblo, almost
We can configure all these findings in the following table. ; : of the time the word is used either for San Diego or for
Sow nearby and around Manila. In only 17 percent of the
Table 3. Mentions of Nacién and its Derivatives, Patria, and Pueblo ses it refer to the people of the Philippines, and, if we ex-
in the Noli de the rather sympathetic peninsular Capitan-General, the us-
© only Ibarra, Elias, Tasio, and the Narrator.
Total frequency Narrator’s No. of characters
we combine this analysis with the fact that no one beyond
of mention use of term using term
he Narrator uses the noun more than once to refer to what today
Nacién/es 7 1 3 ee would call the Filipino people, it seems indisputable that at the
Nacionalidad/es 2 1 1 time of the Nol’s publication in 1887, there was no generally used
Nacional/es (n.) 1 - 1
Nacional (adj.) 2 - 2
cerm—tin the Philippines (Spain is another matter, as we shall see)—
Patria (general) 6 3 owering all the people in the archipelago. It is also absolutely
Patria (Spain) p - 3 r that the only characters in the Noli, aside from a few penin-
Patria (Filipinas) 12 - 2 salar Spaniards, who use a nationalist vocabulary are the three
Patria (adj.) 1 - 1
heroes, Ibarra, Elias, and Tasio, while the single biggest user is
Pueblo (local townships) 32 1 8
Pueblo (S. Diego town) 53 22 13 the observing Narrator. All this suggests that any widespread
Pueblo (S. Diego towns folk) 5 1 “Fe
F ilipino nationalist consciousness’ in the modern sense had not
Pueblo (peoples in general) 10 5 yet come into existence. Nothing shows this more clearly than the
Pueblo (people of Filipinas) 21 4
fact that Elias, noblest of them all, calls himself an indio, not a
Pueblo (unclear) 4 - 2
mo/ Filipino.
The moment has now come to consider the remaining ele-
These figures show us some important features of Noli me tan- s of the Nol?s political vocabulary. Where possible, I have
gere and of the society it describes. Nacién and its derivatives are
=ned them to semantic clusters in descending order of
used rarely, by very few people, and never in reference to the
Philippines. Nacionalismo and nacionalista are spectacularly invis- connected to concepts of personal or national
First: Words
ible. We have seen, too, that patria is used in several senses by
dom/autonomy (38 in all). Libre [free] in a definitely political
different characters, so that it would be quite misleading to claim
semse occurs 3 times, divided between Basilio, Elias, and the Au-
cher (title of chapter); in a general, non-political sense 10 times,
d between the Narrator, 3; Tasio and P. Salvi, twice each;
27. Ibid., 269 (chap. 49 “La voz de los perseguidos”).
28. Ibid., 252-53 (chap. 45 “Los perseguidos”). eed Elies, (Se)fior Juan, and P. Ddmaso, once apiece. Libertad in a
 political sense crops up 13 times
, distributed between Elias, 53
Tasio, Ibarra, and Primitivo, 2 the mouth of the Narrator. In effect, all the words in this category
each; and Filipo and. the Domini-
can Provincial, 1 apiece. In a general, non-p are monopolized by the Narrator.
olitical sense it occur
s
8 times, divided between the Narra Fourth: Variations on the root filibuster- (21 mentions).
tor, 4; and Ibarra, the Capitan-
General, Filipo and the schoolteache Fiibustero crops up 18 times, distributed as follows: anonymous
r, once each. The verb
librar(se) is used twice by Tasio voices, 6; the Narrator, 4; the old Teniente, 3; and 1 each for
unpolitically, and once by
Primitivo politically. Independencia appe Victorina, the Author (chapter title), the schoolteacher, a friar,
ars once, when Elias strik-
ingly speaks to Ibarra of vuestra [not nuest and the new Teniente. The contemptuous diminutive /ilibusterillo
ra] independencia.29
Second: Words connected to mona occurs three times, twice in the mouth of an unnamed person,
rchy and empire (26 in-
stances). Rey [king] occurs 18 times once in that of a civil servant.
in different contexts. Refer-
ring to the Spanish king we find Fifth: Words connected to progress and reform (21 instances).
12 cases, divided between P.
Ddmaso, 3; the Capitan- Progreso is mentioned 9 times, distributed between Tasio, 4; the
General, 2; and the Teniente, Tasio
, the Narrator, 2; Filipo, 2; and the schoolteacher, 1. The Nantator
Alférez, Filipo, a young politician,
a sergeant, and a voice in the
crowd, 1 apiece. Tasio and the Narrator uses the verb form just once. Reforma(s) is spoken of 10 times:
each use the term twice
in a general sense, while the Narr Elias, 4; Ibarra 3; and Tasio, the schoolteacher and P. Dimaso,
ator and Ibarra each use it once
to refer to a chess-piece. Imperador once apiece. Dadmaso is the only person to use (once, sarcasti-
[emperor] is used once each by
Tasio and Tiago, in both cases referring cally) the word reformador.
to the emperors of Antiq-
uity. Reina [queen] occurs four times Sixth: Society. Sociedad is mentioned 7 times, but eal 3 times
, used twice by the newspa-
per correspondent in a general sense with a political implication. Users of the term in this sense are
, and once each by the Nar-
rator and Ibarra to refer to a chess Elias, Ibarra, and Filipo.
-piece. Principe [prince], em-
ployed once each by Tasio and the Seventh: Words connected to citizenship (6 cases). Ciudadano
Narrator, refers to actors/char-
acters in the moro-moro play enacted comes up three times, in the mouths of Ibarra, Elias, and the
for the fiesta. The same is
true for prinsesa [princess], used twice Capitan-General; conciudadanos (fellow-citizens) is used on one oc-
by the correspondent and
once by Tasio. Finally, Tasio on one casion each by Ibarra, Tasio, and the Capitan-General.
occasion describes himself
this way: no soy partidario de la monar Eighth: Revolution. Revolucién is mentioned 4 times, once each
quia hereditaria [I am no sup-
porter of hereditary monarchy].°? im the mouths of the Alférez, the half-wit, Primitivo, and an un-
Third: Words connected to political mamed woman.
parties and party-political
orientations (26 cases). Under this What is left is a miscellany: colonias (2) - the Narrator and an
rubric we find partido men-
tioned 5 times, always by the Narrator. anonymous voice; the adjective colonial (2) - the Narrator and an
The noun conservador(es) is
used 13 times by the Narrator, and anonymous voice; capitalista, used either to mean a merchant or an
the adjective 4 times, also al-
ways by the Narrator. The adjective agribusiness landowner (3) - the Narrator, a newspaper, and a
liberal comes up 4 times, in
newspaper correspondent; the diminutive capitalito once, by the
Narrator; carliston (mocking term for a Carlist) twice, both in abu-
29. Ibid., 273 (chap. 49 “La voz
de los perseguidos”). sive reference to P. Salvi - by the Alférez and the Narrator; the
30. Ibid., 64 (chap. 14 “Tasio el loco
6 el filésofo”) adjectives aristécrata and demécrata are used once each, the first
 mae
JVOWL me ranger e sym me wangere “

sarcastically by the Narrator, and the second seriously by Tasio; Egypt, 7; Asia, 7; Africa,
3; Oceania, 2; and the Americas, 2.
utépico is used once by Ibarra; compatriotas once by ‘Elias; and Here the distribution is: Narrator, 57; Tasio, 16; Ibarra, 15; the
derechos del hombre [the rights of man] once by Ibarra. Capitan-General, 6; P. Damaso and La Victorina, 5 each; the
Not much commentary is needed here. What is plain is the Teniente, 4; anonymous voices, 3; Tiburcio, Albino, the young
highly restricted range of political vocabulary, and the no less re- politician, Sergeant Gémez, Elias, Filipo, the schoolteacher, the
stricted range of people who use it: primarily Ibarra, Elias, Tasio, newspaper correspondent, and Capitana Tinchang, 2 apiece; and
and the Narrator. So it is not too surprising that revolucién is a one each for Capitan Basilio, a peasant, Primitivo, the Alférez,
word left to a half-wit, a brutish peninsular policeman, a pomp- the Dominican Provincial, Tiago, and (Se)fior Juan. Asia is bit of
ous ass, and an unnamed woman. All this reinforces the idea that a surprise: the only places mentioned are China, Japan, Bengal
the Noli is only tangentially a novel about politics; rather it is a where a type of lamp comes from), Persia, Canton, Hong Kong,
moralist’s novel about the deplorable condition of the Philip- the Huang-ho river—and Asia itself. No India, Ceylon, Korea, or
pines, as the famous Preface promises. This point will be made any state in Southeast Asia; no Peking, Tokyo, Calcutta, Co-
more elaborately later on, when we come to the Fili. lombo, or Singapore. Doubtless the explanation for the surprise
is that in 1887 Rizal had as yet no personal experience of Asia,
Intermezzo only of Western Europe.
As for ‘persons’, there are perhaps no real surprises. We find
Before turning to the final section of this analysis of the Noli, 22 saints (distribution: the Narrator, 40; Tasio, 12; P. Démaso, 7;
we might usefully pause to take a quick look at elements of the Tiago, 4; Rufa, 3; the correspondent, the Alférez, the goberna-
vocabulary which give some indications of Rizal’s cultural world dorcillo, and a peasant, 2 apiece; and Capitan Basilio, 1); 20 fig-
in 1887. Within the Philippines roughly 23 toponyms outside the ures from the history of Classical Antiquity, of whom Cicero is
colonial capital are mentioned, only six escaping the Narrator’s most prominent with 5 mentions (distribution: the Narrator and
attention. Almost all are in the Tagalog-speaking areas of South- Tasio, 8 each; Capitan Basilio, 4; P. Damaso, 3; Filipo and
ern Luzon. The rare exceptions are Pampanga, Albay, Cebu, and anonymous voices, 2 each; and Capitan Valentino and the news-
perhaps Jolo, if we include the Narrator’s sarcastic description of paper correspondent, | apiece); 31 figures from myth (over-
San Miguel wielding a ‘joloano’ kris.3! The distribution is: the whelmingly Graeco-Roman), plus Ugolino from Dante’s Inferno,
Narrator, 22; the newspaper correspondent, 6; with one apiece Leonora from Verdi’s La Traviata, and Segismundo from
for P. Sibyla, Tasio, Ibarra, P. Salvi, Elias, Capitan Aristorenas Calderén’s La Vida es Sueno (distribution: the Narrator, 25; the
and an unnamed peasant. correspondent, 6; and Ibarra, P. Damaso, ‘Tasio, Maria Clara,
Outside the Philippines, we find roughly 47 toponyms, only and the Dominican Provincial, one each); 14 figures from the
19 of which are not provided by the Narrator, The geographical Bible (distribution: the Narrator, 14; Tasio, 5; P. Damaso, 2; and
distribution is instructive: Europe, 26; the Near East, including Don Basilio, Primitivo, and the newspaper correspondent, 1
each); 15 persons from Church history (distribution: Tasio, 10; P.
31. Ibid., 27 (chap. 6 “Capitan Tiago”). Ddmaso and La Victorina, 2 each; the Narrator, P. Sibyla, the
 gery au

correspondent, the schoolteacher, and e); 11a peasant, 1 apiec terra, 2 each; and Tiburcio, Maria Clara, Tinchang, La
from Philippine colonial history
(distribution: the célipspondent solacién, the correspondent, and an anonymous voice, 1
3; Elias, P. Damaso, and the Alférez, 2 each; and the Narrator e). Latin (noun and adjective) is mentioned 20 times, with
and Capitan Tinong one apiece);
15 figures from Western Euro-
pean history (distribution: the
Narrator, 10; Tasio and the + each; Primitivo, 3; and the Alférez, Maria Clara, and Tinchang,
Alférez, 2 each; and the Capitan-General, La Victorina, Tiago 1 apiece. English occurs 5 times (Tasio twice, Ibarra, P. Sibyla,
and the correspondent, 1 apiece). Of these the most interesting and the Narrator, once each); Chinese, 2 times (both from Tasio);
are three contemporaries: Isabe
l II (the Narrator, once), Amado
(the Narrator, once), and Anto I Japanese, twice (both from Tasio); (ancient) Egyptian, 3 times (all
nio Cénovas (Tiago, ones 13
ists and writers, including art- from Tasio); and Italian, once (Ibarra).
Shakespeare, Dante, Heine
Christian Andersen, Rafael, Rive Hans Tagalog, however, is mentioned more often even than Latin,
ra, and Gounod, as well as
Filipinos Balthasar
the ue., 29 times. Over half of these mentions come from the Narra-
(Balagtas), and Pedro Paterno (distribution:
the Narrator, cor (17), followed, a long way behind, by the schoolteacher (2);
12; Tasio, 3; Ibarra, Elias, and the schoolteacher, and P. Damaso, the gravedigger, Tasio, the young politician, an
one each). Three famous European scientists~Copernicus,
Galileo, and Champollion—are anonymous voice, Elias, La Consolacién, her assistant, Tinchang
mentioned by Primitivo "Tei and Primitivo, 1 apiece.
and the Narrator. If there is a surpr
ise, it is in the alawesrss of any The Narrator tells us directly of the following interlocutors:
Germans, such as Schiller
and Goethe, whom Rizal is
greatly to have admired. The list known the gravedigger speaks en tagalo to his associate; the
shows how much Rizal was the gobernadorcillo to Tasio; Elias
prddust of to Ibarra; La Consolacién to her
his excellent Ateneo education,
based on Classical An- assistant, telling him in Spanish to tell Sisa in Tagalog to start
tiquity and Church History. The
attentive reader will also note
the astonishing amount of Latin singing; La Consolacién to Sisa (en perfecto tagalo); Consolacién’s
used in the novel, making it per-
haps the last world-class novel in assistant exclaims to himself Abd! Sabe pald tagalo; Ibarra to Elias;
which this beautiful ancient lan-
guage is still conspicuous. P. Damaso to Tia Isabel; a bandit to Elias; and the Visayan Civil
Guard to his Tagalog comrade. In none of these cases are we told
C. Questions about Tagalog what language the other interlocutor uses to respond. The Narra-
tor also tells us that Ibarra’s sinister Basque grandfather spoke
Here there are two questions to the language well and mentions three times that the second half of
be addressed. The first seems P. Damaso’s sermon is given in Tagalog. In four places he sarcas-
simple, but turns out to be enigmati
c. Which personae are said to tically describes La Consolacién’s attempts to pretend she does
speak about the Tagalog language
, and who is said to use it to not understand Tagalog because she is really an orofea, and the
whom? For context, it is useful to note
other lan-that several
guages are referred to in the nove way she martirizaba the language as well as Spanish. He speaks
l. Spanish (referred to both as ¢
espanol and el castellano) is mentione ironically of the Alcalde’s poetry as an indescribable mix of
d 31 times, distributed among:
the Narrator, Latin, Tagalog and Castilian, and mentions the young man who
14; the schoolteacher, 5; P. Ddmaso, Tasio ar left the church during the Tagalog half of Damaso’s sermon claim-
 YVUll Ne tangere Jvon me langere 25
ing it was “all Greek” to him. Final
ly he says that in Tagalog the
‘water-boarding’ torture inflicted on walicized. Yet there are a number of non-italicized Tagalog wards,
Tarsilo is called :timbain.32 unmarked because they had become Hispanicized in the Mier
The remaining cases are these: P. Dama
so tells Tiago’s guests pine version of Spanish, while there are also some italicized
that he knew almost no Tagalog duri
ng his early days in Filipinas. words in which the Tagalog clearly derives from Spanish, for ex-
Tasio informs Ibarra that the manuscri
pt he is writing is in Taga- ample, saragate from zaragate. Formally, the distribution of the Ta-
log, as that is “our” tongue. The scho
olteacher describes how at galog words looks like this: Effectively half (63) come from the
his first meeting with Damaso, he addressed him in Spanish,and Narrator; followed by anonymous voices, 12; Ibarra, 7; P.
was berated for this—only Tagalog was
permissible; at the second Damaso and Se(fior) Juan, 6 each; Tia Isabel, 5; Tasio, 4; La
meeting, he therefore spoke in Taga
log—but was ignored. An un- Consolacién, an unnamed peasant, and some anonymous sol-
named person describes the young
man who left Damaso’s ser- diers, 3 each; Rufa and an unnamed child, 2 each; and the
mon claiming it as pretending not
to know Tagalog though, in
fact, he knew it very well. Finally Teniente, Crispin, Sinang, La Victorina, Tarsilo, Iday, Den
in the conversation between Basilio, Petra, a guard, a ‘newcomer, a friar, and an unnamed pi-
Primitivo and Tinchang, the woman
begs him not to speak in ous woman, | each. Twenty-three characters in all, aside from ie
Latin, but rather in either Tagalog
or Castilian. The man replies Narrator, use Tagalog words. At first sight this is an astounding
in effect that Tagalog ruins the pure
meaning of any serious distribution across the whole social gamut from peninsulares to the
language.
The puzzling thing about this colle poorest, purest imdio. But the distribution becomes even more fase
ction of references is that cinating when we notice that the indio hero Elias never uses a single
while it is large enough to command
our attention, it is difficult to word of Tagalog!
see any convincing pattern. In the end,
it may be that the impor- ai Ee ies paragraph, I was careful to include the word ‘for-
tant thing is simply presence, since in
the Fili there is nothing com- mally, since one could say that the high figures for Ibarra, Juan,
parable: almost no one is described
as speaking Tagalog.
We can now turn to the actual occu and Isabel are a bit misleading. Juan’s words all come in one
rrence of Tagalog words in paragraph, and are simply a list of the Philippine hardwoods he
the novel, and ask who uses them, and
why. uses in his work. Isabel’s total also comes from one paragraph
If we set aside a few lines of Balagtas
and a little riddle by where she lists a set of edible, freshwater fish. Likewise, Ibarra’s
Crispin (neither of which is translated into
Spanish), we can count relatively high total stems from a single paragraph where he re-
approximately 128 Tagalog words,
mostly nouns, which are in- minds Maria Clara of the names of various children’s games thy
troduced into the Spanish text. I say
“approximately” because I ence played together. If we set these paragraphs aside, the curi-
am referring to words said specifical
ly to be Tagalog, and usually
ous fact is that the character who uses Tagalog the most—laugh-
ably badly, to be sure—is the peninsular P. Damaso!

32. Ibid., 312 (chap. 57 “Vae victis!”).

The formal numbers conceal something else. Most of the char-
The passage is very interesting, acters who use Tagalog typically do so in the form of exdlemar
Rizal writes: Los Jilipinos saben lo
que esto quiere decir; en tagalo lo traduc
umbain [The Filipinos know what this en por sons: aray!, aba!, naki!, susmariosep! and the like. The most bril-
means; in Tagalog they translate it by
timbain]. This is perhaps the only place where a clear disti ‘ant and searing use of Tagalog comes, strangely enough, in the
between nction is made
Tagalog speakers and Filipinos in
general, scene where La Consolacién’s shrivelled heart is softened by the
 aa Noli me tangere Noli me tangere 27

sound of Sisa’s kundiman (which, however, is in Spanish: in the The obvious question that arises is this: if the primary in-
text!) “No, no cantes!” exclamé la alférera en perfecto tagalo, levanténdose
tended readers of the Noli were Rizal’s fellow Filipinos, why did
agitada; “no cantes! Me hacen dano esos versos!” La loca se callé; el he feel he had to paraphrase terms like bdtis into Spanish? Most of
asistente solté un: Abd! Sabe pala tagalog!” y quedése miranda la senora,
the Filipinos who could read Spanish at all were either Tagalogs
Ueno de admiracién [“No, don’t sing!” exclaimed the wife of
the or people like the Luna brothers, who, even if they were ethni-
Alférez in perfect Tagalog, rising to her feet in agitation. “Don’t
cally Ilocano, had been raised in Manila where Tagalog was a
sing! Those verses hurt me!” The mad woman fell silent.
The major lingua franca among the ‘natives’ The perhaps surprising
aide blurted out: “Abd! So she knows Tagalog pala!” and stared
at answer is that there is plenty of evidence that Rizal’s fellow Filipi-
the lady, full of wonder,}*8 = nos, while obviously important, were not the only targeted read-
La Consolacién’s “perfect Tagalog” is given in perfect Span-
ers. This evidence comes not only from the text of the novel it-
ish, but we can hear it like the gaping aide, who responds appro-
self, but also from Rizal’s correspondence with friends in the pe-
priately with the beautiful “Tagnish’ of sabe palé tagalog. The curi-
riod immediately following the Noli’s publication in the bitter Ber-
ous thing is that earlier in the chapter Rizal has the Alféreza bark
lin winter of 1887.
at Sisa, “vamos, magcantar ikaw!” [Come, sing now!] without any- In the brilliant opening chapter, Rizal wrote: oh! tu que me lees,
one noticing her own lapse into ‘Tagnish’!*+ But La Consola
cién emigo 6 enemigo! Si es que te atraen & ti los acordes de la orquesta, la luz 6
is the great exception. Generally, Tagalog exclamations are
in- significativo clin-clan de la vajilla y de los cubiertos, y queres ver cémo son
cluded only for comic or satirical effect, as well as ‘local color?
les reuniones alld en la Perla del Oriente [You who read me, be you
We are thus left to reflect on the strange fact that it is the Nar-
friend or foe, if you are attracted by the sounds of the orchestra,
rator who is overwhelmingly the biggest user of Tagalog words.
the lights, or by the unmistakable tinkle of glass and silverware,
In his English version of the novel, Leon Ma. Guerrero had
al- 2nd wish to see what parties are like over there in the Pearl of the
ready noticed this oddity with discomfort and incomprehension.
Orient . . .].°° In this first passage (in the novel) where the Narra-
Since he wanted to get rid of Tagalog altogether, one of his
solu- sor addresses his reading audience directly, we notice that (1) they
ions was to translate the Narrator’s Tagalog into a weird kind
of ere divided between friends and foes, not between Filipinos and
English, for example rendering salakot as “a native hat,”
as if Spaniards, nor fellow nationalists and the colonialists; (2) they
Rizal had written, in Spanish, un sombrero indio.2® (It is only
in foot- may well be curious to learn how parties are organized in Manila
note 6, p. 27 of the nofas appended to the centennial edition
of the something which Spanish-reading Filipinos and many Spaniards
novel that salakot is explained—for whom?) Yet the fact is that for
would know well without opening the novel at all); and (3) most
most of the Tagalog words (usually nouns) he employs, the Nar-
important, Manila, Pearl of the Orient, is situated alld (yonder, far
rator adds a Spanish paraphrase, except where the context makes
ay on the other side of the world), not aqui (here, in Filipinas).
the meaning plain.
he readers imagined here are, like Rizal himself, in Europe, not
at least in this passage) in Filipinas. We can thus conclude that,
33. Ibid., 219 (chap. 39 “Dofia Consolacién”).
34. Ibid., 216.
certainly as far as the ‘friends’ are concerned, they are sympa-
35. Such is his version of what Rizal wrote in ibid., 41 (chap. 8
“Recuerdos”).
, 36. Ibid., 2 (chap. 1 “Una reunién”).
 29
Noli me tangere Noli me tangere
28
as bs
thetic in principle to Rizal’s cause, they have never been to the ungeheures Aufsehen erzogen wird [I eagerly await the book you
on],
Philippines and know little about it, but they are eager to learn: write in French. I foresee that it will provoke a colossal sensati
people like the German ethnologists and linguists to whom Rizal Blumentritt was probably thinking of the huge international
de
was introduced by Ferdinand Blumentritt, educated people of the success of such French novels as Victor Hugo’s Notre Dame
Dumas (pére)’s Le Comte de Monte Cristo, and
kind the author met during his stays and studies in Paris, London, Paris, Alexandre
oo
Berlin, and Heidelberg. Seen from this angle, the Narrator’s Eugéne Sue’s Les Mystéres de Paris and Le Fuif Errani, as well
Harriet Beeche r Stowe’s Uncle Tom's
heavy use of Tagalog (with Spanish paraphrases) shows him in clish-language works such as
most Europe an lan-
the roles of accomplished ‘tour guide, ‘translator? and ‘native in- Cabin, which were quickly translated into
Span-
formant’ He really is a Native Tagalog, despite his Spanish name guages. (To these huge global successes there had been no
days of Don Quixote. ) But, as men-
and his writing in Spanish, and he can reliably guide his readers ish equivalent since the distant
Alread y i. 8 letter
through the exotica of a remote ‘Oriental’ culture and society. Ta- tioned above, Rizal did not carry out the plan.
August 26, 1888, he bad written to
galog thus serves as a warranty for the Narrator’s (and the fom London dated
n,
author’s) authenticity. Blumentritt that: Ich gedachte vorher auch in Srantisisch 2 schreibe
ich muss =
These inductive conjectures can be confirmed from surviving aber ich glaubte, es is besser fiir meine Landsleute zu schreiben;
to think
documents. We know, from Médximo Viola, his constant compan- Geist meines Vaterlands aus seinem Schlummer aufwecken [I ised
better to
ion from mid-December 1886 to mid-June 1887, that Rizal thought of writing also in French, but I came to believe that it is
seriously about writing his next novel in French, in the event that write for my fellow-countrymen; I have to arouse the spirit of my
the Noli turned out to be a flop among the Filipinos.2” For this fatherland from its slumber].°°
plan—which in the end he never carried out—he found an eager Still, it is well worth thinking about the implications of an El
hun-
supporter in Blumentritt, who rightly believed that if the second Filibusterismo composed in French. In 1891, probably only few
it. On
novel were indeed written in French, then the primary language dred of Rizal’s compatriots would have been able to ead
ex-
of world literary culture, it would reach a much wider interna- che other hand, we should also recognize that no nationalism
the collecti vity of
tional audience than was possible with Spanish (then a second- or ists by itself; each always desires recognition by
of the
third-class literary language). In a letter of July 2, 1890, the eth- sther nations. Since all nationalists want to tell the rest
idea of a French Fili simply shows
nologist wrote enthusiastically: Ich sehe mit Sehnsucht dem Buche world about themselves, the
entgegen, dass Du franzdsisch schreiben wirst, ich sehe voraus, dass es ein ! permanent cosmopolitan
che 1 1
side ionalis
of any natio m.

khan, |
37, Maximo Viola, Mis viajes con el Dr. Rizal (1913), in Diarios » memorias, 38. The text of this letter can be found on p. 627 of Cartas
1890-1896, part 33 in book 2 of vo eT
vol. 1 of Escritos de José Rizal (Manila: Comisién del Centenario de José Profesor Fernando Blumentritt,
Rizal, 1961), 316. The Spanish text reads: Y cuando quise saber la razon de ser of the series Correspondencia epistolar (Manila: Comisién del Centenario
de aquel lujo innecesario del francés, me explicé diciendo de que su objeto era escribir en
adelante en francés, caso de que su Noli me tangere fracasara, y sus paisanos no bets. Ths a can be found on p. 339 of the Cartas entre Rizal y “
1888--1890, part 2; in book 2 of volume 2 af
respondieran a los propositos de dicha obra. No date is given for Rizal’s re- ésor Fernando Blumentritt,
de José
marks, but it is likely that they were uttered early in 1887, before the Noli eries Correspondencia epistolar (Manila: Comisién del Centenario
began seriously to circulate. 1, 1961).
 31
30 Noli me tangere Noli me tangere

At this point we can turn back to, and perhaps resolve, two level of education, and political aspirations all the time." It is not
puzzles that concerned us earlier. The first is the simpler. Why that the reader cannot infer from various passing indications that
does the indio Elias, representative hero of the most oppressed characters like Tiago and Tasio belong to this stratum, but rather
and persecuted strata of colonial society, never offer the reader a that the narrative itself always avoids naming theta as such. Ties
single word of Tagalog, indeed speaks a Spanish as good—or, bet- are also plenty of characters whose ‘racial’ slassification is “_
ter perhaps, as pure—as the Narrator’s? He is certainly never al- erately left obscure. This obscurity in turn is shared by bot . e€
lowed by the author to speak the “perfect Tagalog” of which La Narrator, and, for the purposes of the Nol’s general readership,
Consolacién reveals herself capable. Most likely, there are sev- - ;
‘José Rizal’ himself.
eral related answers. I noted earlier that when Rizal puts Tagalog There is no doubt that Spanish dislike of, amanieny: abour, an
in the mouths of his characters—P. Damaso using bata instead of racist contempt for ‘the Chinese’ and ‘Chinese culture, had a pro-
muchacho, Sinang exclaiming Aray/, the Visayan soldier whispering found effect on colonial society. In the name of traditional ame
Susmariosep, or La Consolacién insulting La Victorina with Puput/— cratic (feudal and neo-feudal) Castilian culture and values, ; e
the intended effect is typically humorous or satirical. But Elias is Chinese were to be despised, not merely as non-white, bth a .
a profoundly serious, noble, and long-suffering hero, and there- as irreligious, ignorant, money grubbing, dishonest, cunning
an
fore to be protected from any whiff of comedy or sarcasm. ‘Mixed vulgar. Traces of this contemptuous anti-Sinicism are visible in
speech’ in the Noli is usually a sign of coloniality—from Ddmaso’s the Noli-and, we shall see, far more so in the Fili—as well as in the
ludicrous creolized Tagalog phrases to La Victorina’s absurd af. private correspondence of the ilustrados.** Small ‘wondler then that
fectation of Andalusian Spanish. Elias, however, is a man outside che ambitious and upwardly mobile Chinese mestizos serene
coloniality, and points beyond it. So he must speak purely; and sized, and even worked to conceal, whatever was residually bie
since the novel is written in Spanish, not Tagalog, his words must nese’ about themselves. Like ducks to water, they took to calling
be in ‘perfect Castilian’ Furthermore, the question of ‘who’ he is themselves Don and Dofia, and enjoyed such titles a8 Capitan
is answered with complete clarity by his actions in the narrative. yehen they could obtain them. Quite often on most visible a
In this way, he needs no linguistic guarantees of his authenticity. physical) traces of their ancestries were their surnames,
Ww ie
Even his single name, that of an Old Testament prophet, stands eomnbined a clan name with the Hokkien honorific -ko (or
co in
outside Spanish colonialism, in a way that José Rizal’ does not. Castilian orthography), to create eventually such well-known su-
The Narrator, on the other hand, is in exactly the opposite posi- Sycos and
per-rich families as the Tiangcos, Cojuangeos,
tion. He knows everything, and can comment on anything, but he Tanhuatcos. At the same time, the first elements in their names
can not ‘act’ within the narrative, hence can not guarantee his own
authenticity in the same style as his indio hero. Tagalog must
come to his rescue. 40. In his classic article “The Chinese Mestizo in Philippine ee
History, 5, no. 1 (March 1964): oe A he
al of Southeast Asian
The second of the puzzles is the total absence of any explicit ref- = i
ckberg estimated that demographically—in the later nineteen
erence to Chinese mestizos, a large social stratum with represen- se mestizos, about 240,000 strong, came in second after the - mi ;

tatives all over the Catholicized parts of Filipinas, and in the sec- the 20,000 Spanish mestizos, the 10,000 chinos, an
: indios, and before
ond half of the nineteenth century increasing its economic power, 5,000 peninsulares.
f Geli, A Nation Aborted, 89, 156-57, 160.
 32
Noli me tangere Noli me tangere a
ais ee ee Hispano-Catholic, like Apolinario and
‘Chinese’ before mestizos, which is not there in the original Ger-
ing in the Noli is the total absence of ‘Chi- to
man. His historical instinct is quite right, but he does not seem
a ee while many named characters are given no s’ by itself implies
sur- have noticed Rizal’s sleight-of-hand. ‘Mestizo
S at all. Thus, we do not learn the |
i the normal Spanish mestizos of the colonial racial hierarchy, and
Victorina, or of Don Basilio, Tia Isabel, Hermans
Raf cg ee conceals the Chinese mestizos with ancestries outside the Spanish
OHEKS: This odd pattern is reason for a certain
sus icion If one Empire and the Philippines.
was, in 1887, inclined to start thinking in the
cinesha adeatacatn But the most significant aspects of Rizal’s sentences lie else-
binary of us-natives vs. them-colonialists,
the ‘Chinese? spur - where, and can only be appreciated by thinking comparatively.
mestizo, would be an uncomfortable third party, neither exa y One can begin by considering the experiences of the Spanish
natiye nor colonial; and almost d
all of them, fam, dated thei oa Americas in late-colonial times. In Imagined Communities I discusse
gins in the country to a time after the Spanish —_— a the widespread belief in the imperial centers (England, Spain, and
Bur the true resolution of this problem requires a Belew 1 Portugal, above all) that the natural environment in distant,
of vision. Floro Quibuyen cites, as evidence that a non- venite strange, and tropical colonies had a degenerative effect, visible
meaning for the noun /ilipino was in extensive use by 1887, 1 pas the
sage from an English translation even among the children of settlers coming directly from
of a letter Rizal wrote in Cer. metropole-if they were born ‘overseas.“4 There was also the
man to Blumentritt on April 13, 1887: “All s or
of us have to s fice popular idea that open or hidden miscegenation with indigene
tomicthing on the altar of politics, though we these
so. That is understood by our friends who publis
might not atts i aie African slaves and freedmen meant that the ‘blood’ of
h our news : colonials was likely to be racially contami nated. Such people
a in Madrid. They are creole young men of was one
Spanish descent, could not be trusted. (Hostile reaction to this prejudice
eatin. and Malayans; but we call ourselves ‘Filipi-
reason why so many creoles and mestizos became leaders of inde-
Poni eng man original, however, reads: wir miissen alle these conditions,
der pendence movements in the Americas). Under
as opfern, went auch wir keine Lust daran haben. Dies
vi
verstehen people in the imperial centers had very little interest in the nice-
alle ton yee in war
ties and distinctions of the social orders in the colonies. Already
unsere Keitung herausgeben; diese Freunde
a ai ungungen, creolen, mestizen und malaien, wi towards the end of the eighteenth century, wealthy young men
Philippiner [We must all make sacrifices for stil to
af we have no inclination to do so. This is
reasons oven sent to Spain for higher education found themselves referred
they
understood b mw with contempt as americanos. No one in Madrid cared whether
friends who publish our newspaper in Madrid; came from Valpara iso or
these friends are were creoles or mestizos, whether they
all youngsters, creoles, mestizos, the
selves
and Malays, (but) we call - Guadalajara, or whether their parents made a living within
simply /ilipinos.]*? Note that Quibuyen inserts the ea Viceroyalty of Peru or that of Mexico. They were all ‘simply
l
Americans? It did not take very long for some of these resentfu
(Besides ,
youngsters to turn a term of contempt into one of pride.
42. Ibid., 76.
43. ,
3. See The Rizal-B lumentritt. Correspondence (Manila: National Historical
Institute, Fi 1992), ‘ vol. . 1 (1886 -1889), on the Origin and
has none of the ambiguities surrounding
72. Note that Lippi 44, Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections
lipinos? Be Some Spread of National ism (London : Verso, 1991), 57-60.
 35
Noli me tangere Noli me tangere
34
_
the very small numbers coming from any one place in the vast surprised that the famous journal eventually produced by some
oO
Empire at any one time made exclusive ‘homeboy’ social circles these youngsters was given the name La Solidaridad—a name
y to have been a first
quite unviable.) When the anti-colonial revolution eventually obvious relevance in Spain, but unlikel
aware
broke out (in Mexico, as it happened), it was initially regarded by choice for a comparable publication in Manila. (Were mhicy
the
such young men as an American, rather than a Mexican, that La Solidaridad was the name given 19 years earlier to
insurrection. briefly legal organ of the First Interna tional’ s Bakunin ist Spanish
It is more than likely that this history was replicated when, in )47

the 1870s, significant numbers of young men from rich families in ee words underline this point, since he told Blamenst
the Philippines started going to Spain for higher education.‘® that although his friends actually are creoles, mestizos, on
(in Spain) “simply — ‘
People in Madrid and Barcelona could not care less whether the Malay(an)s, they “call themselves”
ap cas
lads came from Iloilo or Batangas, whether they were speakers of strategic political decision, in fact, and not aleagetber
Ilocano or Tagalog, or whether they were creoles, mestizos, or “sacrifi ces. We know om . ;
one, since it involved unspecified
“
‘Malays.° They all came from Las Filipinas, a good many had existing correspondence that people in the circle of La Solidari
are es
brownish skins, they spoke a slightly odd form of Spanish, some- did not hesitate to speak and write among themselves of the
means— no great surpris e—
times incorrectly, they liked ‘weird’ food, and this was sufficient. and mestizos in their midst;** which
They were, in the manner of the late eighteenth century that “Filipinos” was what they called themselves i public. os
americanos, ‘simply filipinos—guys from the Philippines. One would On the other hand, if in Spain no one gave a fig if a filipino
therefore expect that sooner or later they would assume this a mestizo, or a Malay(an)—note the significant a
was a creole,
case in
name with a hostile pride—and a new solidarity. We should not be sence of indio in the metropole—this was by no means the
ae
the colony. There, these distinctions were of real everyday
45. Students from the Philippines were first permitted to enrol in Span- word filipino for a consider a’ le
portance. Hence in the colony, the
ish universities in 1863. The early arrivals were typically creole lads who 1t denoted _
were physically indistinguishable from their metropolitan classmates. Mes- time meant something quite different from what
we wl
tizos of various kinds began to arrive only in the later 1870s. See the first- Spain. If we understand this essential difference/contrast,
lly natural for oversea s
class Avant-Propos written by Jovita Ventura Castro for her French transla- be able to see that, if it was eventua
tion of the Noli-N’y touchez pas! (Paris: Gallimard, 1980).
46. In a letter of June 23, 1882, to his family on his initial arrival in
Barcelona, Rizal wrote: % me paseaba por aquellas calles anchas y limpias, 47, William Henry Scott, The Union Obrera Democratica: First Filipino haber
adoquinadas como en Manila, lenas de gente, llamando la atencién de todo el mundo, City: New Day Publishers, 1992), 6. Scott observed t
Cite (Gpexon
quenes me llamaban chino, japonés, on January 15, 1870, made special ne" es
americano, elc., ninguno JSilipino. Pobre pais! the first issue, appearing
Nadie tiene noticia de ti! {I walked and you who inhabit the rich, wide regions a ‘sie L
us
along those wide, clean streets, “virgin Oceania,
macademized as in Manila, crowded with people, attracting the attention i Novem| ber
in 1871, r but when the first maj :
of Spanish
Spani chapter was banned
Cavite arse
everyone; they called me Chinese, Japanese, American (i.e., Spanish strike in the Philippines occurred ten months afterward (at the
ed that the “black hand” of
American), etc.: but not one, Filipino! Unfortunate country—nobody nal), Capitan-General Izquierdo was convinc
knows a thing about you!] One Hundred Letters of José Rizal (Manila: National behind it. ,
the International was
Schumac her, an
Historical Society, 1959), 26. In his The First Filipino: A Biography of José . 48. See the evidence offered in chapter 4 of John J.
(Quezon City:
Rizal (Manila: National Historical Institute, 1961), 95, Leon Ma. Guerrero classic The Propaganda Movement: 1880-1895, rev. ed.
characteristically mistranslated ‘Pobre pais!’ as “Our poor country!” Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1997).
 37
Noli me tangere Noli me tangere
36
all on political geog-
there is no filipino were structural analogues, based above
youngsters alld to call themselves “simply Filipinos,” 1908 the Indische
would do raphy. Over the course of the decade after
reason to believe that people living in the Philippines club to something
It would take time, and a lot Vereeniging shifted from being mainly a social
so either as naturally or as promptly. becom e sufficiently
change . self-consciously political. By 1922 it had
of effort and sacrifice, to effect this cultural-political from the Dutch-lan-
can be of- radicalized and nationalist to change its name
Another kind of comparison, just as illuminating, nesian Perhimpu-
the Dutch guage Indische Vereeniging to the Malay-Indo
fered more briefly. In 1908, students originating from as Indon esian Associa-
d an associa- nan Indonesia, which we may translate
East Indies (Nederlandsch Indié) formed in Hollan but so also was
took its tion. The language shift was important in itself,
tion called the Indische Vereeniging. This association in favor of the hith-
from the geo- the pioncering break with the word ‘Indies’
name, which we can translate as Indies Association, ‘Indonesia’—a strange amalgam of Latin (India)
first association erto hardly used
graphical term for the vast colony; and it was the (nesos, meaning island) coined by a sort of German
itself. Its and Greek
to do so, well before anything similar in the colony , it was not a colonial
u, Menado- Blumentritt half a century earlier. No matter
members were a mixed lot: Javanese, Minangkaba it. In this way, the
‘natives’ and ‘mestizos’ by word, and the Dutch colonial regime hated
nese, Sundanese, etc. in ethnic terms, e the first sub-
nt persua- mixed bag of ilustrado youngsters in Holland becam
racial category, and Muslim and Christian (of differe s.’
commo n was privile ge. They stantial group to call themselves ‘simply Indonesian
sions) by religion. What they had in sh America, and Indo-
and their par- In all these cases, the Philippines, Spani
had had the best education available in the colony, the historical pro-
the colo- nesia, we can thus see the structural reasons for
ents were well-off and/or well-connected to people inside identification with
they look very much like gression from an early cultural and emotional
nial regime itself. Seen from this angle, ar hometown or re
a genera tion place (Rizal’s patria adorada )—initially a famili
the students from the Philippines arriving in Spain of the metropole’s geog-
treated in Hol- gion, later, in Europe, with the extension
earlier. Although, on the whole, they were well ds a solidarity be-
ng in bars, and pursuing raphy of contempt, a ‘home-country’—towar
land, and enjoyed touring around, drinki mappe d space of the
skins’ tween persons from within the abstract,
working-class Dutch girls, they felt their separateness—their patriotism to modern
and of- colony. This is the progression from local
different shades of brown, their Dutch with funny accents political program. I
in food—co llectiv ely. They all nationalism, from geographical sentiment to
ten shaky grammar, their ‘weird’ taste as a milestone on
te lack of believe we can take the Noli me tangere of 1887
had the experience of ordinary Dutch people’s comple enormously powerful
what island they came from, this highway for the Philippines. It is an
interest in (and knowledge about) s in which geogra-
at home, or evocation of an abused patria and pueblo (word
which town they grew up in, what language they used anthropology). The
‘simply Indies’ phy still reverberates more insistently than
what ancestry they could claim. They were all in sparse and scat-
ance, in anthropological-political nacién is there only
youngsters. This awareness of the near-absolute irrelev is still absent. But
importance in the colony, ex- tered places, while the fully political nacionalismo
Holland, of distinctions of huge the novel’s
one feels, as one reads, that it is waiting, just over
on a colony-
plains the earliness of their self-organized solidarity horizon.
wide geographical basis.
close
The parallel with Rizal and his friends in Spain is very
if we realize that the adjectives indisch and
and apt, especially
 El filibusterismo 39

and once each in the speech of the young Basilio, Pecson, and the
High Official. The adjectival form is used four times, twice by the

HolLeber Narrator and twice by anonymous voices.

In the Fili, the terms criollo and criolla, already rare in the Nol,
have completely disappeared.
however, there are some inter-
In the case of mestizo/mestiza,
esting changes. The noun occurs 14 times: the Narrator, 11 (in-
cluding 1 voice-over for Juanito Pelaez); Tadeo, 2; and Simoun, 1.
Tadeo is unique in the two novels in specifying what kind of ra-
cial mix is involved, refering to one person as a mestizo espanol, and
another as a mestizo chino.“® This latter instance is the one and only
Before beginning the comparative portion of this study of the
time that Rizal makes plainly visible the existence of the power-
quantitative data extractable from Rizal’s two novels, it is impor-
ful, rising stratum of Chinese mestizos, to which he himself be-
tant to mention one intractable problem that is far more marked
longed.®® The adjective mestizo occurs only once, when the Nar-
in the second than in the first. In the Fili there are a great many
rator describes Simoun’s visage. While the Noli mentions the
passages in which the Narrator either reads the minds of the
sneering diminutive mesticillo several times, its sequel does not.
characters or voices over what they are supposed to have said or
However, the Fili introduces another kind of racial mix, the mulato,
thought. We have long been familiar with the technical concept of
used by the Narrator three times (once paraphrasing Custodio),
the ‘unreliable narrator? but the peculiarly polemical style of the
and once each by Custodio and P. Sibyla. All the instances appear
Fili repeatedly forces the analyst to ponder whether, for example,
during the discussion of the mystery of Simoun’s ‘Caribbean’
the paraphrased speech of Custodio should be attributed, for sta-
origins.
tistical purposes, to the stupid, pompous, colonial Liberal him-
there is no way to
In the Fili the ancient term sangley has disappeared, but chino
self, or to the malice of the Narrator. In fact,
shows up twice as frequently as in the Noli. In the case of the
decide definitively, one way or the other. Hence I have found no
noun, the Narrator accounts for more than half (42) of the 71 in-
better solution than to assign the relevant vocabulary items to the
stances, followed by a wide range of characters: Simoun, 4;
Narrator, while adding in parentheses that they come in the form
Pecson, Makaraig, Ben Zayb, and anonymous students, 3 each;
of paraphrases of this or that character’s thoughts and speech.
Capitan Basilio, P. Salvi, an unnamed clerk, anonymous guests of
Readers should feel free to reassign these items to the characters,
the Orenda family, 2 each; and Quiroga, Isagani, P. Irene,
if they feel that this is more appropriate.
Momoy and the Author (chapter title), 1 apiece. As an adjective,

A. Colonial ‘Racial’ Strata and Ethnic Groups

49. Rizal, El filibusterismo, 162 and 164 (chap. 21 “Tipos manilenses”).
50. Although his father’s lineage had once been classified legally as mes-
In its nominal form, peninsular is just as rare in the Fili as in the tizo chino, before Rizal’s birth a petition to change this status to that of indio
Noli. It occurs only five times, twice in the Narrator’s commentary had beeen approved by the authorities.
 El filibusterismo 41
40 El filibusterismo

o indio puro (si es que los hay puros) al espanol peninsular [from the pure
chino appears 10 times: the Narrator, 6; Makaraig, 2, Custodi
the adjective as often for indio (if such exists) to the peninsular Spaniard].
and Tadeo, 1 apiece. The Narrator uses
Naturales, as a synonym for mdios, is no commoner in the Fili
things as for people, for example, speaking ironically of Placido more
when in trouble with P. than in the Noli. Only the Narrator uses the word, and no
Penitente’s recourse to la tdctica china
extensively than six times.®> All are contained in his satirical fictionalization
Millon.5! The meanings of chino will be discussed
of the famously absurd public quarrel of 1886 between Manila’s
later on.
Chinese mestizo and indio gremios over ceremonial precedence.°°
Similarly, indio/india crops up far more often in the Fili than in
Finally, as in the Noli, Rizal firmly occludes the huge regional
the Noli, though it is a much shorter novel. The male form of the
variety of peoples in his country. The Narrator refers casually to
noun occurs no less than 75 times. It is instructive that the Narra- as coming, one from Iloilo, and the other
matter-of-factly, two unnamed students
tor is far and away the main user—sometimes
from the Visayas. Pldcido Penitente is allowed once to call himself
sometimes ironically—with 44 instances, which, however, include or
n, a Batanguefio. But, again, no Ilocanos, Bicolanos, Boholanos,
9 voice-overs for Victorina, 4 for Custodio, 3 for the coachma entes in the Cordille ra have disap-
and Ben Muslims. Elias’s éribus independi
and 2 for Ben Zayb. The other users are P. Camorra
each; peared. No less striking is the fact that the Tagalogs as such are
Zayb, 5 each; Simoun, Custodio and anonymous voices, 4 find the Tagalog language referred to just
never mentioned; we
Pecson, 3; and Isagani, P. Florentino, Momoy, ‘Tadeo, P.
twice, by Cabesang Tales, and by the Narrator, who notes that
Fernandez, and the coachman, 1 each. The Narrator is the sole en mal tagalo to hide his real identity.*”
Simoun deliberately speaks
user of the female form (3 times, including a malicious descrip- only once, when the Narrator applies
The adjectival form occurs
tion of La Victorina).52 The adjectival form occurs 4 times, split ship.
it sarcastically to a decrepit
between the Narrator, 3, and Simoun, 1.° It is instructive that for interesting here. Like the Noli, the Fili
in the concept indio—we will re- There is something very
all of Rizal’s political investment are
is, as we shall see, full of Tagalog words and idioms, but they
call that Elias calls himself such, and the good Isagani is similarly
never named as such. In Simoun’s grand attack on espariolismo and
described—the novelist in him cannot resist a splendidly sardonic who stand behind the
for a night those of his fellow-countrymen
aside. The Narrator speaks of the students assembled
Hispanization project, he says that Spanish will never be the lan-
out at the ‘Pansiteria Macanista de buen gusto’ as ranging from ¢/
guage of the people of the Philippines: mientras un pueblo conserva su
ncia,
idioma, conserva la prenda de su libertad, como el hombre su independe
de los
mientras conserva su manera de pensar. El idioma es el pensamiento
pueblos [so long as a people preserves its language, it preserves
51. Ibid., 95 (chap. 13 “La clase de fisica”). Note that the Chinese lan-
of a
guage is once mentioned by Custodio, while the Narrator speaks once
chinéfobo newspaper in Manila.
52. Ibid., 4 (chap. 1 “Sobre-Cubierta”). 54. Ibid., 193 (chap. 25 “Risas y llantos”).
calls the American ‘Red Indians’ indios.
53. On one occasion Simoun
anonymous
55. Simoun uses the adjective indigena once, but to refer to things, not
Ibid., 250 (chap. 33 “La ultima razén”). Ben Zayb and an
lly persons.
gossip suggest that Simoun is an indio-inglés, and the Narrator sarcastica 56. Ibid., 119-20 (chap. 16 “Las tribulaciones de un chino”).
descriptio n. Custodio is said to be ridiculed in Madrid as an
echoes this 57. Ibid., 64 (chap. 10 “Riquieza y Miseria”).
indiano.
 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 43
49
of its liberty, as a man does his independence, so Table 4. Mentions of ‘Racial’ and Ethnic Terms in El filibusterismo
the security
his manner of thinking. Language is the
long as he preserves Total Narrator’s No. of characters
a name.
thinking of peoples].°* But Simoun never gives this idioma frequency use of term using term
ten a criticism he
Furthermore, in his oratorical fury he has forgot 4 (1)
: Quereis anadir Peninsular (n./adj.) 9 (4)* 4 (2)
had made moments earlier, when he asked Basilio - (2) - (1) - (1)
islas para Criollo/a
un idioma mds & los cuarenta y tantos que se hablan en las Mestizo/a (n./adj.) 15 (6) 12 (5) 2 (1)
r language
entenderos cada vez menos [Do you wish to add still anothe Mesticillo - (2) - (¢) - (1)
as to under- (-)
to the forty-odd languages spoken in the islands, so 5 (-) 3 (-) 2
Mulato
: Sangley(es) - (1) - (1) =
stand each other even less?]. 71 (35) 42 (18) 14 (7)
all over Chino/a (n.)
Rizal was anything but a fool. By 1891 he had been Chino/a (adj.) 10 (4) 6 (1) 3 (1)
and spent
Western Europe, passed through the United States, Indio/a (n.) 75 (43) 44 (7) 12 (13)
his own countr y he had 3 (¢) 1 (1)
some enjoyable weeks in Japan, but in Indio/a (adj.) 4 (1)
(3) - (2)
the same (5) 6
never been more than 100 miles outside Manila. At Naturales 6
(5) - (5) - >
and especially from Visaya (n./adj.)
time, heknew from his classmates, - (2) - (1) - (1)
Tribus
nguist ic studies , that
Blumentritt’s encyclopaedic anthropological-li - © - > - (-)
Tlocanos
single idiom - (3)
those he imagined as his countrymen had in fact no Tagalos (n./adj.) 1 (11) 1 (7)
why he
to express their pensamiento. This is exactly the reason
that Simou n claimed *Figures in parentheses refer to data contained in Table 1.
wrote his major nationalist texts in the idioma
eless, in
could never be the national language of Filipinas. Noneth
nationalism,
the vein of nineteenth-century European romantic hierarchy.°® To a vastly greater extent than in the Noli, the
essen-
for a one-
tial categories are chino and indio.®° (We shall see below that Span-
and ignoring the experience of the Americas, he wished
m could not
people-one-language cohesion that his cien amos realis iards are mentioned less than half as often as either). Further-
not bring
credit. There is an attractive modesty here. He could more, the two groups are not vertically juxtaposed, in the
tradi-
ge becaus e he rec-
himself to claim Tagalog as the national langua tional manner of, say, peninsulares over criollos; on the contrary
, they
his first
ognized its (then) narrow geographic ambit. Tagalog was gaze at each other on a horizontal axis between natives and
as we shall see.
language, and fragments of it are all over the Fili,
But these fragments are never given a name. to the
In the following table, the data from Table 1 are
included in 59. For a splendidly astute discussion of this process in relation
and the nation,
for them- Fili, see Caroline S. Hau, Necessary Fictions: Philippine literature
parentheses, so that readers can make comparisons 1946-1980 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila Universi ty Press, 2000),
selves. 140-52.
core is . Toward
The most conspicuous and important change to unders 60. It is likely that this racialization had its objective correlate
reforms, Spain
colonial the end of the 1880s, as part of its program of cautious
a sharp racialization that overrides the graded traditional legal status of mestizo. Although , socially
abolished the long-sta nding
idios did not eas-
speaking, the distinctions between mestizos, creoles, and
the legal change was for Spanish mesti-
58. Ibid., 48 (chap. 7 “Simoun”). ily disappear, one consequence of
 40
El| filibus: terismo
EL filibusterismo
44
whiff
bully anyone else in this style. One cannot miss the strong
of Quiroga, for
foreigners. Exemplary of this pattern is the figure of racism. There is a real change here, for the Fili contain
s noth-
his wealth , his Span-
whom there is no parallel in the Noli. Despite ing like Tasio’s affectionate reference to his Chines e mother.
he moves, and his
ish name, the elite social circles within which The other side of the coin is that the Chineseness of the rising
invariably re-
significant role in the novel’s plot, he is almost Chinese mestizo class is just as occluded as in the Noli.
As men-
verdad ero yankee, Mr.
ferred to as el chino Quiroga, in the style of el tioned earlier, only one person, and only on one occasio n, uses
is never termed el
Leeds, whereas, say, the sly young Dominican the term mestizo chino. This suggests an intention to blur
any dis-
ter /a india Fuli.
espanol P. Sibyla, nor Cabesang Tales’s daugh tinction between the two main types of mestizo. They
are all
and his reputed ambi-
Quiroga’s alienness is marked by his attire ‘mixed, all Catholic, all Spanish-speaki ng, all privile ged: above
in Manila, but
tion to become the Celestial Kingdom’s first consul all, not foreign. But the Fili hints at something further:
that, con-
understandable, but
above all by his speech. His Spanish is quite sciously or unconsciously, the Chinese mestizos, by insisting that
letters r and d as |
stereotypically he always mispronounces the they were above all real locals, were preparing themselves
to break
. It is curious,
(c.g., pelilo for perdido, and lwinalo for (ar)ruinado) out of the traditional racial hierarchy—upwards too!—by becomi ng
that he untruthfully insists to Simoun that he is hdpay, a
however,
meaning is close
‘national? possibly before any other social group.°?
Tagalog word of which the secondary, popular Yet Rizal was far too gifted a novelist not to let the cat
out of
in Physics .
to ‘bankrupt. the bag on one riveting occasion: P. Millon’s class
the wretched un-
At the opposite end of the social ladder is Most readers will recall that P. Millon makes every effort
to in-
studen ts’ lodgings to
named Chinese vendor who comes to the timidate and humiliate his students, but they may not have noted
yank his pigtail,
sell snacks. The youngsters beat and kick him, exactly how he goes about it, and the social implica tions of his
h they pay him in
and administer other humiliations—even thoug method. First of all, the professor shows that he comman
ds street-
tunate to say: Ah, malo
the end. Here is what Rizal allows the unfor Tagalog, in a manner that is in complete contrast with the wretch-
aje! — tusu-tusu [Ese
eso — No cosiesia - No quilisti-ano — Uste limono —Salam edly absurd ‘Tagalog’ part of P. Ddmaso’s sermon in the Noli;®
demonio - Salvaje!
es malo — sin conciencia — no cristiano — Usted and he uses his skill to mock what he supposes to be the real
not allowed to
Astuti-astuto].°! Needless to say, the students are daily jabber of the youngsters among themselves.® Second, he

nes. Some of
62. This progress is by no means unique to the Philippi
status of ‘Spaniards? while Chinese mestizos
zos to move ‘up’ to the
re,
with indios, creating in effect a triangular structu nationalists, such as Rama VI and Luang
tended to be merged the most ardent early Thai
os and indios as one leg, and aimed their nationalist
with ‘Spaniards’ at the top, and Chinese mestiz Wichit Watthakan, were Chinese mestizos who
My thanks to Jun Aguilar and Father Foreign ers?
foreign Chinese as the other. guns primarily against ‘Chinese
several times, and the
Schumacher for alerting me to this import
ant change. 63. He uses pa, naki, abd, wy, sulong, oy, and aja
14 “Una casa de estudiantes”). this in mind when later in
61. Rizal, El Filibus terismo , 100 (chap. Spanish derived cosa once. It is worth bearing
are] no Christians—You are a o convers ation between the candy-vendor
“This is bad—[you have] no conscience—[you this book I discuss the chabacan
the editors of the Fil
devil-Savage! Cunning rascal!” On the one hand, and an unnamed student.
The Narrator says
a deformation of astuto. On 64. The novelist has a brilliant aside on this practice.
suggest in their commentary that tusu-tusu is an or of Canon
may be tusu-tusu from an older profess
the other hand, Carol Hau suggests that that Millon learned this style of speech
of clucking their tongues to Si el Reverando queria con ello rebajar & los alumnos
6 & los sagrados decretos
onomatopoetic rendering of the Chinese habit Law.
express bewilderment, disapproval, or protest.
46 El ilibusterismo El filibusterismo 47

baits them by using the boys’ supposed ‘native’ difficulty in distin- use it is not too far away. One could say that, at the level of the
guishing ‘ch’ and ‘s’ by calling Placido Penitente soplado rather two novels’ dramatis personae, nothing significant has changed.
than chiflado, and between ‘p’ and ‘f’? by mockingly yelling at his But the Narrator? In the Noli he uses indio only seven times, while
victim: apuera de la fuerta [Out the door!], rather than the correct in the Fili the figure is almost six times as large. There are vari-
afuera de la puerta!® But thirdly—and I want to emphasize this ous ways to interpret this huge change, which do not necessarily
point—P. Millon calls Penitente fol and sejolia, the first a corrup- exclude one another. First, as I argued earlier, Rizal was acutely
tion of (se)fior and the second of sefioria.°° The only other charac- aware of the different category-systems prevailing in the
ter who uses seforia is el chino Quiroga, who addresses it respect- metropole and in the colony. In the former, people originating
fully to Simoun."” For reasons to be provided later, I believe that from the Philippines were specified as /ilipinos (‘guys from Las
P. Millon’s tactic makes little sense if the youngsters are assumed Filipinas’), and in Europe he accepted this nomenclature and
to be peninsulares, criollos or indios, but only if many of them are mes- worked hard to valorize it in a nationalist manner. But he was no
tizos chinos.°® Such, of course, was the historical reality.®° less aware that in the colony /ilipino was an unstable compound,
If we now turn to the use of indio, something much stranger be- saturated with the traditional meaning of ‘Spaniard born in the
comes apparent. The number of characters who use the word is Philippines. In the colony the one term with unambiguously non-
more or less the same as in the Noli, and the number of times they Spanish and non-Chinese connotations was indio. His nationalist
reappraisal of Morga was built on the idea of an uncontaminated
‘original people? for whom, in the colony, only imdio was ad-
de los concilios es cuestion no resulta todavia apesar de lo mucho que sobre ello se ha equate; one could think of it as the metropolitan /ilipino translated
discutido [Whether His Reverence wished thereby to disparage the students into colony-speak. The most telling evidence for this revisionist-
or the sacred decrees of the (Papal) Concilia is a question still unresolved,
despite so much argument on the subject}. Rizal, Fili, 92 (chap. 13 “La
clase de fisica”). The author thus broaches the marvellous idea that a pen- vil, 2006), 45-51, which hinges on the ‘foreignness’ of Spanish for the stu-
insular Dominican professor might just be sufficiently fed up with his dents. In fact, ‘nothing in the novel indicates that the students see it this
Order’s reactionary obscurantism to use street language to make veiled way; they chat among themselves in fluent and idiomatic ‘gay blade’
fun of it. Castilian, and they have had years of Spanish schooling before entering
65. Notice that this is exactly the same type of contemptuous racist the University of Santo Tomas. They are elite youngsters, most of whose
stereotyping that the novelist deploys against the Chinese vendor in the parents probably use Spanish at home. (Compare Ateneo students today,
next chapter, and against Quiroga two chapters thereafter. who fluently babble to each other in English. At worst they speak the lan-
66. This variant of sefor occurs in the Noli only in the name of a charac- guage with a local accent.) What the students are really up against in the
ter-the builder Juan. Seforia today means the abstraction ‘rule; but earlier Physics class is an overwhelmingly boring system of rote learning, and a
probably meant something like ‘[Your] Lordship’ professor, just as bored teaching a subject not his specialty, who enjoys
67. Ibid., 121 (chap. 16 “Las tribulaciones de un chino”). showing off his casuistic skills. P. Millon clearly assumes that the students
68. Penitente calls himself a Batanguefio, but his mother, Gabesang understand his Spanish perfectly, but not Physics; what he mocks is their
Andong, excludes herself from the class of filipinos, by which she seems to imputed accent. Rafael mentions some of the minutiae of Millon’s baiting,
mean indios; we might therefore infer that Penitente is a Chinese mestizo but he pays no attention to its social implications. Hence, in his account,
who likes the idea of being a Batangueiic better. the students appear largely as ‘twentieth-century Filipinos’ One may note
69. Here I have to register my dissent from Vicente Rafael’s ingenious- by contrast that the long discussion between Isagani and P. Fernandez in
nationalist discussion of this chapter in his new The Promise of the Foreign: chapter 27 (“El fraile y el filipino”) proceeds fluently and transparently in
Nationalism and the technics of translation in the Spanish Philippines (Manila: An- excellent, unmarked Castilian.
 El filibusterismo 49
48 El filibusterismo

forth between Spain proper and the Spanish Empire. It is no sur-

nationalist meaning for idio, is that, when he signed his consent
prise that most of the characters who use the word are
to the document decreeing his execution, he crossed out the word
chino describing himself and substituted (following Elias, perhaps), peninsulares. The Fili actually refers to espanol(es) less often than
does the Noli. The noun occurs 32 times, and is widely distrib-
not filipino, but indio.”” He was, after all, by then back in the
colony. uted. The Narrator leads the way with 12 mentions, including
Secondly, indio was one solution to the obvious problem of single voice-overs for Ben Zayb and the coachman. He is fol-
lowed by the High Official, 4; Tadeo and rumormongers, 3 each;
what to do with many members of the local elite (to which he be-
Momoy, 2; and Isagani, Simoun, Ben Zayb, Sensia, Lieutenant
longed), who were of mixed Chinese-Spanish-‘Native’ origin,, If,
Perez, the ship’s captain, a convict, and an anonymous student, 1
in the colony, these people were not to be called Spaniards or
each. The adjective espafol crops up only 16 times, and does not
Chinese, then they had to be indios, following the pattern of his
always refer to human beings. ‘The distribution is: the Narrator, 8
own family, which had changed its legal and tribute status from
(including single voice-overs for Custodio, Timoteo Pelaez, Ben
mestizo chino to indio. Indio thus came to his nationalist rescue. Sandoval, Pasta,
Zayb, and Camaroncocido); followed by
It looks as if the Narrator’s new obsession with the term re-
Simoun, Tadeo, the High Official, Isagani, Juanito Pelaez, and P.
flects these concerns—the concerns of a man who had lived most
Fernandez, 1 apiece.
of the previous ten years in the imperial capital or elsewhere in
but who was writing, more than with the Noli, for his Where the Fili differs from its predecessor is in the lack of am-
Europe,
biguity about espanol. Indeed, at one point, the Narrator explicitly
compatriots alld, on the other side of the globe. This line of argu-
turn to the Fil’s use of the includes the creoles as Spaniards, i.e., not filipinos in the old sense;
ment is, I hope, furthered if we now
words espaioles and /filipinos. and in only one instance adds the adjective peninsular after the
noun. In this fashion, espaftol becomes a quasi-racial and/or na-
tional term, erasing differences between the metropole and the
B. Political Vocabulary and Concepts
colony. This change is not too surprising given Rizal’s long so-
Under this rubric we will consider, first, words that might denote journ in Europe and his ample experience with metropolitan
Spain and the Philippines, and the Spanish and Philippine na- Spaniards. Yet the author is careful also to include the metropoli-
tions; second, the keywords patria and pueblo, as well as naciin and tan youngster Sandoval among the students involved in the cam-
its derivatives; and third, an array of other political vocabulary. paign for a Spanish-language Academy. The boy comes across as
Espafia crops up 33 times, distributed as follows: the Narrator, an amiably idealistic, if pompous, fellow, who is completely ac-
10 (one voice-over for Custodio); the High Official, 6; Sandoval, cepted by his putatively creole, mestizo and indio companions (he
5; P. Florentino, 4; P. Fernandez and Ben Zayb, 3 each; and is much nicer than the malicious Tadeo and the scheming Juanito
Simoun and the ship’s captain, 1 each. Its meaning shifts back and Pelaez).
One likely reason for the relatively scarce use of espanol for
people and things is that, because the campaign for the Spanish
70. Information very kindly given to me by Ambeth Ocampo, who has
studied the original document. As we have seen, indio was in fact Rizal’s le- Academy is the novel’s second main plot, the word is partly taken
gal status, but he is unlikely to have been thinking legalistically at that over by castellano, referring to the Spanish ‘national language. I
grim moment.
 ELfilibusterismo 51
50 El filibusterismo

justicia! Tal situacién da amplio derecho para esterminar 4 todo

say ‘partly; because el espaol crops up only 13 times, while, el forastero como al mds feroz monstruo que puede arrojar el mar!
castellano appears 35 times. Distribution of the former is: the Nar- Y pensaba que aquellos insulares, contra los cuales su patria
rator, 8 (two voice-overs for Simoun); Simoun, 2; and Pasta, P. estaba en guerra, despues de todo no tenian mds crimen que el
Fernandez and Juli, 1 apiece; of the latter: the Narrator, 14 (with de su debilidad . . . . Débiles y todo le parecia hermoso el
two voice-overs for P. Millon and one for Isagani); Capitan espectéculo que daban, y los nombres de los enemigos, que los
periddicos no se descuidaban de llamar cobardes y traidores, le
Basilio and Basilio, 3 each; Simoun, Pasta, P. Camorra and
parecian gloriosos, sucumbian con gloria al pié de las ruinas de
anonymous students, two apicce; and Ben Zayb, P. Fernandez, P.
sus imperfectas fortificaciones, con mds gloria aun que los anti-
Millon, Makaraig, Sandoval, Custodio and the Secretary, 1 each. guos héroes troyanos; aquellas insulares no habian robado
It is worth noting that use of ¢/ castellano is overwhelmingly casual ninguna Helena filipina. Y con su entusiasmo de poeta, pensa-
or positive. The only character to express ‘nationalist’ hostility to ba en los jévenes de aquellas islas que podian cubrirse de gloria
the language is, of course, Simoun. The Narrator himself seems 4 los ojos de sus mujeres, y como enamorado en desesperacién
les envidiaba porque podian hallar un brillante suicidio. Y
quite noncommittal.
52 times, a shade less often exclamaba: Ah! Quisiera morir, reducirme 4 la nada, dejar 4 mi
The place Filipinas is mentioned
patria un nombre glorioso, morir por su causa, defendiéndola
than in the Noli. The distribution is also quite similar: the Narra- de la invasion estrangera y que el sol despues alumbre mi
tor, 38 (including 5 voice-overs for Ben Zayb and one each for cadaver como sentinela inmovil en las rocas del mar!
Custodio, Timoteo Pelaez, Simoun); Simoun, 5; Pecson,
and
Isagani, Makaraig, and “Horatius,” 2 each; and Sandoval, once. [Because a traveler comes to their shores, they lose their liberty
What ‘Filipinas’ covers is no less complex than in the earlier and become the subjects and slaves, not only of the traveler, not
novel. Chapter 37 (“Fatalidad”) indeed mentions Luzon, Albay, only of his heirs, but even of all his fellow-countrymen, and
not just for one generation but forevermore! Strange conception
Kagayan, Tayabas, Batangas, Cavite, and Pangasinan, but, inex-
of justice! Such a situation gives [him] ample right to extermi-
plicably, it skips over Ilocos. No Bohol, no Mindoro, no Cebu,
nate every stranger like the most ferocious monster the ocean
no Leyte, no Samar, and no Cordillera inhabited by Elias’s tribus can cast up! And he was reflecting that those islanders, against
independientes. whom his motherland [sic/] was at war, after all had no crime
On the other hand, there is the curious position of the other than their weakness ... . But for all their weakness, to

Carolines, exemplified by the way the goodhearted but some- him the spectacle they offered seemed beautiful, and the names
chapter In 24 of these enemies, whom the press did not fail to call cowards
times muddleheaded Isagani refers to them.
are and traitors, seemed to him glorious, succumbing with glory at
(‘Suefios’), he muses sympathetically about the insulares, who
the foot of the ruins of their imperfect fortifications, with more
fighting a Spanish colonial expedition sent to forestall imperial glory indeed than the ancient Trojan heroes; these islanders
German intervention in the remote, far-flung archipelago. The had abducted no Philippine Helen. And with a poet’s enthusi-
passage is so instructive that it is worth quoting in full: asm, he thought of the young men of those islands, who could
cover themselves with glory in the eyes of their womenfolk;
Porque un viajero arriba 4 sus playas, , pierden su libertad and, as if enamored of despair, he was envious that they could
pasan 4 ser stibditos y esclavos, no solo del viajero, no solo de achieve a splendid suicide. And he exclaimed: “Ah! I would
ryy no
los heredores de éste, sino aun de todos sus compatriotas, like to die, reduce myself to nothingness, bequeathing to my
por una generacién sino por siempre! Estrafia concepcién de la
52 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 53

motherland a glorious name, die for her sake, defending her uses the word in a comparable fashion, to mean a humble, long-
from foreign invasion, wishing that henceforth the sun would suffering, indigenous group from which she appears to exclude
shine on my corpse like a motionless sentinel among the rocks herself.”7 The Narrator describes La Victorina as a filipina
of the ocean!”]
renegada [a renegade filipina], which would make no sense if
Jilipina here meant a creole woman.” Basilio, however, is the one
But immediately Isagani turns half around and says: Y el
person to use the word in its traditional (creole) meaning.’”®
conflicto con los alemanes se le venta & la memoria, y casi sentia que se hubiese
Simoun never uses the term, unlike his previous incarnation,
allanado; él hubiera muerto con gusto por el pabellin espanol-filipina antes
Ibarra.
de someterse al estrangero [Then the conflict with the Germans came
The adjective, however, is used far more in the Fili than in the
to his mind, and he almost regretted that it had been resolved; he
Noli. Of the 30 mentions, more than half are attributed to the Nar-
would gladly have died for the Spanish-Filipino banner before
rator, 18 (including two voice-overs each for P. Florentino and
submitting to the foreigner].”1 Having thought of the Caroline is-
Timoteo Pelaez, and one apiece for Custodio and Isagani); fol-
landers suffering a fate parallel to that of his own countrymen, he
lowed by Isagani, 4; Pecson and P. Fernandez, 2 each ; and
is now ready to fight to the death against the German foreigners
Makaraig, Sandoval, the High Official, and “Horatius,” 1 apiece.
who threaten the Spanish-Filipino flag flying over the decimated
Only P. Fernandez (estudiantes), Isagani (pueblo and juventud), and
islanders. It is as if he believes somehow that the colonized
the Narrator (estudiantes, pueblo, and artistas [craftsmen]) deploy the
Carolines belong jointly to Espafia and Filipinas.
adjective for people, and they do so in a quite modern and
One might expect, since Rizal termed the Fili a novela filipina,
ethnonationalist sense. Otherwise, the word is more commonly
that the novel would use the words /ilipino/filipina much more often
used in a quasi-geographical rather than anthropological manner,
than the Noli. But this turns out not to be the case. As a noun the
meaning something like ‘of/from the Philippines’ The Spaniard
word occurs only 22 times, virtually the same frequency as in the
Sandoval talks of the vida filipina, Pecson of edificios filipinos, Isagani
Noli. But the distribution is wider, and the connotations more var-
of the mundo filipino, and the Narrator of costumbres, miseria, vestidos,
ied. The Narrator uses it 12 times (voicing over Custodio twice,
and hospitalidad. There are two enchantingly unusual usages by
and Timoteo Pelaez, Ben Zayb, a student, and a soldier, once
the Narrator. In one place he refers to the peninsular Tiburcio,
each); there follow the High Official and Isagani, 3 each; and
fleeing his dreadful wife into the remote countryside, as a Ulises
Custodio, Basilio, Sandoval, and Cabesang Andang, | apiece.
Oddly enough, when speaking about the preconquest peoples
of the islands, Custodio refers to them as Jos antiguos filipinos, as if
‘filipino’ were simply a synonym for indio.”* Cabesang Andang 73. Ibid., 140 (chap. 19 “La mecha”).
74. Ibid., 3 (chap. 1 “Sobre-Cubierta”). The Narrator has already told
readers that under her vulgar makeup she is really an india. Here the se-
71. Rizal, El Filibusterismo, 186-87 (chap. 24 “Suefios”). mantics of the word seem to oscillate between india (she is shameless
72. Ibid., 152 (chap. 20 “El Ponente”). Jun Aguilar has reminded me enough not to have the dignity to act according to her real status) and
that this phrase was actually coined by Rizal in his Morga, so it is odd, but something more modernly nationalist (she is a traitor to her nation).
amusing, to find it attached here, out of character, to the ridiculous 75. Ibid., 13 (chap. 2 “Bajo-Cubierta”). He is describing his professors,
Custodio. saying that half are peninsulares and half /filipinos.
 54 Elfilibusterismo El filibusterismo 55

Filipino,”° and in the other (which we have noted above) to The moment has now come to turn to the uses of the key po-
“ninguna Helena [Helen of Troy] filipina.” litical concepts of nacién and its derivatives, patria and its affines,
However, the uses of espafoles and /filipinos need to be situated as well as pueblo.
in the larger context of the novel. Recently I wrote, perhaps too In the earlier discussion of the various derivations of the Latin
whimsically, that the Fili is in some ways less a novela filipina than word natio in the Noli, I expressed some surprise at three things:
a novela mundial.” 1 did so not merely because, unlike the Noli, the their paucity in the text (12 occurrences); the fact that they are
Fili includes some real and imagined foreigners—the verdadero used only by the Narrator, Tasio, Ibarra, and Elias; and the ab-
yankee Mr. Leeds, with his long experience touring in South sence of the powerful abstract noun nacionalismo. The surprise in
America; Quiroga; the French vaudeville players; and Simoun, the Fil is that very little has changed. The novel contains only 15
who is thought to be a Cuban mulatto. The novel also mentions, examples. Nacién in a general sense appears 6 times (Simoun, 3;
in nominal and adjectival form: French, 16 times; americanos, 10; the High Official, the Capitan-General and Basilio, 1 each); refer-
Europeans, 9; English, 7; Egyptians, 6; Jews, 5; Japanese and ring to the Philippines, it is used twice by Simoun; the High Offi-
Caroline insulares, 4 each; Yankees, Germans, and Arabs, 3 each; cial uses it twice to refer to Spain; while the Narrator uses it once
and Swiss, Dutch, Portuguese, Italians, and Persians, once each.’8 to refer to China. Simoun uses the adjective nacional just once.
We can summarize this information in comparative, tabular The noun nacionales occurs once in the Narrator’s commentary,
form as follows: but only to refer to foreigners in the Philippines. Finally, in two
places Simoun speaks curiously to Basilio of vuestra [not nuestra]
Table 5. Mentions of ‘Spanish’ and ‘Filipino’ Terms in El filibusterismo nacionalidad. In effect, only the well-traveled and highly educated
High Official and Simoun use the natio derivatives more than
Frequency of Narrator’s No. of characters once, forming a circle even smaller than that in the Nol. Even
mention Usage using term
more strikingly, in so highly political a novel, nacionalismo again
Espana 33 (39)* 10 (7) 7 (11) fails to make a single appearance.
Espafiol (n.) 32 (52) 12 (23) 12 (9) As one might expect, patria occurs a bit more often in the Fili
Espajiol (adj.) 16 (14) 8 (7) 8 (7) (33 times) than in the Noli (24). But the distribution according to
Filipinas 52 (58) 38 (20) 6 (14)
Filipino/a (n.) 22 (21) 12 (18) 6 (3)
points of reference is significantly different. In its general, abstract
Filipino/a (adj.) 30 (12) 18 (7) 7 (2) form, patria is spoken of only once, by Simoun. Mr. Leeds’s
mummy speaks three times of ancient Egypt as his patria. The re-
*Figures in parentheses refer to comparable figures for Noli me tangere. maining usages almost all point either to Spain and the Empire or
to the Philippines. The Philippines is referred to in 15 places, dis-
tributed between Simoun and the Narrator, each 5 (including one
voice-over for Isagani); Isagani, 3; Pasta and P. Florentino, |
76. Ibid., 4 (chap. 1 “Sobre-Cubierto”).
77. See Under Three Flags, 53. apiece. As in the Noli, the usage is restricted to self-conscious Phil-
78. The word americano often has an unclear referent, though in some ippine patriots of different kinds (except the sly Pasta). Patria
places it seems clearly to mean Americans, and sometimes Latin Americans. meaning Spain and the Spanish Empire occurs just as often. Of the
56 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 57

14 mentions, 6 come from the Narrator, all as voice-overs for tributed like this: Simoun, 11; Isagani, 6; Narrator (including a
colonialists (4 for the brutish Capitan-General, 1 each for Ben voice-over for Isagani), P. Florentino, P. Fernandez, and the High
Zayb and colonialist newspapers); followed by the peninsular stu- Official, 2 apiece; Pasta, Sandoval, Basilio, Ben Zayb, and
dent Sandoval, 3; and the Capitan-General, Pecson (sarcastically), Custodio, 1 each. Pueblo is used to refer to “peoples” of places
Ben Zayb, an anonymous voice, and Isagani, 1 apiece. The odd- other than the Philippines 9 times: Mr. Leeds, 3 (the ancient
ity here occurs in the episode discussed above where Isagani has Egyptian people); Simoun, 2 (ancient Egyptian and Spanish);
conflicting thoughts and emotions about the Carolines. Isagani, 2; and the Narrator, 2 (voice-overs for Ben Zayb and
What is new in the Fili is the appearance of derivatives of Isagani).
patria, i.e., patriotismo, patriota(s), and patridtica. With one well- Finally, pueblo clearly referring to the Filipino people, or the
known exception, the connotations are always good, and the people of the Philippines, occurs 33 times: Simoun, 14 (who on
small circle of people who use the words are sympathetically one occasion refers acerbically to his fellow-countrymen as este
characterized. Patriotismo occurs seven times. The Narrator em- pueblo anémico);®° then Isagani, 5; the Narrator (including a voice-
ploys it thrice (with one voice-over for Sandoval); Simoun, twice; over for Basilio), P. Fernandez and the High Official, 3 each; P.
and Makaraig and Basilio, once each. It is only Basilio for whom, Florentino, 2; and Basilio, Gamaroncocido, and an anonymous
at a certain point, the term has echoes of fanaticism (sonard a voice, each once. The most important thing to observe here is
fanatismo).”> Patriotas is mentioned once, by the High Official, and that, while pueblo as the people of the Philippines is used only by
the adjectival form comes up once in the mouth of Basilio. four characters in the Noli, in the Fili the number has doubled,
As for pueblo, we find the same polysemy as in the Noli, but with at least two peninsular Spaniards using it in this sense. One
differently proportioned. One simple reason is that, while the set- suspects that this may reflect a social reality, i.e., that el pueblo
tings of the Noli are rather evenly divided between Manila and the filipino (the people of the Philippine Islands) was beginning to be
township of San Diego-Calamba, the Fili is overwhelmingly set in used in Manila in place of the more ambiguous ethno-racial
the colonial capital. Pueblo is used 43 times to refer to townships ‘filipinos” This suspicion may be enhanced if one notes that, of
in the Philippines, including Cabesang Tales’s Tiani. The distri- the total number of usages of pueblo in the Fili, the ‘Philippine’
bution is as follows: Narrator, 28; Simoun, 6; Isagani and anony- sense reaches 29 percent, compared with only 17 percent in the
mous voices, 2 each; P. Camorra, Custodio, Juanito Pelaez, Noli.
Basilio, and the Secretary, 1 apiece. No serious change from the The table on p. 58 summarizes all this data in comparative
Noli. But pueblo meaning San Diego-Calamba occurs only 7 times, form.
always stated by the Narrator. The term also appears just once to We may now turn to consideration of less commonly used po-
denote non-Philippine towns, from the lips of Simoun. litical words, which I have assembled in semantic clusters in de-
Given that the novel devotes extensive space to politico-philo- scending order of frequency, as far as possible parallel to the
sophical debates, it is natural that pueblo in the general sense ap- treatment of such clusters in the Noli.
pears far more often than in the Noli. The 30 references are dis-

80. Ibid., loc. cit.

79. Rizal, El Filibusterismo, 50 (chap. 7 “Simoun”).
 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 59
58

about half of these are non-political, and if we concentrate on the

Table 6. Mentions of Nacién, Patria, and Pueblo, with Derivatives and
Affines, in El filibusterismo core word of the cluster, libertad, the Fili exceeds the Noli 20 to 13.
Second: Variations on the root politic: with 21 instances. The
Total frequency Narrator’s No. of characters
noun politica-the usual Romance language usage to cover both
of use use of term using term
‘politics’ and ‘policy’—is mentioned 10 times; the Narrator, 5
Nacidén/es 6 )* 2 times (including voice-overs for Basilio and Custodio); P.

©
ORS ee

Lee
Nacionalidad/es 2 Fernandez, 2; Basilio, Custodio, and Sandoval, 1 apiece. In adjec-

NwWWwWNrRH
Nacional (n.) 1 tival form, it occurs 9 times: the Narrator, 8 (including two voice-

¥
Nacional (adj.) 1

ry
overs for Custodio), and a sarcastic Pecson, once. Politicos (politi-
Patria (general) 1

ay
l

Or
4 cians) appears twice, in the mouths of the Narrator and Isagani.

OrrWre
Patria (Spain)

a
=e
Patria (Filipinas) 5 Except where ‘policy’ is intended, all these references have op-

1
Lorn
Patria (Egypt) 3 portunistic, amoral connotations. In the Noli this cluster ranks

Ss
p
5
2
re
Patriotismo 7
third with 26 mentions. But every single one of these comes from
Patriotas 1

ea
ee

!
Patridtica 1, the Narrator, i.e., not a single character uses these terms; and the

Sa.
wninow i
Pueblo (local towns) 43 figure is artificially inflated by 16 instances of the noun and adjec-
No

ENE
Pueblo (S. Diego town) 7 tive conservador(es) in chapter 20 (“La junta en el tribunal”).

SES
Pueblo (S. Diego townsfolk)
Third: Variations on the root filibuster: with 18 instances.

aococl
Pueblo (general) 3 0

me
a
ae SS

Pueblo (people of Filipinas) 33 These include 7 mentions of /ilibusterismo: Narrator, 2 (one voice-
=

over for city gossips); Simoun, Pasta, Pecson, Isagani, and an

*Figures in parentheses refer to comparable figures for Noli me tangere. anonymous voice, each once. The noun /ilibustero gets 5 mentions:
1 each by the Narrator, Sandoval, P. Sibyla, P. Camorra, and the
curate of San Diego. The contemptuous /ilibusterillo crops up four
First: A group of words signifying collective or personal au- times (P. Camorra, Custodio, the Capitan-General, and the Nar-
tonomy of a vague kind (30 mentions). Libertad comes up 20 rator reporting on rumors). There is one mention each of the ad-
times, distributed between P. Florentino and Isagani, 6 times jective filibustera (Sandoval) and the noun (/ilibusterado (Narrator).
each; Simoun, 5; the Narrator, the High Official, and Sandoval, 1 In the Noli this cluster ranks fourth with 21 mentions, more or
each. The adjective libre, in a political sense, is used twice by the less the same as in the Fil.
Narrator, and once each by Simoun and Isagani. Independencia ap- Fourth: Variations on the root /iberal- with 16 instances. The
pears 5 times, with some unexpected meanings. Only Simoun (1) noun is mentioned by the Narrator 5 times (including voice-overs
uses it to refer to the independence of the Philippines from Spain; for Custodio and “political circles in Madrid”), and once each by
the others, Isagani (2), Sandoval (1), and P. Florentino (1) deploy
Tadeo and Isagani. The adjective liberal appears 8 times, distrib-
it negatively to mean the independence of the colonial government uted between the Narrator, 5, and Sandoval, Makaraig, and
from the society it governs. The adjective independientes is men- Juanito Pelaez, 1 apiece. Finally, the Narrator once uses the sar-
tioned only once, by High Official. The same cluster also
the
castic verb-form [iberalizarse. It should be understood that liberal
ranks first, formally speaking, in the Noli, with 38 mentions. But
60 Elfilibusterismo El filibusterismo 61

typically refers, in a quite restricted and often contemptuous ‘man- modern sense to mean ‘race; but sometimes appears in the
ner, to the corrupt metropolitan party of Prdxedes Sagasta. (I vaguer nineteenth-century manner to denote ethnicity or
shall discuss this further below).*! This cluster does not appear in ethnoracial nationality. Thus, on the one hand, the Narrator
the Noli at all. We may note that while the employment of speaks several times of the raza espanola.* On the other hand, Ben
conservador is humorous, the Fils use of liberal is deadly serious. Zayb rattles on, in a racist manner, about the raza amarilla (yellow
Fifth: Sociedad and its derivatives—with 16 instances. The noun race).83 There are a few instances where obviously racist substi-
comes up 13 times, divided between the Narrator, 4; Simoun, tutes for raza occur. For example, Custodio speaks once of blancos,
Pasta, and Isagani, 2 each; and Basilio, P. Fernandez, and P. and the Capitan-General and Ben Zayb mention negyos, the latter
Florentino, 1 apiece. The adjective social is used by Basilio twice adding the English word ‘negroes’ by way of specification.** It is
(armonia, la gran fébrica) and Simoun once (conciencia). In the Noli charming to find Basilio speaking rapturously about a golden age
this cluster ranks sixth, with only 7 instances, less than half the of yore when there were as yet no razas.®° It is noteworthy that
Fil’s total. there is no comparable cluster in the Noli.
Sixth: Revolucién—with 14 cases. They are divided between Eighth: Words connected to the idea of citizenship—with 10
Simoun, 6; the Narrator and Basilio, 2 each; and the High Offi- mentions. The variations are interesting. Ciudadano is used by
cial, P. Sibyla, the firecracker-man, and an anonymous voice, 1 Isagani three times, twice in a general sense and once with refer-
apiece. Contrarevolucién is mentioned once by Simoun. It is unclear ence to the Philippines; Pasta and P. Florentino each use it once
whether in all these instances the word has the same meaning; in a general sense; Sandoval uses it once to refer to Spain; while
even for Simoun, who uses the word most often, it seems to de- Basilio speaks of a time when men were free citizens del mundo.®°
note little more than a vague and violent onslaught on the exist- Fellow citizen (conciudadano) is mentioned by Basilio; and paisanos
ing order, but without any real ideology or post-revolutionary (nuestros) is referred to twice, once each by P. Florentino and
program. Armed social revenge, perhaps. In the Noli the word Mautang. In the Noli this cluster ranks sixth, with 6 instances.
revolucién ranks eighth and last, and is mentioned only 4 times, Ninth: A group of words directly referring to colonies and me-
never by a central character. tropolises—8 cases. Metrépolis is actually used only once, by
Seventh: Raza(s)—also with 15 mentions. The Narrator uses it Basilio. The noun colonias is mentioned once each by Basilio,
the most, 10 times (with voice-overs for Ben Zayb and city Custodio, and the Narrator (voicing over Custodio). The adjecti-
gossipmongers); followed by Simoun, 2; and Basilio, Pecson, and val form occurs 4 times, divided evenly between Pasta and
Ben Zayb, 1 each. Raza does not always seem to be used in a fully Isagani. In the Noli we find only two instances each of colonias and
colonial, divided between the Narrator and anonymous voices.

81. Liberal should not be understood in the contemporary American

‘welfare state’ sense. In the nineteenth century free-trade Britain was the 82. For example, ibid., 156 (chap. 21 “Tipos manilenses”).
prime institutional model for much of the rest of the world, while such 83. Ibid., 21 (chap. 3 “Leyendas”).
French philosophers as Constant and Tocqueville provided sophisticated 84. Ibid., 153 (chap. 20 “El ponente”); 81 (chap. 11 “Los Bafios”), and
theoretical disquisitions. The corrupt political party system of late nine- 256 (chap. 36 “Apuros de Ben Sabih”).
teenth-century Restoration Spain was publicly said to follow the example 85. Ibid., 50 (chap. 7 “Simoun”).
of the Liberal (Gladstone)-Conservative (Disraeli) duopoly. 86. Ibid., loc. cit.
62 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 63

Tenth: Words referring to politico-cultural assimilation—with 5 At this point it is probably useful to summarize comparatively
cases. The cluster covers the ideology of Hispanism itself, and the the above data in tabular form:
policy of Hispanizing the Philippines. Espafiolismo is used twice by
Simoun and once by the Narrator. Espajolizacién is mentioned Table 7. Ranking and Enumeration of the Clusters in the Noli (N) and Fili (F)
twice by Simoun. The Noli has no comparable cluster.
Eleventh: Words referring to reforms and _progress—with Rank (N) Rank (F) | Mentions (N) Mentions (F)
merely 4 instances. We find the sarcastic variant reformistas (re-
Freedom 1 ] 38 30
formers) used by the Capitan-General and an anonymous, voice; Monarchy/Empire 2 - 26 -
and reformas once by the Narrator. Progreso is mentioned once, but Politica 3 2 26 1
positively, by Isagani. Here the reader is in for a surprise. The Filibusterismo 4 3 21 18
same cluster is five times as common in the Noli (21 instances), Progress 5 11 21 4
Society/Social 6 5 7 16
and ranks fifth. The distribution is much wider than in the Fill. Citizenship 7 8 6 10
The change probably indicates Rizal’s growing bitterness and dis- Revolution 8 6 4 14
illusionment in the early 1890s. Liberal/ism - 4 - 16
Finally there is a small pile of miscellanea (13): partido is men- Race y - L5
Colonies - 9 - 8
tioned three times by the Narrator; policia secreta is used twice by Assimilation - 10 - 5
Camaroncocido, and once by the Narrator; ideologia is mentioned
once by Pasta to mean empty talk, hot air; repdblicas is used twice
It is easy to see from the above data that although the Fili is a
by Simoun, referring to South America, and once, maliciously, by
the Narrator to describe the apartment Ben Zayb shares with oth- much shorter book than the Noli, its political vocabulary is sub-
stantially larger and more varied. Its clusters recapitulate all those
ers;*” clase is mentioned twice by the Narrator, including a voice-
over for a soldier;®* capitalista (de terrenos)—i.e., not a manufacturer, in its predecessor except one—monarchy scarcely appears, and the
but an agribusiness landowner—is referred to once by the Narrator. unwary reader might even conclude that the Spain of 1891 was a
republic. At the same time, it adds clusters for Liberal(ism), race,
87. Ibid., 262 (chap. 36 “Apuros de Ben Zayb”). colonies, and assimilationism.
88. These two instances are quite interesting in relation to the com- Nonetheless, what strike the reader most forcefully in the
mentary that immediately follows these listings. The first occurs when the quantified material laid out above are absences. One could think
Narrator begins his sardonic full-chapter portrait of Custodio by describing of them as of two distinct but connected types. First of all, al-
him as belonging to esa clase de la sociedad manilense who are surrounded
wherever they go by a groveling crowd of venal newspaper reporters: in though Rizal had lived in various European capitals for almost
effect, a member of Manila’s colonial elite. Ibid., 148 (chap. 20 “El ten years by the time he finished the Fili, what we do not find in
Ponente”). We could translate clase more appropriately by ‘stratum’ than this ‘political novel’ is any mention of, say, monarchies, parlia-
by class. The second occurs at the end of the novel, where the Narrator ments, constitutions, elections, courts of law, trade unions, peas-
calls the Ayos de p——, uttered by a brutal indio mercenary soldier, el insulto
comun en la clase baja de los filipinos (ibid., 273 [chap. 38 “Fatalidad”]). This is
ant leagues, aristocracies, bourgeoisies, professionals, intellectu-
the old aristocratic way of talking about people of the ‘lower class, who als, imperialism, conservatism, socialism, social democracy, nihil-
are, of course, ‘without culture’ ism, anarchism, nationalism, anticolonial insurrection, Freema-
 64 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 65

sonry, women’s emancipation, racism, and so on.8? One could, of fectly aware, too, of the importance of the Chinese mestizos in the
course, argue that many of these institutions, classes, and ideolo- Philippines. But all are exiled from his novels.
gies were absent in the Philippines in 1890, and therefore irrel- What to make of all this? I have proposed some lengthy ex-
evant. But such an argument is implausible for several reasons. planations in Under Three Flags, and will therefore only summarize
The first is that there is a good deal of evidence that some of them here. The first is that Rizal had almost no serious political
the items above do appear, disguised, in the text. Simoun’s bomb- experience, knew little of contemporary political thought, and
plot is partly based on Narodnya Volya’s spectacular bomb-assas- was not much interested in ‘politics’ as such. One powerful piece
sination of Tsar Alexander II in 1881, the year before Rizal first of evidence for this view is the near-total absence of books on po-
arrived in Europe. Simoun’s rhetoric partly borrows from the litical theory or nineteenth-century politics either in his substan-
discourse of the nihilists and anarchist proponents of ‘propa- tial personal library or his huge correspondence. He was funda-
ganda by the deed’ The radical peasant leagues of Andalusia—and mentally a novelist of genius, and a satirist of great power. But ev-
their brutal suppression—are indirectly alluded to by Sensia when ery satirist of his caliber is primarily, not very deep down, a mor-
she exclaims that maybe (Simoun’s) bomb plot is the work of La alist. The second is that one key element in the Fils plot, the stu-
Mano Negra (the Gothic term devised by the Spanish state for its dents’ campaign for a Spanish-language academy, is a not-too-
rural enemies).°? The second reason is that, in general, anti-colo- veiled satire on the ‘assimilationist’ policies tactically pursued by
nial movement activists read a great deal about the outside world Marcelo del Pilar and his followers in Madrid and Barcelona,
from newspapers and books, and as a result usually pushed for with the unreliable and opportunistic support of Sagasta’s liber-
the introduction of modern political institutions, hitherto adsent in als. The unlovely, scheming students Tadeo and Juanito Pelaez,
the colonies. Colonial intellectuals also tried critically to grasp the the blowhard Spaniard Sandoval, the rich amateur student-politi-
nature of colonialism by using some of the conceptual tools of the cian Makaraig, and the muddled Penitente easily outnumber the
social sciences, and, of course, various types of socialism and idealistic Isagani and the sardonically realist Pecson, and can be
liberalism. read as parodic portraits of some members of the Filipino colony
The second type of absence is one to which attention has al- in Spain that Rizal disliked or distrusted.”!
ready been called. Rizal himself told Blumentritt that the servant
class in Manila was largely Ilocano; and he knew that his beloved
country contained many different ethnolinguistic groups, a fair 91. The character in the Fili on whom Rizal focuses his formidable
malice is Sagasta’s stand-in, the ridiculous liberal Custodio. But the inten-
number with members living and working in Manila. He was per- sity of the venom is completely out of proportion to what we can see of
Custodio for ourselves. He is a pompous, complacent, incompetent idiot,
but he does not hurt anyone, he is not an intriguer, he is not shown to be
89. One could put this the other way round by saying that the range of a corrupt exploiter, and he has no power. The contrast with the Noli could
political terms mentioned in the novel is astonishingly constricted for a not be more striking: Ddmaso, Salvi, and La Consolacién are almost de-
highly educated man who was a fluent reader of three, possibly four, Eu- monically wicked, and responsible for terrible crimes. But, at least for
ropean languages. Damaso and La Consolacién, the novelist on occasion shows a pity and a
90. I have discussed these borrowings extensively and in detail in Under human understanding that he never extends to Custodio. The Salvi who
Three Flags, especially on pages 110-22. makes a cameo appearance in the Fili is so feeble a figure that Simoun’s
66 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 67

The malicious intent is visible also from another angle, that of for, or the huge violence of the war of 1868-1878, which ended
policy. Campaigning for a Spanish language academy is basically in a political compromise, not a Spanish military victory. That be-
senseless. The students are already fluent in Spanish and have no tween 1810 and 1838 Spain lost its entire continental empire in
need for it. What Rizal does not permit them to do is to campaign South and Central America is alluded to only in passing, only by
for any of the serious policy changes that Del Pilar was cam- Simoun, and on only two occasions—which is food for thought.
paigning for in Spain, and which were quite well known in Ma- Early in the novel the jeweler sardonically asks Basilio what he
nila: secularization of the school system, equality with Spaniards hopes for from Hispanization, and immediately provides his own
in the colony on the basis of metropolitan law, political autonority answer. Cuando mds feliz, pats de pronunciamientos, pats de guerras civiles,
within the Empire on the model of Cuba, ending the political republica de rapaces y descontentos como algunas republicas de la América de
power of the friars, introduction of greater personal and public Sur! [At best, a country of military pronunciamentos, a country of
freedoms, and so on.” This analysis suggests a key reason for at civil wars, a republic of predators and malcontents like some of
least some of the gaping ‘absences’ outlined above. the republics of South America!]® Later, he recapitulates this
There is one other fascinating occlusion that deserves a brief theme to an appalled Basilio: allé esté el Sur con sus republicas
discussion: that of the grand ci-devant Spanish Empire itself. In intranquilas, sus revoluciones bdrbaras, guerras civiles, pronunciamientos,
the Fili Cuba is mentioned once, and Havana twice. The scanty como en su madre Espana! [There lies the South with its restless re-
references are also completely apolitical: Simoun tells P. publics, its barbaric revolutions, civil wars, pronunciamentos, as
Florentino that he made a lot of money in Cuba dealing impar- in its mother Spain!]®* These jibes are quite odd. Simoun makes
tially with the colonial regime and the nationalist insurrectos. (Actu- no mention of the titanic politico-military struggles for indepen-
ally, this formulation is incorrect: Simoun does not call them na- dence from the Empire at the beginning of the nineteenth century;
tionalists.) It is in Havana that he develops his intimate, corrupt nor does he seem aware that, in the 1880s, the major Spanish
relationship with ‘His Excellency’ the Capitan-General (modeled American countries—Argentina, Chile, Venezuela, Colombia,
on Valeriano Weyler). Beyond that, nothing. The uninformed Mexico, and Peru—were mostly at peace, ruled by fairly stable oli-
reader would not guess what the insurrectionaries were fighting garchies, and ‘developing’ economically. It is not likely that Rizal
intended to show up Simoun as an ignoramus; it is also not likely

strange revenge seems quite right. Taking a leaf from Hamlet, the jeweler
simply gives him a big superstitious fainting fit by means of Mr. Leeds’s
ion in favor of reforms in the Philippines. Rizal was a prickly moralist and
ventriloquism.
novelist who rarely failed to denounce the personal shortcomings of the
92. Far and way the fullest and fairest account of the complicated rela-
Filipinos in Spain, while Del Pilar was an astute politician who saw every
tionship between Del Pilar and Rizal is in Father Schumacher’s classic, The
reason to keep the ‘colony’ in Madrid and Barcelona as politically united
Propaganda Movement, 1880-1895 (1997), especially chapters 7-12. See
as feasible. Del Pilar was sure that (for tactical reasons) an assimilationist
also Under Three Flags, 94-104, 133-36. Their differences are illuminated
policy was the only way to persuade Spain to carry out major reforms in
by their attitudes to La Solidaridad. Rizal wanted it to be oriented primarily
the Philippines. Rizal, anything but a politician, more and more believed
to Filipinos, awakening and strengthening their national consciousness,
this policy was useless and, nationally speaking, reprehensible.
though he could occasionally use it for attacks on particular Spanish jour-
93. Rizal, El filibusterismo, 47 (chap. 7 “Simoun”).
nalists, politicians, and bureaucrats. Del Pilar, however, regarded it as a
94. Ibid., 250 (chap. 33 “La ultima razén”).
journal for Philippine propaganda in Spain, to help influence public opin-
68 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 69

(though possible)” that Rizal was himself unaware of the fact that Intermezzo
by the time he was writing the era of civil wars and pronuncia-
mentos was (for the moment at least) past.°° So? Before turning to complex questions about the use of Tagalog,
One notices the tactical shifts of Simoun’s rhetoric. In the first it is worth looking comparatively at the geographical locations
case, ‘catastrophic’ Spanish-speaking South America is deployed and ‘persons’ referred to in the Fili, to see if there are any instruc-
as a warning against Hispanization. In the second, it is utilized to tive differences from the Noli.
show the cynicism of the European powers; their applause for the It seems perhaps surprising that Philippine toponyms (exclud-
Latin American republics’ militarily-achieved independences fol- ing Manila) are mentioned only 12 times, by comparison with the
lows the inhuman logic of ‘might makes right? Hence, if his own Nol?s 23. No place is referred to more than once. The distribu-
revolution is bloodily successful, it will be accepted in the same tion is: Narrator, 9 (Luzon, Iloilo, San Mateo, Batangas, Albay,
spirit. Simoun’s tactic perfectly fits his mood and character. Still, Kagayan, Pangasinan, Tayabas, and the Visayas); Simoun men-
one has to ask why the novelist bars any reference to, shall we tions Los Bafios; Pecson, Malolos; and Custodio, Mindanao. The
say, the ‘Bolivarian Project? which had ended imperial rule over geographic bias in favor of Luzon is obvious, and reminiscent of
95 percent of the Spanish empire a generation or two before he what we observed in the Noli. With regard to the rest of the
himself was born? I am not sure if there is an obvious answer, but world, no very big changes have occurred. The Fili contains 45
it is possible that nationalism, perhaps even an embarrassed na- toponyms to the Noli’s 47, and there is a small reduction in
tionalism, was at work. The more the history of the Empire was Europe’s dominance. The regional distribution is: Europe, 18
displayed, the more his beloved country could appear as a kind of (26); Asia, 9 (7); the Middle East, 9 (7); the Americas, 4 (2);
political Juan Tamad, the last Spanish colony to stay subservient. Oceania, 2 (2); Africa, 1 (3); and the Caribbean, 2 (-). Once again
Besides, the Philippines was unique, it was on the other side of the Narrator is far the biggest user, with 53 (57) usages, followed
the globe from South America, and it was the only colony in by Simoun, 16; Mr. Leeds, 8; Ben Zayb, 3; Makaraig, Tadeo, and
which Spanish was not the dominant language of everyday life for Custodio, 2 each; and the Pelaezes, father and son, Capitana
most strata. Perhaps Rizal thought that the old Spanish empire Tinchang, Isagani, Capitan Basilio, the ship’s captain, P.
was locally irrelevant? Florentino, and “Horatius,” 1 apiece.
As for ‘persons, there is a sharp diminution in all categories
but one. No saints are mentioned at all, compared to the 22 in the
Noli; figures from the history of Antiquity are down from 20 to 17;
from mainly Graeco-Roman mythology, from 31 to 8; from the
Bible, from 14 to 2; no personages appear from either Church or
colonial history (where in the Noli the numbers are 15 and 11);
95. His library seems to have contained not a single book on Spanish
America, and the region is barely mentioned in his correspondence. A true people from European history are down from 15 to 7; writers
European provincial, perhaps? and artists from 13 to 9. Only in the category of scientists is there
96. One might try to imagine the outcome of Simoun’s plot, had it a marked increase, from 3 to 9, and many of these are concen-
been successful: if not chaos, then surely a restless republic, maybe a bar-
trated in the chapter describing P. Millon’s class in Physics. As in
baric revolution, a civil war, perhaps even a pronunciamiento or two?
70 Elfilibusterismo El filibusterismo 71

the Noli, the Narrator dominates the usage of the names. The gen- this intent, since practically none of the Tagalog words in it are
eral diminution can partly be explained by the fact that the Pili is a explained or paraphrased in Spanish. No literate comrade in his
lot shorter than the Noli. But this explanation does not suffice for country needed any such help.
the wholesale disappearance of the categories of saints, church But what do the quantitative data show? Depending on how
history, and colonial history, and the near-vanishing of references one counts (unstressed Spanish words emerging from ‘Tagalog?
to the Bible. It looks as if the now 30-year old novelist has lost in- unstressed ‘Tagalog words derived from Spanish?), the total is ap-
terest in parading his culture, though Classical history remains proximately 196 words, including repetitions.9”? Not only is the
dear to him. He seems also to have lost interest in Catholicistn, total substantially larger than the Nol’s approximately 127, but
even in a polemical sense. (This explanation seems to be con- the distribution is far wider, almost doubly so. The details of the
firmed by the minor significance of the friars, who are treated distribution look like this: Narrator, 80 (including 2 voice-overs
more humorously than maliciously). What is most remarkable is each for Simoun and Cabesang Tales, and 1 each for P. Millon
the absence of a category that one might reasonably expect in a and Custodio); unnamed students, 20; Makaraig, 10; the candy-
novel of the Fil’s genre—political thinkers; and the paucity of the vendor and Hermana Penchang, 8 each; Simoun, 7; ‘Tadeo, P.
political leaders to whom the readers’ attention is drawn. But for Millon, and Primitivo, 5 each; Isagani, the ship’s captain, an
this absence I have already suggested above the most likely anonymous woman, and Pecson, 4 apiece; Cabesang Andang and
reason. rumormongers, 3 each; P. Salvi, La Victorina, Capitana Loleng,
Hermana Bali, Quiroga, anonymous voices, and the town clerk, 2
C. Questions about Tagalog each; and Cabesang ‘Tales, Basilio, Ben Zayb, Tandang Selo,
Capitan Basilio, Penitente, a silversmith, a sacristan, the curate of
In the first section of this book, one of the arguments made San Diego, an anonymous man, neighbors, and a conspirator, 1
was that the only plausible way to explain the facts—that the Nar- apiece. The only significant group missing is that of the friars (ex-
rator was by far the largest user of Tagalog words, and that a cept for P. Millon).
high percentage of these words had Spanish paraphrases attached Some uses of Tagalog so visible in the Noli are (slightly less)
to them—was to underscore the degree to which the book was conspicuous in the fil. Once again ‘Tagalog exclamations are of-
aimed at a sympathetic, but not very well-informed, ‘interna- ten deployed for purely comic effect: abd, nak, ay, uy, aray, sulung,
tional’ readership. I added that since Rizal wrote the novel in susmartosep, for example. They are mostly used by those bossy and
Spanish, and had a thoroughly Spanish name, the heavy use of shallow middle-aged women for whom Rizal seems to have had a
Tagalog was a way of expressing his indigenous and authentic special aversion. The exception is P. Millon, who manipulates
identity as a Tagalog and, maybe, Filipino. these interjections, quite consciously, to make fun of his students.
None of this applies to the Fil, which, in a way, is confirmation The Narrator again often uses Tagalog nouns in the costumbrista
of the argument above. We know that Rizal sent almost the entire
print run of the novel to Hong Kong, addressed to José Basa,
whom he trusted would smuggle it into Filipinas. His readers 97. The total would be reduced by 28 if dudisan were not counted. The
word is of Nahuatl origin, but was taken over into Mexican Spanish, and
were now to be his fellow-countrymen above all. The text reflects eventually introduced into, and embedded within, Tagalog.
72 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 73

manner, to describe objects and practices commonplace in the Andang, and La Victorina. Or are they meant to mock the
Philippines but not found in Spain. But there is no longer any ‘colonial-mestizo’ linguistic practices of the Filipino community in
whiff of the ‘native informant’ or ‘tour-guide’ in such descriptions. Spain? Neither possibility seems to me fully plausible. The most
Earlier on, I observed an intricate nexus between authenticity telling evidence is the brilliantly achieved conversation that takes
and the presence/absence of Tagalog. Crispin’s children’s riddle place between a candy-vendor with one of her (unnamed) student
and the lines from Balagtas, both forming complete sentences and customers in the aftermath of the mass arrests.°9 For the episode,
both untranslated, are signs of the pristine truth of the uncontami- though quite brief, runs flatly against the logic of Simoun’s pas-
nated language. La Consolacién’s “perfect Tagalog” surfaees sion for a ‘native’ national idioma, as well as that of the rival cam-
when she allows herself for a moment to feel the melancholy paign for the installation and promotion of ‘Academic’ Hispani-
power of Sisa’s kundiman. Conversely, the heroic indio Elias never zation. It seems to me to show, for the umpteenth time, that the
uses the language, and it is just this absence that protects his seri- greatness of the novelist could never be tamed by his moral-
ousness and purity. The central figure in the Fili who comes near- political concerns.
est to Elias is Simoun, who, if we delete all his references to Let us look at this conversation for a few moments. It is ren-
tulisanes, could also be said to be a speaker of ‘pure Spanish’ un- dered in what is often called chabacano, but, in the Fili, a more tra-
tainted by Tagalog, and thus symbolically its equivalent.°* In the ditional name, espaol del Parian, is more appropriate. Guillermo
Noli mixed speech is always a sign for coloniality, but it remains to Gomez Rivera writes that el calé chino de Binondo, o el lenguaje de
be seen whether this is still true for the Fil. Binondo . . . es otro chabacano, 6 criollo, que originé del commerciante chino
So far, so similar. The big difference between the two novels cristiano desde el comienzo de la trata de los galeones de Manila. A partir de
comes with the students, who use Tagalog 44 times. Almost all ese tiempo era el idioma popular de la compra y venta al por major y al por
the named students, good, bad, and _ indifferent—Makaraig, menor [The argot of Binondo, or the language of the Parian is a
Pecson, Penitente, Tadeo, and so on—use ‘Tagalog words. The sur- different chabacano, or creole, which originated from the milieu
prising exception is Juanito Pelaez, who, however, uses plenty of of Christian Chinese traders from the start of the galleon trade.
Spanish slang. The general pattern is repeated with the anony- From that time on, it was the popular idiom for wholesale and re-
mous students (20 times). The interesting question that arises— tail trade.]!°°
given that these students are young, male, educated, and mostly “Ya cogi ba con Tadeo?” preguntaba la duena [Is it true Tadeo’s
from well-off families—is whether their linguistic habits are being been caught?” asked the proprietress].
satirized: so to speak aligning them with middle-aged, female,
poorly educated characters like Hermana Penchang, Cabesang

98. One might also suspect that the Narrator’s studious avoidance of 99. This conversation occurs on p. 220, in chap. 27 (“Tatakut”), the
Tagalog verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and interjections guarantees one chapter given a Tagalog title.
his moral seriousness against the parodic possibilities of mixed language. 100. My thanks to Bomen Guillermo for this quotation from a text by
He can make fun of the characters he describes, but has no inclination to Rivera, a member of the Academia Filipina de la Lengua, which he found
make fun of himself (very much like the author, in fact). at http://www.rogersantos.org/rizal.html.
74 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 75

“Abd, wora,” contestaba un estudiante que vivia en Parian, “pusilau ‘No di falta novio, nora. Siguro di lord poco, luego di casé con un
ya!” (“Good Lord, ma’am,” replied a student who resided in espanol!” [She won't lack for boyfriends, ma’am. Sure she’ll cry a
Parian.!°! “He’s already been shot!”] bit, then marry a Spaniard!”]
“Pusilau! Naki! No pa ta pagé conmigo su deuda!” (“Shot! My God!
And he still hasn’t paid me back what he owes me!”] It may be useful and interesting to look at this chatter line by
“Ay! No jabla vos puelte, nora, baké pa di quedd vos complice. Ya line, since espariol del Parién (EP) has been dead in Manila for half
quema yo tiga el libro que ya dale prestau conmigo! Baké pa di riquisa y di a century.10?
encontra! Anda vos listo, nora!” [“Hey! Don’t speak so loud, ma’am,
or you could be taken for an accomplice. Actually, Pve already Line |. In ordinary Spanish it would be: Ya cogieron a Tadeo? In
burned the book he lent me. Otherwise, maybe they’d search and ordinary Tagalog: Nahuli ba si Tadeo? (EP has only one
find it! Be prepared, ma’am, keep a sharp eye out!” indicative past tense, formed by ya + the infinitive, which
“Ta quedé dice preso Isagani?” (“You mean to say Isagani is in also loses its final ‘r’? Con always replaces 4. This is a
jail?” Spanish sentence of sorts to which the unnecessary Taga-
“Loco-loco también aquel Isagani,” decia el estudiante indignado, “no log ba is added.)!%
sana di cogt con ele, ta andd pa presenta! O, bueno tiga, que topd rayo con Line 2. In Spanish: ya lo han fusilado; Tagalog: nabaril na! (The
ele! Siguro pusilau!” (“That Isagani is really a fool,” said the student word order here is Tagalog rather than Spanish.)
indignantly. “They shouldn’t have been able to catch him, but he Line 3. In Spanish: Todavia no han pagado su deuda conmigo; in
went and turned himself in! Well, then, it’ll serve him right if the Tagalog: Hindi pa niya binabayaran ang utang niya sa
lightning strikes him! He’ll be shot for sure!”] La sefora se encogié akin. (In EP the present indicative is created by ta + the
de hombros. [The lady shrugged her shoulders.] infinitive [pagd for pagar]. The word order of the start is
“Conmigo no ta debi nada! Y cosa di jasé Paulita?” [“He doesn’t Tagalog, while that of the ending is neither Spanish nor
owe me a thing! And what will Paulita do now?”] Tagalog.)

102. My thanks to Tony Wood for the clean Spanish, and to Bomen
101. Carol Hau has pointed out to me the significance of this address. Guillermo for the clean Tagalog. Emmanuel Luis Romanillos, “El
In the early days after the Spanish conquest, the Parfan was planned as a chabacano de Cavite: creptsculo de un criollo hispano-filipino?” Linguae et
ghetto for un-Christianized sangleyes. It was located near the Spanish walled Litterae (1 Dec. 1992), 19-14, offers a fine, succinct account of EP/
city of Intramuros, on the opposite side of the river from Binondo, the Chabacano’s grammar and syntax. The only drawback is that, though he
designated quarter for Christianized sangleyes, their native wives, and mes- notes that EP was widely spoken in Ermita, Quiapo, Malate, San Nicolas,
tizo children. In 1790 the whole quarter was razed to the ground to allow Santa Cruz, Trozo, and Paco till the Second World War, the article is fo-
an expansion of the fortifications of Intramuros, and its population moved cused mainly on Cavite. No mention of Chinese.
to Binondo, which thus became thé ‘Chinatown’ we know today. See 103. For alternative Tagalog versions of this passage, see Ignacio
Wickberg, “The Chinese Mestizos,” 11-12, 20, 23, and 41. The seeming Rosendo, Ang pagsusuwail (N.p.: Angeles S. Santos, 1958), 403-4; Patricio
gratuitousness of giving the unnamed student a named address—in Mariano, Ang ‘filibusterismo” (Quezon City: Roberto Martinez and
Manila’s oldest Chinese quarter—possibly represents Rizal’s hint that the Sons,1958), 298; M. Odulio de Guzman, Ang “filibusterismo” ni Dr. José Rizal
boy is a Chinese mestizo. (Manila: G.O.T. Publishers, 1960), 262; and Virgilio Almario, £/
76 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 77

Line 4. Spanish: No hable tan fuerte, sefiora, si no va a quedar Line 8. Spanish: No le faltaron novios, sefiora. Seguramente va a
cémplice. Ya quemé el libro que me prestd. Si no, me llorar un poco, y luego se va a casar con un espafiol. Ta-
hubieron requisado y lo hubieron encontrado. Ten galog: Hindi siya mawawalan ng mga nobio, Senyora.
cuidado, sefora! Tagalog: Huwag kang magsalita nang Sigurado, iiyak siya nang kaunti, pagkaraan mag-aasawa
malakas, Senyora, baka ka madamay. Sinunog ko na nga din siya ng isang Kastila. (The structure is Spanish.
ang libro na ipinahiram niya sa akin. Baka pa hanapan Again, I think sigurado best conveys the student’s cyni-
ako at makita ito. Mag-iingat kayo, Senyora. (EP uses di cism about Paulita’s shallow, opportunistic character.)
+ shortened infinitive for the future indicative. Baka pasis
idiomatic Tagalog, but the verbs are active, following What are we to make of this?
Spanish.) The rapid, frightened, cynical chatter is funny, but, in the grim
Line 5. Spanish: Esta diciendo que Isagani esta preso? Tagalog: context of Tatakut, not at all parodic—i.e., intended to mock the
Sinasabi mo bang nakapreso si Isagani? (Seems to be interlocutors’ degraded grammar or ludicrous pronunciation.
Spanish with partly Tagalog word order.) The same point could be made with respect to another, shorter
Line 6. Spanish: Aquel Isagani es un verdadero loco . . . no le EP passage in the Fili. This occurs in chapter 18 (“Supercherias”),
hubieran cogido, si no se hubiera presentado. Se lo where a crowd of Manilefios, eager to see Mr. Leeds’ mummy-
merece, quo lo parta un rayo! Seguro que lo van a fusilar. show, find to their annoyance that they are not allowed entry.
Tagalog: Luko-luko talaga si Isagani, hindi sana siya Rizal gives us a brief, funny exchange between two anonymous
mahuhuli, kung hindi pa siya nagprisinta. O, mabuti nga irritated people, one male and one female.!%
at baka tamaan siya ng lintik! Sigurado babarilin siya!
(Here the Tagalog is rather strong: the insertion of sana, “Porque ha no di podi nisos entra?” preguntaba una voz de
the trumping of the Hispanic “O, bueno” by the idiomatic mujer. “Aba, fiora, porque ‘tall4 el mand prailes y el manda
Tagalog particle iga. I have changed Bomen Guillermo’s empleau,” contesté un hombre; “‘ta jasi sdlo para flos el cabesa
de espinge.” “Curiosa también el mand prailes!” dijé la voz de
“siguro” to “sigurado,” following Tony Wood’s transla- mujer alejandose; “no quiere pa que di sabé nisos cuando ilos ta
tion, which feels right; the student is speaking with bra- sali ingafiau! Cosa! Querida ba de praile el cabesa?”
vado, not with caution.)
Line 7. Spanish: Conmigo no tiene ninguna deuda! Y que va a (“Why can’t we get in?’ asked a woman’s voice. “Aba, fiora, in-
pasar con Paulita? Tagalog: Wala siyang utang sa akin! side there’s only friars and officials,” a man replied. “The
At ano na ang gagawin ni Paulita? (EP cosa—what; di jasé
is the future form of hacer. The structure is Spanish.)
104. In Rizal’s personal library, there were no less than ten novels by
Eugéne Sue. Runners up were Dumas pére with five, and Zola with four.
One of the most alluring features of Sue’s 1844-1845 blockbuster, Les
Mystéres de Paris, was its ample use both of Parisian argot and the patois of
Jilibusterismo (Quezon City: Adarna House, 1999), 231. Only Almario at- his native Auvergne. It is quite likely that here Rizal had Sue in mind. See
tempted to convey the patois character of the original. Comparison of the Under Three Flags, 46-48.
translations would be fascinating, but I cannot attempt it here. 105. Rizal, El filibusterismo, 134.
78 El filibusterismo El filibusterismo 79

sphinx head is just for them.” “Still, these friars are weird,” said airbrushed from the picture, leaving a ‘pure mix’ of Spanish and
the woman as she moved away, “they don’t want us to catch on Tagalog—like the airbrushing of Chinese mestizos throughout the
when they come out fooled (engamado). What can you expect! Is novel. (It is instructive that, while Rizal used fiol in a friendly
the (sphinx’s) head some friar’s girlfriend?”
manner when writing privately to Paterno, it appears publicly in
the /ili only in the malicious, mocking mouth of P. Millon.)
Rizal does not use EP here to invite his readers to laugh at or
There are parallels elsewhere in Southeast Asia. Bangkokians
look down on the two speakers; rather he invites us to laugh
almost universally replace the correct ‘r’ with the Teo-chiu-de-
along with them especially at the woman’s marvellous final sar-
rived ey in everyday speech (‘long lian} for ‘rong rian’ = school,
casm. The pair have no sociological contours, so that we can
for example), but this transformation almost never appears in
readily take them for Everyman and Everywoman, or, better per-
written Thai. Jakartans casually use Hokkien numerals and the
haps, Manila’s vox populi.
Hokkien for thank-you (‘kamsia’) in conversation and_ private
Furthermore, Romanillos draws our attention to a postcard
letters, but this behavior is rarely reflected in written ‘public
sent by Rizal to Pedro Paterno from Hong Kong on February 9,
Indonesian.’
1888, which reads: Nol, Aqui estd nisés con fol Iriarte. Y% di anda na
Nonetheless, despite the racist censorship involved, the chat-
Londrés, di pasé por Estados Unidos. Pronto di visita con vos. Ya manda
ter between the candy-vendor and her customer shows that we
nis6s expresiones con el mga capatid y otro pa suyo. Adids, nol Maguinoo [I
are in the presence of a real, Hokkien-inflected lingua franca for
am here with fol Iriarte. I’m leaving for London via the United
the streets of Manila, egalitarianly shared by poor vendors and
States. Will visit you soon. I send my greetings to the comrades
their elite student customers. A patois, yes, and Simoun would
and also to you. Bye-bye, fiol Maguinoo]. A straightforward com-
not have approved, but also an instrument of social communica-
munication in EP, with only the mild malice involved in combin-
tion, not an emblem of political shame.!°” The Noli contains noth-
ing fiol with Paterno’s pretentious, self-bestowed, Tagalog title.
ing like this.
(Romanillos adds that Rizal would have picked up EP while a
schoolboy in Manila, and from his frequent visits to his grand-
mother in Trozo, one of the quarters where EP was common-
place.)
Still, there is something unsettling about the first Fili passage
discussed, for all its brio. Even though Rizal casually mentions
the student’s ‘Chinese’ Manilan address, the only sign of the calé
Binondo is his unmarked use of fuelle for fuerte. Nol is strikingly ab-
sent.!°6 One can’t help feeling that ‘Chineseness’ has been
Spanish-officered colonial military. Rivera offers a short conversation in
(Binondo-Manila) EP that contains not merely Sefolia, but also polque
106. Romanillos (2006, 80-93) cites admiringly a Zamboangan (porque), oélo (otro), and luhal (lugar).
chabacano version of Rizal’s famous last poem. It contains plenty of words 107. It is striking that in his “El chabacano” Romanillos reports that
ending correctly in -or: vapor, rumor, dolor, olor, and so on (no dolol, vapol, even peninsulares quickly picked up EP for use in markets, haciendas,
etc.) This form of the patois had its origins with the native-manned, churches, and on the street. P. Millon!
 Concluding Reflections 81

The third lesson is that, in the course of writing the novels,

Rizal was, step by step, and probably not always consciously, re-
thinking his identities and those of his fellow-countrymen. The
Noli shows visible traces of the semantic turmoil surrounding the
idea of ‘the filipino’ in the last two decades of the nineteenth cen-
tury. We thus find examples where the word is still used in the
long-standing colonial sense to mean Spanish creoles; and others
where it acquires a metropolitan meaning, i.e., ‘someone arriving
in Europe from the Philippines; no matter what his or her racial
make-up or legal status in the distant colony. It is striking that nei-
ther the heroic Elias nor the Machiavellian Simoun ever refer to
What can be learned from the laboriously accumulated and ana-
themselves as Filipinos—and we have seen that on the eve of his
lyzed data on the terminologies and languages deployed in the
death Rizal wrote his identity as indio. It is clear also that Rizal’s
Noli and the Fili?
conception of his home-society changed between the writing of the
The first and most general lesson is that the long-standing
Noli and the Fil. The imagined social structure of the Noli is, over-
practice of selective and often tendentious short quotations from
all, consistent with the traditional graded racial hierarchy. But in
the novels in order to force their author into particular (and
the Fil: it has largely been refigured in triangular form, with chinos
sometimes anachronistic) political positions is obsolete, and
and indios sharply and competitively set off against each other un-
should now be abandoned. Any scholar trying to understand
der Spanish colonial authority. Why this should have happened
what Rizal meant by such terms as pueblo, indio, patria, Filipinas,
remains to be studied, but there is no doubt that in the second
Jilipino, and so on has to consider which characters in the novels
novel one finds disagreeably racist (anti-Chinese) episodes and
use these terms—to whom, and in what contexts—and to recognize
language that are entirely absent from the Noli.
that in most cases there is no single, stable meaning. This consid-
It is always good, when studying pictures, actual or metaphori-
eration necessarily includes the unreliable Narrator, who cannot
cal, to ask oneself “what is absent?” The accumulation of a mass
always be taken as the personal voice or even voices of the First
of quantitative data especially encourages the analyst to confront
Filipino. Scholars must also be sensitive to the changes that are
and even answer this question.
evident from the Noli to the Fili.
Hence the fourth lesson is that students of these novels have to
The second lesson is that it is essential to bear constantly in
reckon with some extraordinary absences. Throughout the two
mind that the novels were written by a man who spent almost all
books, only one character, Tadeo, and only on one occasion, spe-
his adult life (up to 1892) outside the Philippines. The Noli was
cifically mentions the term mestizo chino, though almost all serious
clearly written in part for a non-Filipino readership; although the
historians recognize that in the nineteenth century this notable
Fili is, in contrast, completely aimed at Rizal’s fellow-countrymen,
stratum of colonial society was steadily growing in size, wealth,
its imagining of the Philippines is heavily refracted through the
ambition, and political consciousness; and to a considerable
author’s often painful experiences in Europe.
82 Concluding Reflections Concluding Reflections 83

degree it has since remained the most powerful social group in One perceives a profound aporia. For the transcendence to hap-
the country. Rizal was perfectly aware of its existence and impor- pen, there would have to be a stable ‘high’ term for their reincar-
tance, but the novels are composed in a manner that largely hides nation, but both ‘indio’ and ‘filipino’ had not yet achieved this po-
it. In this way the ground is laid for the mestizos chinos to become, sition—in the colony. This may also explain Rizal’s shyness about
most likely, the first ‘Filipinos? ‘nationally’ contrasted with the calling characters Tagalogs, even though the Tagalog language is
‘real? and ‘foreign, ‘Chinese’ everywhere in the texts. A peculiar picture of the Philippine soci-
A second important absence is that of any substantial recogni- ety emerges, without Chinese mestizos, and without ethnolinguis-
tion of the enormous ethnolinguistic and cultural variety of the in- tic groups, but also, on the whole, without a collective name—yer.
habitants of the Philippines. The novels show us no Ilocanos, no The third obvious absence is visible in the paucity of modern
Bicolanos, no Pampanguefios, no Cebuanos, and so on. There political vocabulary. The point has been made at length in the
are only a (very) few passing references to Visayans, above analysis of the Fil, and need not detain us too long here.
Batanguefios, and the ¢ribus independientes of the Luzon Cordillera, But the evidence inside the novels, and outside, suggests that
and no local Moslems whatever. This absence cannot have been Rizal was in many ways a political innocent, or, better, had little
accidental, since Rizal’s circle of friends, and enemies, included interest in the huge nineteenth-century debates about political in-
(mostly Manilified) Ilocanos, Pampangans, and Visayans. The stitutions, forms, reforms, programs, and so on.!% Simoun’s ‘re-
difficulty is how to account for this absence. It is true that the venge’ is quite personal and has no real political content at all. So
Spanish colonial tradition did not emphasize these ethnolinguistic the novels force the reader to recognize that the great man was
groups, which had no legal standing. Spanish censuses (unlike the above all an artist and a moralist; and, thus, that judging what
American censuses that followed the Occupation) did not count politics he had at various times needs to take this fully into ac-
them. But surely this cannot be the fullest answer, since we know count.
that Rizal avidly read Blumentritt’s painstakingly worked-out The final conclusion, if one can call it that, is that the novels
‘map’ of the archipelago’s ethnolinguistic variety. One might have reveal to us the complexities of the relationship between national-
expected that the novels would show characters from the various ism and language, or, better, languages. Nothing exemplifies this
ethnic groups transcending their provincial origins to become true better than Simoun’s long, confused tirade against Hispanization.
nationalists, but this does not happen. They are simply absent.!® It is not simply that the gaunt conspirator himself never uses any
indigenous language, not even Tagalog, and speaks to Basilio of
“your nationality” as if he himself did not share it. He rattles on
108. Jun Aguilar has thoughtfully suggested to me that one can ob-
serve very similar situations in other parts of Southeast Asia. It took more
than a generation for Javanese patriots to be capable of seeing their com- 109. Many readers may be taken aback by this judgment, and will be
patriots from Sumatra, Borneo, and Sulawesi, as genuinely ‘like’ them- inclined to remind me that after all Rizal spoke often about ‘freedom’ in
selves, i.e., as full Indonesians (and even today many Outer Islanders com- the novels. But again the evidence points against such a response. The key
plain of Javanese condescension). One can find the same difficulties experi- word libertad appears in the Fili only twenty times, and is used by a very
enced by Vietnamese with their Montagnard fellow-citizens, Burmans with restricted circle of characters: Isagani, P. Florentino, Simoun, and two
their Chin and Kachin fellow-countrymen, and so on. Nothing at all pecu- Spaniards, the High Official and Sandoval. The Narrator never uses the
liarly Filipino. word,
84 Concluding Reflections Concluding Reflections 85

in excellent Spanish while insisting that only an indigenous lan- the Philippines, then understood Tagalog, or Ilocano, or
guage can express the true pensamiento of a colonized people, and Cebuano?) Every ex-colonial country, and by no means just these
also casually recalls that no less than forty languages are spoken countries, faces the same problem. How to speak or write to the
in the Philippines. Rizal himself gave up the attempt to write a rest of the world? How to speak or write among ‘ourselves’?
third novel, in Tagalog, after very few pages, and left it up to his If one looks at the decolonized world that began to emerge af-
elder brother Paciano to translate the Noli into that language. ter 1945, one sees two solutions to the first problem. One of these
When the great man traveled across the U.S., for which he had a is to establish formally one of the ‘international languages’—En-
European contempt, it did not occur to him to say that (colortial- glish, French, Spanish, and Arabic, perhaps Portuguese too—as an
derived) English could not express the jpensamiento of the ‘official language’ (alongside a local ‘national’ language). The
polyethnic republic; nor, in his acid remarks about Latin ‘democratic’ intent is to have all the young citizens learn one of
America, does Simoun attribute its problems to (ex-colonial) these languages as a globally useful second language via the na-
Spanish. Rizal wrote occasionally about the (to us heroic) Cu- tional educational system. The second solution is to give the se-
bans, without much enthusiasm, but also without worrying about lected foreign language no formal status, but confine its use to the
their Spanish speech. One notices also Rizal’s reticence about his narrow strata that need special training in dealing with the outside
own Tagalog in the novels. Although the texts are full of Tagalog world. Here the tendency is toward oligarchy, and self-enclosed
words, it is only rarely that they are named as such, and at no and self-perpetuating elites. Had Mabini had his way, I have no
point is there any claim that Tagalog expresses the pensamiento of doubt that he would have chosen the first option, Simoun not-
the Philippine people. (We know from his correspondence that he withstanding. All the better if the Spanish themselves were re-
criticized Ilocanos for speaking Tagalog badly, but as far as we moved from imperial power, especially since almost all the major
know he made not the slightest effort to learn, and speak [badly languages of the Philippines had long been impregnated with bits
too] the Ilocano language.) Another huge absence? Also a sign for and pieces, not always recognized as such, of Castilian.
a profound aporia? I think so. The domestic problem is quite another matter. Again, there
There is every reason to think that, if the malign Kano had not are two general options. The first, which is a residue of ‘second-
seized his country, and if the First Republic had been allowed to generation’ European romantic nationalism, is to enshrine one lo-
survive, a kind of Filipino Spanish would have become, de facto, cal language as the ‘national language. This solution can often be
either the official language or the country’s lingua franca. Mabini the source of unending problems. The local language selected is
shows this trajectory most beautifully. Although he was not a typically that of the politically and economically dominant
wealthy ilustrado, never went to Europe, and treasured his own ethnolinguistic group, not in the least interested in learning other
transcription of Florante at Laura, he was completely comfortable domestic languages. The policy is almost always resisted, because
with Spanish, and all the complex decrees he issued in the pressure comes from the state and the state’s educational sys-
Aguinaldo’s name were in that language. Aside from all the other tem, and appears to offer members of the dominant group a huge
likely reasons for this stance, one has to remember that all na- advantage in the realm of public-service employment, especially if
tionalisms need to represent themselves to other nations, and lo- it is policed by an examination system. This is why, at one level,
cal languages can only rarely fulfill this function. (Who, outside Tagalog has been resisted in many parts of the Philippines. The
86 Concluding Reflections Concluding Reflections 87

formal logic is that only the Tagalog speak ‘really good’ Tagalog, multilingual colonial Manila. Not recognized officially, of course,
and so ... every other linguistic group has to bow to Tagalog su- because it was neither ‘malalim na castellano’ nor ‘perfect Tagalog;
periority. But this is only one side of the story. As in many other and was contaminated by the tarbrush of the ‘foreign’ Chinese.
countries, Tagalog, resisted as the ‘national language’ when it Rizal could have faked this up, by having the conversation take
comes via the state, is embraced as a lingua franca when it arrives place in Tagalog, but he was too brilliant a writer to fall for this
in the markets of domestic travel and commerce, and of the mass absurdity. The result is that Simoun’s retro call for a single pure
media. The condition for acceptance in the market is that it is not language, representing the pensamiento of all the vast, exhilarating
policed, and that people come to feel they need it in their every- variety of Las Filipinas, is good-humoredly cancelled by EP. The
day lives. In such circumstances, Tagalog becomes less the ‘na- amazing thing is that EP survived Rizal by half a century in Ma-
tional language, than a needed lingua franca. It is not the mo- nila.'!? Here we see the lineaments of a project that was de-
nopoly of the self-interested Tagalog, but is open to everyone to stroyed in the catastrophe we are accustomed stupidly to call the
adapt it, ‘corrupt’ it, change it, in accord with local needs. Inevita- Second World War: Spanish as ‘official’ language, and a mas-
bly resistance to this process comes from part of the ethnic oligar- sively various EP as a popular lingua franca.
chy: “These people don’t understand malalim na Tagalog.” But the But a basic, popular political impulse cannot be destroyed. So
truth is that there is no lingua franca that is malalim. (Nor, it ap- long as ‘American English’ is kept as a class quasi-monopoly, it
pears, is malalim na Tagalog—deep Tagalog—uncontaminated by will be subverted from all sides. Filipinos who laugh at Erap’s En-
Spanish.) This is what we learn from Indonesia, which has a glish too easily forget that their own version of ‘American En-
hugely successful national lingua franca, spoken differently all glish’ is often laughed at by the distant monopolists of this type of
over the huge archipelago, and with no one effectively dictating its English, who in turn are frequently mocked by users of the
usage or monopolizing it (not even the Suharto dictatorship!). Queen’s English across the Atlantic. One has to learn to enjoy
The second alternative is to understand the cultural politics in- “Faki-doorbell na lang kayo!”
volved and opt for an open lingua franca that does not belong to ‘Taglish is one democratic descendant of EP. The country
any one group. So to speak: “Down with malalim na Tagalog! Res- needs it: a language to which everyone can contribute in her or
cue street Tagalog for all of us!” Here one sees the vast political his own wild way. Communication iiber alles! This does not mean
difference between a lonely ‘national language’ (many countries accepting mixed language merely as a lowest common denomina-
today have given up on this nineteenth-century European idea), tor. We have seen the astoundingly beautiful, opulent possibilities
and a common lingo that everyone can pick up and use in talking of mixed-language growth and depth in Patrice Chamoiseau’s
to everyone else. The Fil, thanks to a creative power that Rizal stunning Yexaco and Soliman le Magnifique, in Salman Rushdie’s
himself sometimes did not recognize, offers a striking example, novels, and in the glorious epic poetry of Derek Walcott.
entirely absent from the Noli. The splendor of the conversation
between the candy-vendor and the student from Parian shows that
the novelist was aware of the possibilities of a domestic lingua
franca—EP, I have called it—understood completely by Spaniards 110. Chabacano in different forms, i.c., not EP itself, survives cheer-
and the nationalist elite, as well as the masses, in multiethnic and fully in Cavite City, Ternate, Zamboanga, and Cotabato.
 Bibliography 89

Mariano, Patricio. Ang “filibusterismo.” Quezon City: Roberto Martinez and

Sons, 1958.
One Hundred Letters of José Rizal. Manila: National Historical Society, 1959.
Quibuyen, Floro C. A Nation Aborted: Rizal, American Hegemony, and Philippine
Nationalism. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999.
Rafael, Vicente. The Promise of the Foreign: Nationalism and the Technics of Trans-
lation in the Spanish Philippines. Manila: Anvil, 2006.
Rizal, José. Noli Me Tangere. Manila: Instituto Nacional de Historia, 1978.
. El Filibusterismo. Manila: Instituto Nacional de Historia, 1990.
The Rizal-Blumentritt Correspondence, vol. 1 (1886-1889). Manila: National
Historical Institute, 1992.
Romanillos, Emmanuel Luis A. “El Chabacano de Cavite: Crepusculo de
Aguilar, Filomeno, Jr. “Tracing Origins: J/ustrado Nationalism and the Racial un criollo hispano-filipino?” Linguae et Litterae 1 (Dec. 1992): 9-14.
Science of Migration Waves.” Journal of Asian Studies 14, no. 3 (Aug. . “Rizal and Chabacano.” In Chabacano Studies: Essays on Cavite’s
2005): 605-37.
Chabacano Language and Literature. DLSU-Dasmariiias: Cavite Historical
Almario, Virgilio. El filibusterismo. Quezon City: Adarna House, 2005. Society, 2006.
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities. Rev. ed. London and New York: Rosendo, Ignacio. Ang pagsusuwail. N.p.: Angeles D. Santos, 1958.
Verso, 1991.
Schumacher, John N., SJ. The Propaganda Movement, 1880-1895: The Cre-
. The Spectre of Comparisons: Nationalism, Southeast Asia, and the World. ators of a Filipino Consciousness, the Makers of the Revolution. Rev.ed. Quezon
London and New York: Verso, 1998; Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1997.
University Press, 2004. Scott, William Henry. The Uniin Obrera Democratica: First Filipino Labor Union.
. Under Three Flags: Anarchism and the Anti-colonial Imagination. London Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1992.
and New York: Verso, 2005. Viola, Maximo. Mis viajes con el Dr. Rizal (1913). In Diariosy memorias. Vol. 1
Cartas entre Rizal y el Profesor Fernando Blumentritt, 1888-1890. Pt. 2. In libro of Escritos de José Rizal. Manila: Comisién del Centenario de José Rizal,
2 of tomo 2 of the Correspondencia epistolar. Manila: Comisién del 1961.
Centenario de José Rizal, 1961. Wickberg, Edgar. “The Chinese Mestizos in Philippine History.” Journal of
Cartas entre Rizal y el Profesor Fernando Blumentritt, 1890-1896. Pt. 3. In libro
Southeast Asian History 5, no. 1 (March 1964): 62-100.
2 of tomo 2 of the Correspondencia epistolar. Manila. Comisiédn del
Centenario de José Rizal.
Castro, Jovita Ventura. “Avant-Propos,” to her French translation of Noli
Me Tangere as N’y touchex pas! Paris: Gallimard, 1980.
De Guzman, M. Odilio. Ang “filibusterismo” ni Dr. José Rizal. Manila: G.O.T.
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Guerrero, Leon Ma. The First Filipino: A Biography of José Rizal. Manila: Na-
tional Historical Institute, 1961.
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88
 Index 91

Contrarevolucién, 60 63, 83; readership, 80; social struc-

Cordillera, 4, 41, 50, 82 ture, 81
Costumbres, 53 Filibustero, 13, 19, 59
Costumbrista, 71 Filipinas (patria), 14-16, 24, 27, 30, 34,
Dotee Creoles. See Criollos 50, 52, 58, 80
Criolla, 4, 7, 39 Filipino(s) (noun), 10, 11, 34
Criollos, 3, 4, 9, 11, 43, 46 Filipino/a (adjective), 10, 11, 53-54
Cuba, 66 Freedom, Personal, 17, 66

Del Pilar, Marcelo, 65, 66-67n92 Galleon trade, 73

Demécrata, 19 Geographic bias, 69
Derechos del hombre, 20 Gomez Rivera, Guillermo, 73
Graeco-Roman mythology, figures
Africa, 21, 69 Carliston, 19
dificios filipinos, 53 from, 21, 69
Albay, 20, 50, 69 Castellano, 49-50
Education, Higher, 33, 34 Gremios, 41
American English, 87 Catholicism, 12, 70
Egypt, 21, 55 Guerrero, Leon Ma., 26
Americas, 21, 33, 42, 69 Cavite, 50, 75
Egyptians, 23, 54
Anti-colonial movement, 64 Cebu, 20, 50
El Filibusterismo Hipay, 44
Anti-Sinicism, 31 Cebuanos, 82
Elite, 44, 47n69, 48, 79, 85, 86 Havana, 66
Arist6crata, 19 Chabacano, 45n63, 73
Espana, 8-9, 11, 14, 48, 52, 54, 67 Hispanization, 41, 62, 67, 68, 73, 83
Artist, 22, 69 Chiflado, 46
Espanol (adjective), 10, 11, 49 Hokkien honorific, 31
Artistas, 53 China, 7, 21, 55
Espanol (language), 22 Hong Kong, 21, 70, 78
Asia, 21, 69 Chinatown, 74
Espanol (noun), 9, 39, 44, 49-50, 54 Hspitalidad, 53
Assimilation, 62, 63, 65, 67n92 Chinese, 8, 31: culture, 31; language,
Espanol del Parian (EP), 73, 75, 77-78, Huang-ho River, 21
23, 40n51; surnames, 32
86-87
Basa, José, 70 Chinese Mestizos, 3, 4, 7, 30-33, 39,
Espanol(es), 9-10, 11, 48, 49, 54 Ideologia, 62
Batangas, 35, 50, 69 44n60, 45, 65, 79, 83
Espanolismo, 41, 62 Idioma, 41, 42, 73
Batanguefio, 41, 46n68, 82 Chineseness, 45, 78
Espanolizacién, 62 Tlocanos, 6, 7, 41, 43, 82, 84
Bengal, 21 Chino, 5
Estudiantes, 53 Tlocos, 50
Bible, figures from the, 21, 69, 70 Church history, 21, 69, 70
Ethnicity, 1, 4-5, 61: categories, 8 Iloilo, 34, 41, 69
Bicolanos, 41, 82 Citizenship, 19, 61, 63 table 7
Ethnolinguistic groups, 64, 82, 83 Ilustrado(s), 6, 31, 37, 84
Blumentritt, Ferdinand, 6, 28-29, 32, Ciudadano, 19, 61
Europe, 12-13, 20, 27, 37, 47-49, 80- Imagined Communities, 33
35, 64 Clase, 62
81, 84: western, 21-22, 42 Jmperador, 18
Bohol, 50 Classical Antiquity, 21, 69-70
Independencia, 18, 41, 58
Boholanos, 41 Colonial (adjective), 19, 61
Fictionalization, 41 Independientes (adjective), 58
Colonialism, 30, 64
Filibuster, 19, 59 Indio/india, 3-5, 7 table 1, 25, 30, 35,
Canton, 21 Colonias, 19, 61
Filibustera, 59 40, 43, 46-48, 52, 80-81, 83
Capitalista, 19, 62 Compatriotas, 20, 50
Filibusterado, 59 Indios, 3, 41, 43, 44n60, 46, 48, 81
Capitalito, 19 Conservador(es), 18, 59 Filibusterillo, 19, 59 Indische Vereeniging, 36, 37
El Filibusterismo, 29, 59, 63 table 7: char- Indonesia, 37, 86
90 acter, 65n91; political vocabulary, Insulares, 50, 51
 92 Index Index

w
©
Insurrectos, 66 Monarchy, 18, 63 Partido, 18, 62 Real locals, 45
Italian, 23 Moro-moro, 18 Paterno, Pedro, 78-79 Reforma(s), 19, 62
Moros, 5, 10. See also Muslims Patria, 12, 14-16 table 3, 37, 48, 55- Reformador, 19
Japan, 21, 42 Mulato, 39, 43 56, 58 table 6, 80 Reformistas, 62
Japanese language, 23 Mundo filipino, 53 Patriota(s), 56, 58 table 6 Reina, 18
Jolo, 20 Muslims, 4, 5, 36, 41. See also Moros Patribtica, 56, 58 table 6 Repiblicas, 62
Juventud, 53 Patriotismo, 56, 58 table 6 Revolucién, 19, 20, 60
Nacién, 12, 13, 15, 16table3, 37, 48, 55, Peninsular (adjective), 4, 9, 10, 41, 43, Rey [king], 18
Kagayan, 50, 69 58table6 49 Romanillos, Emmanuel Luis, 75n102.
Kundiman, 26, 72 Nacional(es), 12, 13, 16, 55, 58 Peninsulares, 3, 4, 9, 25, 43, 46, 49 78, 79n107
Nacionalidad, 55 Pensamiento, 41, 42, 84, 87
La Solidaridad, 35 Nacionalidades, 12, 13 Perhimpunan Indonesia, 37 Saints, 21, 69, 70
Language, 42: indigenous, 83, 84; in- Nacionalismo, 12, 16, 37, 55 Persia, 21 Salakot, 26
ternational, 85; local, 84-85; na- Nacionalista, 12, 16 Philippines: colonial history, 22, 69; Samar, 50
tional, 85, 86; second, 85 Natio, 55 regional ethnic variations, 41; soci- Sangleyes, 4, 5, 7, 74n101
Latin, 22-23, 24, 37, 55 National freedom/autonomy, 17 ety, 83; toponyms, 20, 69 Saragate, 25
Leyte, 50 National language, 42, 85, 86 Policia secreta, 62 Scientists, European, 22, 69
Liberal (adjective), 18, 59-60 Nationalism, 28, 37, 63, 68, 83-84 Politic (root), 59 Senor, 46n66
Liberalism, 64 Natives, 3, 27, 32, 36, 43 Politica (noun), 59 Senolia, 46, 79n106
Liberalizarse, 59 Naturales, 5, 7, 41, 43 Politico-military struggles, 67 Servant class, 6, 64
Libertad, 17, 41, 50, 58-59, 83n109 Near East, 20 Politicos, 59 Social (adjective), 60
Librar(se), 18 Noli me tangere: absence of Chinese sur- Politics, 20, 32, 59, 65, 83, 86: parties, Social group, 4, 45, 82
Libre [free], 17, 58 names, 30-32; “mixed speech,” 30, 18; terminology, 64n89 Socialism, 63, 64
Los Bafios, 69 72; readership, 27, 31, 80; social- Polysemy, 56 Sociedad, 19, 60
structure, 81 Principe, 18 Soplado, 46
Mabini, Apolinario, 84, 85 Novel, in French, 28-29 Prinsesa, 18 Spain, 8n10, 9, 14, 16 table 3, 33, 36
Malay(an)s, 35 Novela Filipina, 54 Progreso, 19, 62 43n60, 48-49, 55, 63: Del Pilar’s
“Malays,” 34 Novela mundial, 54 Progress/reform, 19, 62 campaign, 66-67; Filipino students
Malolos, 69 “Propaganda by the deed,” 64 in, 34-35
Manila, 15, 17, 27, 35, 56, 57, 87 Oceania, 21, 69 Pueblo, 12, 14, 17, 37, 53, 55-58table6, Spanish Americas, 33, 37, 67
Martirizaba, 23 One-people-one-language cohesion, 80 Spanish Empire, 33, 49, 55, 66, 68
Mesticillos, 4, 7, 39 42 Pueblo (people), 15-16: Filipino, 57; Spanish language, 22-30 passim, 34,
Mestizo chino, 4, 39, 45, 48, 81. See also Orofea, 23 of other places, 57 41, 44, 49
Chinese mestizos Spanish-language Academy, 49, 65-66
Mestizo/a, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10, 14, 32-36, 39, Pagan tribes, 4-5 Quibuyen, Floro, 32-33 Spanish mestizos, 3, 33
43, 45, 49 Paisanos, 61 Street“Tagalog, 45, 86
Metrépolis, 61 Pampanga, 20, 82 Race, 60: classification, 31; hierarchy, Students, 40-41, 44, 65, 66, 72, 81:
Mindanao, 69 Pampangueiios, 82 33, 45, 81; strata, 8 from the Dutch East Indies, 36; in
Mindoro, 50 Pangasinan, 50, 69 Racism, 45, 64 Spanish universities, 34n45-35
Miseria, 53 Parian, 73, 74n101, 86 Raza(s), 60
 ALNUCA

Tagalo (adjective), 6 Verdadero yankee, 54

Tagalog language, 5, 23-24, 25, 26, Vestidos, 53
41-42, 83: Spanish derivatives, 25; Vida filipina, 53
form of exclamations, 25-26, 71; Viola, Maximo, 28
use of, 25, 28, 69, 70-73, 83, 86 Visaya, 6, 43
Tagalos, 5 Visayans (people), 82
Taglish, 87 Visayas (place), 41, 69
“Tagnish,’ 26 Vocabulary, political, 17, 20, 48, 63, 83
Tayabas, 50, 69
Timbain, 24, War of 1868-1878, 67
Tulisanes, 72 Wealth of Nations, The, 12%
Western European history, 22, 69
Under Three Flags, 65 Writers, 22, 69
Ut6pico, 20