The national myth of Ibong Adarna: A semiological inquiry of the illustrations as texts

• Main Author: Torres, Katrina Paula R.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2007
• Subjects: Mythology > Philippines; Myth > Study and teaching; Mythology > Semitic; Signs and symbols > Philippines; Comparative Literature
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/2292
• Institution: De La Salle University

This study of The National Myth of Ibong Adarna : a Semiological Inquiry of the Illustrations as Texts aims to identify the illustrations of Ibong Adarna textbooks and comic books as message-laden signs. In the context of the Korido, Ibong Adarna, it is a required text in the general education curriculum for high school students in the Philippines. The illustrations are a valuable means of complementing the text since these illustrations serve as the visual aids that guide readers into the visual imaginings of the korido. This makes it all the more necessary then that the illustrations as texts be analyzed according to the semiotic value inherent in them because the meanings in the illustrations are sure to influence its readers. Using Roland Barthes's theory of mythology, this study identifies these message-laden illustrations as not only signs, but also myths. It is in understanding the relationship of the signifiers and signifieds in creating the complete sign that Barthes states that signs are but the first level to a larger signification of meanings, and it is in discovering the second level of signification that we encounter the myth. Simply put, it is in uncovering the messages of these signs that one comes face to face with the larger system of signs, the myths, constructed by a society to create constructed truths. In order to accomplish this task, I used Alice G. Guillermo's semiotic approach to reading the image in order to uncover the mythical meanings in the illustrations. She introduces four planes of analysis: Iconic, Basic, Semiotic, Contextual and Evaluative. Through a combination of Barthes and Guillermo, I began by focusing solely on the illustrations of the mythical bird, Ibong Adarna, rather than on the other characters. This is due to the fact that just as the bird is the object of desire in the korido, so too is it the object of desire in the context of the national experience since it is the embodiment of coveted cultural values and morals. The analysis begins with understanding the images as icons as wholes in the iconic plane. It is here that the first level sign is revealed through the signified meanings of the positionality, subjects, figures and iconic principles inherent in the illustrations as icons. It is only then that I began to delve into the Basic Semiotic Plane's basic elements, medium and format that constitute the figures and subjects that create the icon. It was in doing so that I analyzed the lines, colors, value, texture and the like of the illustrations, and it was here that I pinpointed the underlying basic signifiers within the icons. This served as my bridge towards discovering the possible signifieds of these basic semiotic elements in the context of myth. It was through the Contextual Plane that the study began to look at the signs as second level significations or myths. Through contextualizing the historical and social aspects of these illustrations, I was able to identify the myths inherent in the images. It was only through the Evaluative Plane, however, that I was able to break down the constructs and demythologize the myth in light of post-colonial typologies of text in The Empire Writes Back. The typologies of post-colonial texts revealed that the illustrations of Ibong Adarna embody myths that perpetuate post-colonialism. In the Philippine context, the myths highlight the superiority of foreign cultures as compared to the native one. The myths inherent in the illustrations speak of constructed truths, which are very much known as fact in Philippine society. Such truths include the belief that it is only through becoming Western that we can become better. The myths also perpetuate ideas of a lack of identity and it is in doing so that these myths grip the colonized tighter creating a people that can no longer distinguish myth from truth. Indeed, Ibong Adarna plays an important role in shaping the mindsets of Filipino society. The illustrations convey meanings that influence the mindsets of hundreds of Filipinos and in particular, the students who take up the korido in their classes. It is then imperative that people be made aware of the hegemonies present in a narrative the supposedly embodies the nation's object of desire.