Tyrants, Typhoons, and Trauma: Spectrality and Magic Realism in Nick Joaquin’s Cave and Shadows

• Main Author: Martin, Jocelyn S
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2021
• Subjects: memory; trauma; Joaquin; ecology; spectrality; Creative Writing; History; Psychology
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/english-faculty-pubs/132; https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315146669-9/tyrants-typhoons-trauma-jocelyn-martin
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

Cave and Shadows revolves around a crime investigation: Jack Henson discovers the body of Nenita Coogan in a cave that has mysteriously surfaced amid the city of Manila. Not only does his investigation reveal the reappearance of other corpses; with Nenita coming only after a series of “female priestesses” over the course of many centuries; but also the return of an ancient form of nature epitomized by the cave. Although other scholars; such as Josen Masangkay Diaz (2015); approach Cave and Shadows in terms of identity politics; I am interested in what I suggest are the spectral figures that question historical justice and that embody both remembering and forgetting. Specifically; I examine not only the specters of colonization but also the unsettled past of the infamous Marcos dictatorship in the Philippines. As such; this chapter first provides a theoretical discussion of spectrality and its correlation with trauma and belatedness. It also studies the difference between mourning and mid-mourning; the latter understood as a way of ethically re-assessing historical losses. Second; it proposes two readings of the revenant; Nenita Coogan. In the third part; which analyses manifestations of ecological spectrality; I interrogate new ways of thinking about trauma in “disaster cultures.” Consequently; in the fourth part; I investigate the compatibility of MagicRealism and postcolonial trauma in decolonized societies. Finally; the chapter considers the spectrality of the Marcos Regime and the inclusion of dictatorial era as legitimate areas of investigation in Trauma Studies.