Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao

Tracing Tony Perez’s Filipino modernism in Cubao–Kalaw Kalaw–Cubao to trauma, this article considers whether the novel’s processing of psychic trauma also amounts to the processing of national trauma. Seemingly positing representation as the means of traumatic processing, Perez, in distinguishing th...

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Main Author: Ku, Ryan
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Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
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Online Access:https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss38/11
https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1914/viewcontent/KK_2038_2C_202022_2011_20Regular_20section_20__20Ku.pdf
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spelling ph-ateneo-arc.kk-19142024-12-19T04:00:04Z Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao Ku, Ryan Tracing Tony Perez’s Filipino modernism in Cubao–Kalaw Kalaw–Cubao to trauma, this article considers whether the novel’s processing of psychic trauma also amounts to the processing of national trauma. Seemingly positing representation as the means of traumatic processing, Perez, in distinguishing the unconscious transmission of the traumatic event from the conscious narration of its aftereffects, in fact premises representation on deconstruction. Consisting in the displaced and deferred repetition, or writing, of trauma, this process is facilitated in the novel by three discursive practices—Catholicism, psychotherapy, and creative writing—that are derived from the colonial history of the Philippines. Rather than corresponding to the nation’s postcolonial trauma, psychic trauma in the novel is thus processed through the remainders of national trauma. Of these postcolonial legacies that serve as psychic cures, Perez privileges one that causes him to disavow not only the others but also kapwa, the indigenous concept of sociality recuperated by sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino psychology) after independence to counter colonial history. Rather than working through national trauma with psychic trauma, Perez ultimately overcomes psychic trauma through the disavowal and repetition of national trauma, thus potentially inducing further psychic trauma. 2024-12-19T06:07:25Z text application/pdf https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss38/11 info:doi/10.13185/1656-152x.1914 https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1914/viewcontent/KK_2038_2C_202022_2011_20Regular_20section_20__20Ku.pdf Kritika Kultura Archīum Ateneo Catholicism deconstruction kapwa modernism postcolonial trauma writing
institution Ateneo De Manila University
building Ateneo De Manila University Library
continent Asia
country Philippines
Philippines
content_provider Ateneo De Manila University Library
collection archium.Ateneo Institutional Repository
topic Catholicism
deconstruction
kapwa
modernism
postcolonial
trauma
writing
spellingShingle Catholicism
deconstruction
kapwa
modernism
postcolonial
trauma
writing
Ku, Ryan
Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao
description Tracing Tony Perez’s Filipino modernism in Cubao–Kalaw Kalaw–Cubao to trauma, this article considers whether the novel’s processing of psychic trauma also amounts to the processing of national trauma. Seemingly positing representation as the means of traumatic processing, Perez, in distinguishing the unconscious transmission of the traumatic event from the conscious narration of its aftereffects, in fact premises representation on deconstruction. Consisting in the displaced and deferred repetition, or writing, of trauma, this process is facilitated in the novel by three discursive practices—Catholicism, psychotherapy, and creative writing—that are derived from the colonial history of the Philippines. Rather than corresponding to the nation’s postcolonial trauma, psychic trauma in the novel is thus processed through the remainders of national trauma. Of these postcolonial legacies that serve as psychic cures, Perez privileges one that causes him to disavow not only the others but also kapwa, the indigenous concept of sociality recuperated by sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino psychology) after independence to counter colonial history. Rather than working through national trauma with psychic trauma, Perez ultimately overcomes psychic trauma through the disavowal and repetition of national trauma, thus potentially inducing further psychic trauma.
format text
author Ku, Ryan
author_facet Ku, Ryan
author_sort Ku, Ryan
title Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao
title_short Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao
title_full Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao
title_fullStr Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao
title_full_unstemmed Postcolonial Pharmakon: Traumatic Transmission in Tony Perez's Cubao-Kalaw Kalaw-Cubao
title_sort postcolonial pharmakon: traumatic transmission in tony perez's cubao-kalaw kalaw-cubao
publisher Archīum Ateneo
publishDate 2024
url https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss38/11
https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1914/viewcontent/KK_2038_2C_202022_2011_20Regular_20section_20__20Ku.pdf
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