Toward a Critique-al Filipino Studies: Class, Nation, Writer

• Main Author: Cabusao, Jeffrey Arellano
• Format: text
• Published: Archīum Ateneo 2024
• Subjects: Filipino studies; Marxism and cultural studies; post-theories; “Third World” feminism; U.S.- Philippine relations
• Online Access: https://archium.ateneo.edu/kk/vol1/iss39/19; https://archium.ateneo.edu/context/kk/article/1998/viewcontent/KK_2039_2C_202022_2018_20Forum_20Kritika_20in_20Honor_20of_20Edel_20E._20Garcellano_20__20Cabusao.pdf
• Institution: Ateneo De Manila University

The continued appeal of postcolonial theory for Philippine studies/Filipino studies scholars in the twenty-first century begs the following questions: Is the Philippines postcolonial? Does the “post” in postcolonial signify the end of colonialism? What’s at stake in the application of postcolonial theory to the Filipino experience? This paper highlights three Filipino Marxist scholars—Delia D. Aguilar, Edel E. Garcellano, and E. San Juan, Jr.—for their theoretical interventions toward developing an alternative to postcoloniality, which is a strand of a larger body of post-theories in the academy (post-ality). Their alternative constitutes the emergence of a critique-al approach in Filipino studies—an approach that returns not only to the concept of class but also to the concept of national self-determination. A task for contemporary critique-al Filipino studies is a reassessment of Carlos Bulosan’s work as writer-activist and cultural theorist. Bulosan’s work as insurgent Filipino critic functions as a foundation for a contemporary critique-al Filipino studies.