Effects of colonialism and the search for an identity in Francisco Sionil José’s The Rosales Saga

• Main Author: Nadifa Shekh Nahji
• Other Authors: Sim Wai Chew
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2011
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/45598
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

For many decades, the Philippines has grappled with issues concerning national identity and nationalism and the struggles continue despite gaining their independence. In recent years, we witness incidents of political unrest instigated by the “people power”. The power of the masses seems to be a defining factor of the Philippines as the country sees their leaders being forced out of office. These leaders were made to relinquish their position when they fail to improve the social conditions of the people. The issue of national identity has become a bugbear that runs across generations because the people’s concerns were not addressed by their leaders. Hence, there is a need for the masses to fight for the social justice that they yearn for. In Benedict Anderson’s article, “Cacique Democracy in the Philippines: Origins and Dreams”, he argues that the ilustrados “had no political power” despite being “wealthy and educated” (8).The growth in national sentiment leads to the rise of revolutionist like Andrés Bonifacio, who “formed a secret revolutionary society” known as Katipunan (Anderson 9). In this regard, this thesis will explore the issues that arise from colonialism; focusing on the sentiments and the effects on the people involved during and after the period of colonisation. These issues will be explored with reference to Francisco Sionil José’s Rosales Saga- The Samsons; which comprises of The Pretenders and Mass, Don Vicente; which combines Tree and My Brother, My Executioner and lastly, Dusk.