Thursday, August 26, 2010

From Redaction to Subversion by Ma. Cecilia Locsin-Nava Ph.D.

"From Redaction to Subversion" is an output of Dr. Ma. Cecilia Locsin-Nava who was one of the benficiaries of the research grants by the National Historical Institute in 2004. Her work underscores the imporance of the corrido in the history of the Hiligaynon-speaking people of Panay. Introduced as a literary form by the Spaniards, the corrido became compatible with the epic stories of the island and many works were composed in the native dialect. This literary form became linked with the common man and was identified with the recurring theme of good eventually winning over evil and the exaltation of the humble. Indirectly, the corrido helped in the development of Filipino nationalism as Filipinos subliminally identified the villains in the stories to their real-life colonial oppressors. Dr. Nava's work on the Hiligaynon corrido opens a new window in understanding its role in the development of nationalism among the people of Panay.