State of War (novel)
Encyclopedia
State of War, also known as State of War: A Novel, is the first novel written in 1988 by American Book Award
recipient and Filipino
author
Ninotchka Rosca
. It was described as a political novel that recreated the diverse culture of the Philippines
through the presentation of an allegorical
Philippine history.
”. Hansen is a vendor of "special favor
s" catering to politicians. Banyaga is a son of a prominent and well-connected family. Villaverde was a dissident who had recently been torture
d. The ancestry the three is a mixture of ethnic Filipino
, Malaysian, Chinese and Caucasian
origins. Hansen was also playing the role of "matchmaker
" between Banyaga and Villaverde Colonel
Amor is Villaverde’s interrogator, the lover and admirer of Hansen, and the seeker of Banyaga's political connections.
, a name used as an indirect reference to Ferdinand Marcos
. The assassination attempt that would end Marcos’s presidency and dictatorship
failed.
in 1946) is a Filipina feminist, author
, journalist
and human rights
activist. Ninotchka Rosca is described as, "one of the major players in the saga of Filipina American writers". During the political instability during Ferdinand Marcos
's rule she was arrested and held at a detention center for six months. She then spent sometime in exile in America. Much of her work is taken from her experiences during her imprisonment. Her short stories have been included in several collections including, the 1986 Best 100 Short Stories in the U.S. compiled by Raymond Carver and the Missouri Review Anthology. Her 1993 book Twice Blessed won the American Book Award
.
" held on Panay Island
. However, the festival was used by Rosca as a literary instrument to present the "revolutionary theme" of the novel.
Rosca’s State of War was also a narrative description of the effects of colonialism
to the Filipinos' national identity
. State of war shows women continuing their struggle in years of colonization against generations of, " rape, violence, and oppresion." State of War is written with nostalgia for the pre-contact days of a strong female presence in Filipino society. Other reviews also reveal that Rosca uses an, "intricate interplay of discourses on sexuality and (post)colonialism."
It also traced the ancestry of the principal characters during Spanish
and American colonialism in the Philippines. The personal memories of the main characters was a recollection of a "state of war
" in the Philippines during Marcos's regime that failed to become a true revolution.
American Book Award
The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
recipient and Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
author
Filipino women writers
The history of Filipino women writers is an account of how Philippine women became literary “mistresses of the ink” and “lady pen-pushers” who created works of fiction or factual and historical storybooks, poetry, novels, short stories, essays, biographies, autobiographies and other known writing...
Ninotchka Rosca
Ninotchka Rosca
Ninotchka Rosca is a Filipina feminist, author, journalist and human rights activist who is active in AF3IRM , the Mariposa Center for Change , Sisterhood is Global and the initiating committee of the MARIPOSA ALLIANCE , a multi-racial, multi-ethnic women's activist center for understanding the...
. It was described as a political novel that recreated the diverse culture of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
through the presentation of an allegorical
Allegory
Allegory is a demonstrative form of representation explaining meaning other than the words that are spoken. Allegory communicates its message by means of symbolic figures, actions or symbolic representation...
Philippine history.
Characters
The main characters of this work of fiction by Rosca are Eliza Hansen, Adrian Banyaga, Anna Villaverde, and Colonel Amor. The three youths Hansen, Banyaga, and Villaverde represented three “faces of ManilaManila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
”. Hansen is a vendor of "special favor
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
s" catering to politicians. Banyaga is a son of a prominent and well-connected family. Villaverde was a dissident who had recently been torture
Torture
Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain as a means of punishment, revenge, forcing information or a confession, or simply as an act of cruelty. Throughout history, torture has often been used as a method of political re-education, interrogation, punishment, and coercion...
d. The ancestry the three is a mixture of ethnic Filipino
Ethnic groups in the Philippines
The Philippine islands are inhabited by number of different ethnic groups. The majority of the population is composed of ethnolinguistic groups whose languages are Austronesian in origin. Many of these groups converted to Christianity, and adopted many foreign elements of culture...
, Malaysian, Chinese and Caucasian
Caucasian race
The term Caucasian race has been used to denote the general physical type of some or all of the populations of Europe, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, Western Asia , Central Asia and South Asia...
origins. Hansen was also playing the role of "matchmaker
Matchmaking
Matchmaking is any process of matching two people for the purpose of marriage or a sporting contest.-Practice:In some cultures, the role of the matchmaker was and is quite professionalized...
" between Banyaga and Villaverde Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
Amor is Villaverde’s interrogator, the lover and admirer of Hansen, and the seeker of Banyaga's political connections.
Plot
Hansen, Banyaga, and Villaverde went to an island known as the Island of K in the Philippines to participate in a festival. Villaverde got in touch with radicals planning to activate explosives during the festival in order to assassinate The CommanderCommander
Commander is a naval rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service. Commander is also used as a rank or title in some organizations outside of the armed forces, particularly in police and law enforcement.-Commander as a naval...
, a name used as an indirect reference to Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
. The assassination attempt that would end Marcos’s presidency and dictatorship
Dictatorship
A dictatorship is defined as an autocratic form of government in which the government is ruled by an individual, the dictator. It has three possible meanings:...
failed.
Author
Ninotchka Rosca (born in the PhilippinesPhilippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
in 1946) is a Filipina feminist, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
activist. Ninotchka Rosca is described as, "one of the major players in the saga of Filipina American writers". During the political instability during Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
's rule she was arrested and held at a detention center for six months. She then spent sometime in exile in America. Much of her work is taken from her experiences during her imprisonment. Her short stories have been included in several collections including, the 1986 Best 100 Short Stories in the U.S. compiled by Raymond Carver and the Missouri Review Anthology. Her 1993 book Twice Blessed won the American Book Award
American Book Award
The American Book Award was established in 1978 by the Before Columbus Foundation. It seeks to recognize outstanding literary achievement by contemporary American authors, without restriction to race, sex, ethnic background, or genre...
.
Background
The Philippine festival referred to in Rosca's State of War have similarities with the yearly "Mardi GrasMardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...
" held on Panay Island
Panay Island
Panay is an island in the Philippines located in the western part of the Visayas. Politically, it is divided into five provinces: Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Iloilo, all in the Western Visayas Region. It is located southeast of the island of Mindoro and northwest of Negros, separated by the...
. However, the festival was used by Rosca as a literary instrument to present the "revolutionary theme" of the novel.
Rosca’s State of War was also a narrative description of the effects of colonialism
Colonialism
Colonialism is the establishment, maintenance, acquisition and expansion of colonies in one territory by people from another territory. It is a process whereby the metropole claims sovereignty over the colony and the social structure, government, and economics of the colony are changed by...
to the Filipinos' national identity
Filipino values
The Filipino value system or Filipino values refers to the set of values or the value system that a majority of Filipino people have historically held important in their lives. This Philippine value system includes their own unique assemblage of consistent ideologies, moral codes, ethical...
. State of war shows women continuing their struggle in years of colonization against generations of, " rape, violence, and oppresion." State of War is written with nostalgia for the pre-contact days of a strong female presence in Filipino society. Other reviews also reveal that Rosca uses an, "intricate interplay of discourses on sexuality and (post)colonialism."
It also traced the ancestry of the principal characters during Spanish
History of the Philippines (1521–1898)
This article covers the history of the Philippines from the arrival of European explorer Ferdinand Magellan in 1521, up to the end of Spanish rule in 1898.-Spanish expeditions and conquest:...
and American colonialism in the Philippines. The personal memories of the main characters was a recollection of a "state of war
Declaration of war
A declaration of war is a formal act by which one nation goes to war against another. The declaration is a performative speech act by an authorized party of a national government in order to create a state of war between two or more states.The legality of who is competent to declare war varies...
" in the Philippines during Marcos's regime that failed to become a true revolution.
External links
- State of War Summary at directessays.com
- State of War by Ninotchka Rosca, phd-lit.arts.chula.ac.th