![]() Each unique ethnic group has its own stories and myths to tell. This refers to a wide range of material due to the ethnic mix of the Philippines. "So might have been a way to demonize some of these leaders as well.Philippine Mythology is derived from Philippine folk literature, which is the traditional oral literature of the Filipino people. "A lot of the rebellions and movements against the Spanish when they first came were led by women," said De Los Santos. She says it was common for pre-colonial Filipino women to take on leadership roles in society, particularly as shamans or priestesses. In her writing, De Los Santos wants to decolonize and reclaim Filipino stories. "Rather than writing about the myths of the Filipino rebels, I tried to write about the myths of the Christianized American military and to show how those myths really pushed them to do very violent things in the Philippines." In the book, he reframes American beliefs as superstitious. Patterson, writing under his pen name Kawika Guillermo, published a speculative fiction novel entitled All Flowers Bloom in 2020, in which part of the story takes place during the Philippine-American war. are recasting the ghastly nature of these monsters by contrasting how the Philippines' colonizers portrayed them. WATCH | How some authors are reclaiming creatures from Filipino folklore:ĭuration 2:26 The Filipino horror genre consists of gruesome mythical creatures known as Aswang. "These divisions are still with us in the way that we see Indigenous beliefs as mere myths, whereas Christianity is seen as much more respectable." "One of the main ways of vilifying was just to categorize it as something more barbaric," he added. "He 'bite marks' into their necks to make it look like Aswang killed them," Patterson said. Air Force officer Edward Lansdale staged the corpses of Filipino rebels in the streets as if they were killed by Aswang. professor and author Chris Patterson.įor example, Patterson says U.S. ![]() Later, when the Americans took over the Philippines from the Spanish in the late 1800s, they too used Filipino mythology for intimidation tactics to subdue uprisings against the government, according to University of B.C. (L to R) Tiyanak (1988), Taong Paniki (1952), and El Diablo (1949) (LVN Pictures, Premiere Productions) ![]() 'Aswang' feature commonly in Filipino horror cinema. "Whether they feel it's to our benefit or not," Ruiz said, " sowed doubt in our own deities and made Christian saints take on positive aspects that were attributed to our own native deities." He says deities, spirits and creatures from precolonial Philippine pantheons were almost wiped from cultural memory upon the arrival of the Spanish in 1521, who instead elevated evil portrayals of Aswang.Įventually the Pre-colonial mythologies and religions of Indigenous Filipinos were overtaken by Roman Catholicism during the centuries after Spanish colonization. IJP Ruiz is another Filipino-Canadian fantasy writer based in Vancouver. "The Catholic influence did give it a layer of sin and hell," she said. (Ali Pitargue)ĭe Los Santos says she found out that popular portrayals of Aswang bear demonic elements concocted by Spanish colonists to assist in evangelizing Indigenous Filipinos into Catholicism. She grew up listening to her dad’s nighttime stories of the 'Aswang' from his time growing up in Manila. Nathalie De Los Santos uses a picture of a 'Manananggal' as reference for her sketch. She's part of a growing movement of authors hoping not only to enlighten both Filipinos and non-Filipinos about the colonial atrocities committed in the country, but also to reclaim these folkloric narratives. That's when she discovered that Filipino folktales and monsters carry more profound meaning beyond being used to scare children. When De Los Santos' aunt died of cancer, she felt the urge to explore more of her heritage. Tiktiks or Manananggals are part of a sub-genre of evil spirits called Aswang - shapeshifters that morph into vampires, ghouls, viscera suckers or werebeasts.ĭe Los Santos explained that in colonial retellings, the Manananggal takes the form of an attractive woman by day, but as the night falls, she detaches her lower body and grows wings, fangs and a stretchy, tubular tongue that sucks embryos out of pregnant women. "But when I started to research Filipino mythology, I found out TikTik is another word for a Manananggal, which is a viscera or intestine-eating monster that eats it out of your butt!" the Vancouver author said. Growing up, Nathalie Los Santos' parents would call her a TikTik. At first, she assumed it was a cute form of endearment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |