DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 November) – Pinangga, Mga Sugilanon sa Panahon sa Kagoliyang is an interesting approach to reaching out to a new kind of audience.
The word ‘pinangga’, Cebuano for ‘beloved’, is a fitting title to tales of love manifested in many ways. Pinangga tells us about the persons giving and receiving love in a history that is splattered with tragedy.
The first piece, Kung Dili Karon, Kanus-a?, tells the story of friends and lovers during a time when one is called to choose between personal priorities like love, relationships, comfort and security versus the moral and societal obligation of fighting for our fellowmen and freedom.
The second story, Dadong, Asa Na Ka, Anak?, takes us into the growing anxiety of a parent whose child has gone missing and this leaves the reader with a lingering suspension between grief and hope, an emotional purgatory.
Kang Kinsang Gugma ang Mas Palabihon?, the third story, explores the love and commitment Fr. Junrey has for his vocation despite the distractions that plague him. The story hints on disenchantment with a superior and his colleagues. Redirected by the support and affection of a journalist, Cheding, Fr. Junrey falls in love. Despite those, he chooses to set his personal struggles aside and he continues his commitment to care for the church and community.
Then, we see Gabs, Datu Sidro, Ontoy and the rest of the characters in May Kaugmaon Ba Ang Mga Lumad care for their community. They followed different ways to fight for what they believe in. They didn’t agree with each other, but in the end, they cared for the same goal: protect each other’s rights.
The last story, Wala na Diay Bili ang Kinabuhi, my personal favorite in the collection, brings us into the grief of a mother who lost her child because of mistaken identity. Injustice and lack of due process robbed the child of a future that was supposed to be the hope for the family and society.
While reading, one of the things that captivated me as a teacher is that some of these characters are roughly the same age as my students. Lorna, Willy, Dadoy, Cheding, Kaloy, Gabs and Boboy are between 18 to 25 years old. While my students are privileged enough to be concerned with academics, belongingness, family, and mental health, our characters are fighting for their lives and for a hopeful future. Reflecting on these, it brings to mind: What are we fighting for now? What should we be fighting for?
Bro. Karl’s stories bring back the urgency of fighting for the bigger picture, for a higher purpose that involves more than the fulfillment of the Self. This is not to say that my students’ concerns are not urgent. Teachers are now subliminally responsible with being psychological first aiders in the care for the holistic well-being of the learners. We teach not just technicalities or elements of literature and arts, we teach them how to survive the monsters like identity crises, lack of belongingness, purpose and direction through literature and art.
Because of these, I find Brother Karl’s stories all the more valuable because when we place them in the classroom, it draws everyone out of their own psyche and thrusts them into a world that is bigger than their own existentialism and forces them to think: How could my life be purposeful too? The primary job of a teacher is to show direction and students simply need to be shown possible answers to their questions. Pinangga helps us do that.
The stories also remind us that for as long as there is injustice, we have a duty to serve the community. Like the characters in the stories, whatever paths students take: social work, medicine, philosophy, media communications, theology, law, their skills hold infinite possibilities and are more valuable than what they seem. The stories can tell students that whatever talents God has given them can be used for a greater good.
Lastly, through the characters of this historical fiction collection, learners are shown that the burden of leadership is not just for those who hold positions. Every one of them have the power to affect change in the lives of others. Bro. Karl’s stories fight disinformation campaigns of different government agencies. The stories are successful in making us see the urgency of choosing our country’s leadership well, force the learners to think of what advocacies they could potentially burn for, and inspire them to be leaders themselves.
Using these stories in the classroom will open a world that is full of possibilities and the hope that we can lead meaningful lives.
However, the status quo is multifaceted. Education, I believe, is not just ideational but also largely a matter of marketing. Teachers must sell these stories to learners by continuously seeking ways to elicit and sustain their interest. When teachers choose texts that will be discussed in the classroom, one of our most crucial criteria would be: will the students read this, or will we end up torturing them with lengthy texts that are difficult to read? The need to protect truth demands these stories to be the highlight of the class, but the reality is students prefer to read only about 5-8 pages of fiction or 2-3 pages of drama. They struggle to sustain interest and patience for longer texts.
Another concern of marketing stories to learners is the language. Bro. Karl’s use of the mixture of Cebuano Bisaya, Tagalog and English is a revolutionary step towards reaching a younger audience and in sustaining readership. The voices represented in the stories should be heard. But, in my context, we teach the elite of Davao and its surrounding cities/municipalities. We teach those who have money, position, and thus, power. We teach determined scholars who dream of a comfortable and secure future. This is the kind of audience that can definitely change the course of Mindanao! They are the perfect receivers of Pinangga’s vision. They are agents of societal transformation, the next generation that must not learn from history. Sadly, these students do not speak nor read Cebuano Bisaya, as is used for most of the stories.
Still, as a teacher, as a Dabawenya, I recognize the urgency. We must include these narratives in our curriculum. So, for now, to address the length and language barriers, Bro. Karl’s stories can be taught as a companion or intertext to the texts we focus on in class. For example, May Kaugmaon Ba Ang Mga Lumad? which discusses Lumad rights, can be used by the teacher to support the discussion of I, Higaonon by Telesforo Sungkit Jr. and Wala Na Diay Bili ang Kinabuhi? can expound the worlds set by John Bengan’s Armor and Pag-asa ng Drug Pusher sa Davao by Karlo Antonio David.
In the classroom, we make students examine the texts and identify how some people have more power, resources, and opportunities than others in society. We help them understand why these differences, such as status (social class), race, and gender, exist. Why are students like Lorna and Willy in the first story able to affect more change than Boboy in Wala Na Diay Bili? How was Dadong influenced by his father? How does education (or lack of it) affect change? How are religious institutions involved? We shape the discussions in the hope that students have a spiritual and social awakening which fills them with the rabid hunger for change and community connectedness.
Being a senior high school teacher is powerful. Our students are young and impressionable. Bro. Karl’s book challenges me as a teacher to not only be more creative in incorporating complex texts and make them chewable for Grade 11 and 12 students, but also be more aware, more interested and more involved in this perpetual fight for history that should never be forgotten.
While history is learning through information, fiction is learning through imagination. Historical fiction as a marriage of the two is a powerful tool in teaching students our shared history and Mindanao identity. Teaching in partnership with writers like Brother Karl is a meaningful journey. With this, we implore for an increase in partnership. May we write in ways that reach learners more. These include investing in characters that our students will care about, will feel for and will root for. Our learners thrive in character driven stories, rather than plot driven stories. Our learners will love to read and learn history in the guise of adventure, romance, family relationships, even dystopian stories. Our learners will find shorter and easily digestible language more appealing, unique and striking.
While this could be a tall order because writers adjusting to the readers is a contentious idea, the literary relevance of texts like these would be greatly helped if learners are engaged.
Writers are not alone in the fight against disinformation and history revisionism, teachers are ready to be in service of truth. We want to keep history alive. Together, we are poised to help the next generation to love reading and learn more about our history. This is a partnership we teachers are eager to participate in.
(MindaViews is the opinion section of MindaNews. Consuelo Celine Fuentes teaches literature and creative writing at Ateneo de Davao University’s Senior High School.)