Tags: Literature
By Lawrence Casiraya
MONTREAL, CANADA – The New York Times recently published a book review written by Filipino novelist Miguel Syjuco, whose novel “Ilustrado” won the 2008 Man Asian Literary Prize.
Syjuco’s review of “How to Read the Air”, the latest novel by African author Dinaw Mengestu, appeared in the paper’s Sunday Book Review.
The 33-year-old Syjuco, who is currently based in Montreal, garnered acclaim after winning the Man Asian Literary prize, which recognizes the best Asian novel written or translated into English.
Ilustrado tells the story of a Filipino author living New York and touches on the Philippines’ long-winded history of colonial rule, from the Spanish to the Americans. In it is a character also named Miguel Syjuco, believed to be the author’s alter-ego.
“Ilustrado” is being presented as a tracing of 150 years of Philippine history, but it’s considerably more than that. Just as this country is searching for its identity, its author seems to be searching for his own,” wrote Raymond Bonner in his review of Syjuco’s novel, also published in the New York Times.
Syjuco hails from a prominent political clan – his dad Augusto “Boboy” Syjuco is congressman for Iloilo – but left the country a few years after college to free himself of the pressure of continuing his family’s legacy in politics.
He landed entry-level jobs at The New Yorker and Esquire while earning a master’s degree in creative writing at Columbia University.
He is currently working on another novel, which he describes to Jennifer McDonald of Paper Cuts, the New York Times’ literary blog.
“But where “Ilustrado” was my attempt to present a compassionate indictment of the failure of the elite who have led the country for generations, my next book will be an examination of the different forms of power at play in a country like mine, and how each of those bump up against one another. I also want to provide a cross-section of Philippine society, so I can explore the anatomy of Philippine corruption (and, by extension, corruption in the Third World).”
McDonald also pointed out parallels between Syjuco and Mengestu, both immigrants writing about their home countries.
“In my work, I tried to address this issue by exploring themes like identity and homeland across several narratives, generations and writing styles, using them as motifs, the way one would in musical composition. I hoped their recurrence across the different story lines would resonate, creating harmonies and a sense of universality,” Syjuco says.
The Filipino author also reflects on his literary work when asked what subjects interest him most as a writer.
“I have no illusions that my work can rouse the masses to create change, because literature simply doesn’t have that power anymore in my country, if it does anywhere. But I do hope that it can be read by those who are in positions to create change, or that it can at least be part of that dialogue.”
Referring to his novel in particular, he added: “Ilustrado reached back into history to try to examine the roots of the Filipino elite and the difficult choices they didn’t make that led to our current situation as a country. I think that writing can (and, perhaps, should) be instructive and provocative, entertaining and moving — though the trick is to find that balance without falling into propaganda or polemic.”
(Photo taken from http://www.manasianliteraryprize.org)
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