MayDayEveOP1
January Hannah P. Arañas IV-11 BSE English OP # 1: May Day Eve (Histo-bio)
Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve”: a blend of Philippine’s cultural timeline
Nick Joaquin celebrates the main identity of Philippine Literature in English: to use the English language in portraying the country’s cultural heritage. His famous work “May Day Eve” characterizes the cultural roots mirrored through the story’s setting during the Spanish colonization in the Philippines. Well influenced by his background as a writer in the age of American and Japanese revolution; the short story set in three generations from 1847-1890 draw the readers to the highly structural society as told by Don Badoy Montiya and Doña Agueda’s marital life. Philippines, as institutionalized by the Catholic faith, thrives by the patriarchal society and frozen traditions based on Don Badoy and Doña Agueda’s educational background, and embittered married life dictated by their belief in the May day eve ritual. Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve” mandates a time-honoured view of the Philippines as a cultural heritage; a comparison and contrast of Pre to Post-war and Spanish colonization. Nick Joaquin as an author during the American and Japanese colonization deemed the importance of establishing cultural identity not seen in other compositions. Born in the old district of Paco, Manila, on September 15, 1917, he was raised by his parents with a voracious appetite for books and the Catholic faith. He spent his childhood years reading classics by D.H. Lawrence, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and many others in his father’s library. His father is often characterized in his writings as a stereotype of a strict yet compassionate father a foundation of his imagery about the patriarchal society at that time. It appeared to him that American education distanced writers from their immediate surroundings (Alas, 2010). In response, Joaquin chose the elaborate description of the Spanish era to describe the nature of Filipinos.
Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve”: a blend of Philippine’s cultural timeline
Nick Joaquin celebrates the main identity of Philippine Literature in English: to use the English language in portraying the country’s cultural heritage. His famous work “May Day Eve” characterizes the cultural roots mirrored through the story’s setting during the Spanish colonization in the Philippines. Well influenced by his background as a writer in the age of American and Japanese revolution; the short story set in three generations from 1847-1890 draw the readers to the highly structural society as told by Don Badoy Montiya and Doña Agueda’s marital life. Philippines, as institutionalized by the Catholic faith, thrives by the patriarchal society and frozen traditions based on Don Badoy and Doña Agueda’s educational background, and embittered married life dictated by their belief in the May day eve ritual. Nick Joaquin’s “May Day Eve” mandates a time-honoured view of the Philippines as a cultural heritage; a comparison and contrast of Pre to Post-war and Spanish colonization. Nick Joaquin as an author during the American and Japanese colonization deemed the importance of establishing cultural identity not seen in other compositions. Born in the old district of Paco, Manila, on September 15, 1917, he was raised by his parents with a voracious appetite for books and the Catholic faith. He spent his childhood years reading classics by D.H. Lawrence, Charles Dickens, Ernest Hemingway, and many others in his father’s library. His father is often characterized in his writings as a stereotype of a strict yet compassionate father a foundation of his imagery about the patriarchal society at that time. It appeared to him that American education distanced writers from their immediate surroundings (Alas, 2010). In response, Joaquin chose the elaborate description of the Spanish era to describe the nature of Filipinos.
References: Alas, J. M. (2010). Biography of Nick Joaquin. In Filipino eScribbles, Online Jottings of a Filipino out of time. Retrieved from: https://filipinoscribbles.wordpress.com/2010/09/15/biography-of-nick-joaquin-1917-2004/ Short Stories. (n.d.). May Day Eve. Retrieved from: http://www.seasite.niu.edu/tagalog/literature/Short%20Stories/May%20Day%20Eve.htm