Po-on (novel)
Encyclopedia
Po-on A Novel is a novel
written by Francisco Sionil José, a Filipino
English-language
writer. This is the original title when it was first published in the Philippines in the English language
. In the United States
, it was published under the title Dusk A Novel. For this novel's translation into Tagalog
, the title Po-on Isang Nobela – a direct translation of Po-on A Novel - was adopted.
in the Philippines
. The Rosales Saga has five parts, all of them individual but interrelated novels, composed namely of the following titles in terms of historical chronology: Po-on, Tree, My Brother, My Executioner
, The Pretenders, and Mass. Among José's five-part novel series, the Rosales Saga, it was the last to be written and published but the first in terms of story-telling chronology.
In Po-on begins the narration of the experiences of one generation of the Samson family, through Eustaqio “Istak” Samson, a farmer who joined the rebel forces. The peasant family reluctantly left their original hometown to escape further oppression from a corrupt Spanish priest and from the persecution of other colonial authorities. Their journey lead them to a new place at Rosales, Pangasinan
. The novelist discusses the life and the origins of this family while embellished with the historical background of the Philippines
during the late 1880s.
was only short-lived: the ruling Spaniards were only replaced by a new group of strangers from a continent called the United States of America. This colonial
transition occurred after the Spaniards were defeated by the Americans
during the Spanish-American War
. In Po-on A Novel, José revisited these mutual chapters in both American and Philippine histories, together with the presentation of their social and psychological effects to the Philippine citizenry who had been under foreign occupiers from one time followed by another.
family abandoned their beloved barrio
in order to overcome the challenges to their survival in southern Pangasinan
in the Philippines, and also to flee from the cruelty they received from the Spaniards.
One of the principal characters of the novel is Istak, a Filipino from the Ilocano stock who was fluent in Spanish
and Latin, a talent he inherited from the teachings of an old parish priest in Cabugao. He was an acolyte
aspiring to become a priest. He was also knowledgeable in the arts of traditional medicine. The only hindrance to his goal of becoming a full-pledged priest was his racial origins. He lived in a period in Philippine history when it a possible Filipino uprising against the Spanish government
was about to erupt, a time after the execution of three mestizos
, namely Mariano Gómez
, José Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora
(or the Gomburza
, an acronym for the three) at Bagumbayan
(now known as Rizal Park
) in February, 1872. There were signs that a revolution will happen, despite of the lack of unity among the inhabitants of the Philippines islands at the time. Another approaching occurrence was the help the Filipinos would be receiving from the Americans in finally removing the governing Spaniards from the archipelago
after three hundred yearsThe novel recreates the societal struggles in which the characters of Po-on were situated in, which includes the protagonist Istak 's personal search for life's meaning and for the true face of his beliefs at principles. Throughout this personal journey, he was accompanied by a dignity that is his aloneIstak was assigned the task of delivering a message to General Emilio Aguinaldo
, the leader of the Philippine revolutionaries, but died at the hands of American soldiers, on his way to delivering the message.
Ricaredo Demetillo as "the first great Filipino novels written in English." Specifically, Po-on had been described by Random House
as a work of fiction which is "more than" the character of a "historical novel", a book with "extraordinary scope and passion" that is "meaningful to Philippine literature." a book as meaningful to Philippine literature as One Hundred Years of Solitude
is to Latin American literature
. One Hundred Years of Solitude is the masterpiece of Latin America's Colombian
novelist Gabriel García Márquez
. Frank Gibney
of The New York Times
described the story-telling in José's Rosales Saga as being similar to the tradition and style found in the U.S.A. trilogy
by the American novelist John Dos Passos
.
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
written by Francisco Sionil José, a 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 ....
English-language
Philippine English
Philippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog.English is used in education,...
writer. This is the original title when it was first published in the Philippines in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, it was published under the title Dusk A Novel. For this novel's translation into Tagalog
Tagalog language
Tagalog is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest. It is the first language of the Philippine region IV and of Metro Manila...
, the title Po-on Isang Nobela – a direct translation of Po-on A Novel - was adopted.
Description
Po-on A Novel is the beginning of the so-called Rosales Saga of F. Sionil José – a series of novels about Rosales, PangasinanRosales, Pangasinan
Rosales is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. It is sometimes called as Carmen, Pangasinan based on its progressive barangay, Carmen...
in 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...
. The Rosales Saga has five parts, all of them individual but interrelated novels, composed namely of the following titles in terms of historical chronology: Po-on, Tree, My Brother, My Executioner
My Brother, My Executioner
My Brother, My Executioner is a novel by Filipino author Francisco Sionil José written in Philippine English. A part of the so-called Rosales Saga - a series of five interconnected fiction novels - My Brother, My Executioner ranks third in terms of chronology...
, The Pretenders, and Mass. Among José's five-part novel series, the Rosales Saga, it was the last to be written and published but the first in terms of story-telling chronology.
In Po-on begins the narration of the experiences of one generation of the Samson family, through Eustaqio “Istak” Samson, a farmer who joined the rebel forces. The peasant family reluctantly left their original hometown to escape further oppression from a corrupt Spanish priest and from the persecution of other colonial authorities. Their journey lead them to a new place at Rosales, Pangasinan
Rosales, Pangasinan
Rosales is a 1st class municipality in the province of Pangasinan, Philippines. It is sometimes called as Carmen, Pangasinan based on its progressive barangay, Carmen...
. The novelist discusses the life and the origins of this family while embellished with the historical background 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...
during the late 1880s.
Historical background
Alive in the novel were the concepts and the events that emanated during peacetime and wartime; even the status of the poor and the affluent, of the privileged and the powerful, and of those who have privileges, freedoms and rights. During Istak’s time during the final days of the 1900s, the bliss in Istak’s heart when the Philippine Republic finally achieved independence was just for a brief moment. Because that liberationLiberty
Liberty is a moral and political principle, or Right, that identifies the condition in which human beings are able to govern themselves, to behave according to their own free will, and take responsibility for their actions...
was only short-lived: the ruling Spaniards were only replaced by a new group of strangers from a continent called the United States of America. This colonial
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...
transition occurred after the Spaniards were defeated by the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
during the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. In Po-on A Novel, José revisited these mutual chapters in both American and Philippine histories, together with the presentation of their social and psychological effects to the Philippine citizenry who had been under foreign occupiers from one time followed by another.
Plot summary
The events in Poon A Novel happened from 1880 to 1889, when an IlocanoIlocano people
The Ilocano or Ilokano people are the third largest Filipino ethnolinguistic group. Aside from being referred to as Ilocanos, from "i"-from, and "looc"-bay, they also refer to themselves as Samtoy, from the Ilocano phrase "sao mi ditoy", meaning 'our language here.' The word "Ilocano" came from...
family abandoned their beloved barrio
Barrio
Barrio is a Spanish word meaning district or neighborhood.-Usage:In its formal usage in English, barrios are generally considered cohesive places, sharing, for example, a church and traditions such as feast days...
in order to overcome the challenges to their survival in southern Pangasinan
Pangasinan
Pangasinan is a province of the Republic of the Philippines. The provincial capital is Lingayen. Pangasinan is located on the west central and peripheral area of the island of Luzon along the Lingayen Gulf, with the total land area being 5,368.82 square kilometers . According to the latest census,...
in the Philippines, and also to flee from the cruelty they received from the Spaniards.
One of the principal characters of the novel is Istak, a Filipino from the Ilocano stock who was fluent in Spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and Latin, a talent he inherited from the teachings of an old parish priest in Cabugao. He was an acolyte
Acolyte
In many Christian denominations, an acolyte is anyone who performs ceremonial duties such as lighting altar candles. In other Christian Churches, the term is more specifically used for one who wishes to attain clergyhood.-Etymology:...
aspiring to become a priest. He was also knowledgeable in the arts of traditional medicine. The only hindrance to his goal of becoming a full-pledged priest was his racial origins. He lived in a period in Philippine history when it a possible Filipino uprising against the Spanish government
Spanish Empire
The Spanish Empire comprised territories and colonies administered directly by Spain in Europe, in America, Africa, Asia and Oceania. It originated during the Age of Exploration and was therefore one of the first global empires. At the time of Habsburgs, Spain reached the peak of its world power....
was about to erupt, a time after the execution of three mestizos
Filipino mestizo
Filipino mestizo is a term used in the Philippines to describe people of mixed Filipino and foreign ancestry. The word mestizo is of Spanish origin, and was originally used in the Americas to only describe people of mixed European and Native American ancestry.- History :Spanish periodThe Spanish...
, namely Mariano Gómez
Mariano Gómez
Mariano Gómez y Guard was a Filipino secular priest, part of the Gomburza trio who were falsely accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines in the 19th century. He was placed in a mock trial and summarily executed in Manila along with two other clergymen.-Early...
, José Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora
Jacinto Zamora
Jacinto Zamora y del Rosario was a Filipino friar, part of the Gomburza trio who were falsely accused of mutiny by the Spanish colonial authorities in the Philippines in the 19th century...
(or the Gomburza
Gomburza
Gomburza or GOMBURZA is an acronym denoting the surnames of the priests Mariano Gómez, José Apolonio Burgos, and Jacinto Zamora, three Filipino priests who were executed on 17 February 1872 at Bagumbayan in Manila, Philippines by Spanish colonial authorities on charges of subversion arising from...
, an acronym for the three) at Bagumbayan
Rizal Park
Rizal Park, also known as Luneta Park or colloquially Luneta, is a historical urban park located in the heart of the city of Manila, Philippines, adjacent to the old walled city of Manila, now Intramuros. Since the Spanish Colonial Era, the park has been a favorite spot for unwinding, socializing,...
(now known as Rizal Park
Rizal Park
Rizal Park, also known as Luneta Park or colloquially Luneta, is a historical urban park located in the heart of the city of Manila, Philippines, adjacent to the old walled city of Manila, now Intramuros. Since the Spanish Colonial Era, the park has been a favorite spot for unwinding, socializing,...
) in February, 1872. There were signs that a revolution will happen, despite of the lack of unity among the inhabitants of the Philippines islands at the time. Another approaching occurrence was the help the Filipinos would be receiving from the Americans in finally removing the governing Spaniards from the archipelago
Archipelago
An archipelago , sometimes called an island group, is a chain or cluster of islands. The word archipelago is derived from the Greek ἄρχι- – arkhi- and πέλαγος – pélagos through the Italian arcipelago...
after three hundred yearsThe novel recreates the societal struggles in which the characters of Po-on were situated in, which includes the protagonist Istak 's personal search for life's meaning and for the true face of his beliefs at principles. Throughout this personal journey, he was accompanied by a dignity that is his aloneIstak was assigned the task of delivering a message to General Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...
, the leader of the Philippine revolutionaries, but died at the hands of American soldiers, on his way to delivering the message.
Reviews and analysis
Po-on the novel is only one part of F. Sionil José's Rosales Saga, the historical epic narrative composed of four other novels considered by the Filipino poet and literary criticLiterary criticism
Literary criticism is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often informed by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of its methods and goals...
Ricaredo Demetillo as "the first great Filipino novels written in English." Specifically, Po-on had been described by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
as a work of fiction which is "more than" the character of a "historical novel", a book with "extraordinary scope and passion" that is "meaningful to Philippine literature." a book as meaningful to Philippine literature as One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude
One Hundred Years of Solitude , by Gabriel García Márquez, is a novel which tells the multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio Buendía, founds the town of Macondo, the metaphoric Colombia...
is to Latin American literature
Latin American literature
Latin American literature consists of the oral and written literature of Latin America in several languages, particularly in Spanish, Portuguese, and indigenous languages of the Americas. It rose to particular prominence globally during the second half of the 20th century, largely due to the...
. One Hundred Years of Solitude is the masterpiece of Latin America's Colombian
Colombian people
Colombian people are from a multiethnic Spanish speaking nation in South America called Colombia. Colombians are predominantly Roman Catholic and are a mixture of Europeans, Africans, and Amerindians.-Demography:...
novelist Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez is a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo throughout Latin America. He is considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th century. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in...
. Frank Gibney
Frank Gibney
Frank Bray Gibney was an American journalist, editor, writer and scholar. Correspondent of Time, editor of Newsweek and Life, he was the vice chairman of the Board of Editors at Encyclopædia Britannica and wrote several books, most notably about Japan...
of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
described the story-telling in José's Rosales Saga as being similar to the tradition and style found in the U.S.A. trilogy
U.S.A. trilogy
The U.S.A. Trilogy is a major work of American writer John Dos Passos, comprising the novels The 42nd Parallel ; 1919, also known as Nineteen Nineteen ; and The Big Money . The three books were first published together in a single volume titled U.S.A by Harcourt Brace in January, 1938...
by the American novelist John Dos Passos
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos was an American novelist and artist.-Early life:Born in Chicago, Illinois, Dos Passos was the illegitimate son of John Randolph Dos Passos , a distinguished lawyer of Madeiran Portuguese descent, and Lucy Addison Sprigg Madison of Petersburg, Virginia. The elder Dos Passos...
.
See also
- Literature of the PhilippinesLiterature of the PhilippinesPhilippine literature is the literature associated with the Philippines and includes the legends of prehistory, and the colonial legacy of the Philippines, written in both Indigenous, and Hispanic languages. Most of the notable literature of the Philippines was written during the Spanish period and...
- Philippine EnglishPhilippine EnglishPhilippine English is the variety of English used in the Philippines by the media and the vast majority of educated Filipinos. English is taught in schools as one of the two official languages of the country, the other being Filipino, a standardized version of Tagalog.English is used in education,...
- Philippine literature in EnglishPhilippine literature in EnglishPhilippine literature in English has its roots in the efforts of the United States, then engaged in a war with Filipino nationalist forces at the end of the 19th century. By 1901, public education was institutionalized in the Philippines, with English serving as the medium of instruction. That...
External links
- Book cover for and page excerpts from Dusk A Novel by F. Sionil JoséF. Sionil JoséF. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
(English) at Amazon.com - Book cover for Po-on Isang Nobela (Tagalog) by F. Sionil JoséF. Sionil JoséF. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
at Divisoria.com - Book cover for Po-on by F. Sionil JoséF. Sionil JoséF. Sionil José or in full Francisco Sionil José is one of the most widely-read Filipino writers in the English language. His novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society...
(FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
), translated by Amina SaidAmina SaidAmina Said, also spelled Amina Saïd is a francophone Tunisian author.Said was born to a Tunisian father and a French mother and has been living in Paris since 1978 where she studied Literature at the Sorbonne. She has published several books of poetry, Tunisian folk stories, short stories and essays...
, at Benediction. Multiply.com