Culture Creates The Future
CULTURAL STUDIES
I.INTRODUCTION
In studying a particular subject, it focuses on a specific matter. Various literary criticism approaches focus on a single matter. Such as biographical approach stresses on the biography of the author and historical approach deals on the history of the author by the time he or she wrote a specific literary work. There’s variety of literary criticism being talked about. What about cultural studies? According to Shmoop Editorial Team (2008), cultural studies has a wider scope that any other academic disciplines. Therefore, it is not attached into one discipline, one must have knowledge in various fields and discipline. As written by Rodman (2013) Cultural Studies has no essential research object, theoretical framework or methodological framework on its own. As a consequence, there is no quite accurate definition of cultural studies that would makes it somewhat intelligible to the new readers. The most common definition of cultural studies is the study of popular culture. According to White, cultural studies comes from different subject fields such as sociology, anthropology, political science, and history. But sometimes it is misinterpreted as being the study of popular culture, as a matter of fact, cultural studies deals in the ways culture is constructed and organize and the ways on how it is develop and changes overtime. This article will point-out the culture, present in these particular Filipino literary pieces, namely; A Night of a Construction Worker written by Lamberto E. Antonio, Family Reunion written by Carlos A. Angeles and The trial of Mang Serapio, a drama play written by Paul Dumol.
II.DISCUSSION
"A Night of a Construction worker" or "Gabi ng Isang Piyon" is a Filipino poem by Lamberto E. Antonio. Gabi ng Isang Piyon, it is about a Filipino laborer who experienced difficulties and hardship in his work. Though everybody doesn't mind the sufferings, they still continue it as long as they have a goal to achieve. "Sa karimlan mo nga lamang maaaring ihabilin Ang kirot at silakbo ng iyong himaymay:" This line conveys a message that every sufferings, sacrifices of a worker would still end up in a good way. Construction workers keep working hard as the day becomes hotter and their job is not made easier by the layers of protective gear they have to wear. They go home, rest and go back to do it all again the following day. Being a construction worker is not easy. They still choose to work just to live in peace and choose to be there because of some illegal jobs.
In the Philippine setting, construction workers are being looked down upon. A kind of job having a cheap salary, makes it a not so noble job, even if anyone can attain the job without even finishing a bachelor's degree. However, even though being a Filipino construction worker seem hard, the very culture of the Filipinos, being hardworking, family-oriented and dedicated to one's work and one's family, is highlighted in the poem. No matter how little the perception of the people for being a construction worker, or how little the salary is, it is still a noble job. Risking one's life to provide for the family, is something anyone can be proud of.
Family Reunion is one of the literary pieces written by Carlos A. Angeles. This poem is entitled “Family Reunion” because of the strong bond between parents and children no matter how hard it may seem to be. The family portrayed in the poem was given another chance to be united or to have a reunion. According to Mendoza (2014), Carlos A. Angeles is one of the Filipino writers and he was born on May 25, 1921. Carlos Angeles comprised 47 poems dedicated to his wife. He was married to Concepcion Reynoso and they have seven children and eighteen grandchildren that are all living in United States.
Filipino culture when it comes to family reunion is really amazing because when the family members saw each other again, they do not know how to express their happiness in front of each other. When Filipinos plan for a family reunion, every family member really make sure that everything will be perfect and everyone will be happy. They will make sure that every family member who are not in good terms will talk to each other and also solve the problem or the conflict between them. So in short, family reunion serves as the time for forgiveness. Family reunion is very important for every Filipino because it is one of the times that they will meet all the members of their family both father and mother side. It is the time that they will have bonding and talk about their past memories and experiences especially the happy one. In the family reunion also, all of the grandparents will be given gifts as an expression of love and respect to them and that will also serve as thank you for helping their children and grandchildren in studying, and in the problems that they encounter. But this kind of family reunion is not the only basis in order to say that the family will have the reunion because anytime that the family is complete, it will be considered as a reunion. Just like in the poem, it is entitled as Family Reunion because despite of committing mistake, they forgive each other and became reunited again.
As the readers relate the literary criticism to this poem especially the cultural studies and also the culture of the Filipinos when it comes to family reunion, they will find out how good and kind the parents are. In this poem, the cultural studies approach is applied because of what the parents did to their children. The poem states the culture where the parents believed in. This poem also represents the culture of a one’s family inside and outside the house and also their ways on how they are going to face and solve their problems. The poem, Family Reunion discusses the attitudes of the parents when it comes to their children that even though their children did bad things, they can still forgive them no matter how difficult the problem is. The poem also wants to imply that the parents can really forgive their children without hesitations because there are no parents who can’t give another chance to their children. Just like in the Filipino culture when it comes to family reunion, Filipinos will do their best just to forgive their love one who committed mistake in order for their family reunion to be memorable.
The play “The trial of Mang Serapio” or "Ang Paglilitis kay Mang Serapio", is written by Paul Dumol. A play which describes the culture of the low class people, how they struggle to fight for their rights, how they are unequally and brutally treated by those people who have power over them. In this play, there is a beggar named Mang Serapio, he was accused of committing a crime against the federation, and therefore broke the rules which led to a trial in the court. There he faced the crucial part of his life. A tragic experience he had in his entire life, he was blinded by the prosecutors, without knowing the crime they said he had committed.
Dela Cruz (2013) presents the actual script of the play. There are certain lines in the play which explains the cultivation in the government system of the Philippines in attaining justice.
First prosecutor said “Talagang ganyan ho ang walang kapangyarihang tulad niya, mangmang, at yan ang suliranin ng mga may kapangyarihang, tulad naming.” This line represents that the powerful people finds difficulty in handling the low class people. They are considered as a burden in the society.
There are also various lines of the Second prosecutor which represents the inequality faced by Serapio in the play. Such as, "Ano ang classificacion mo bilang pulubi? Nagmamakaawa o aliwan?” This line by the second prosecutor shows that that social stratification is present in every status of a person. Which means there is a presence of discrimination amongst social status.
There is also a line said by the Hukom “Walang makakatulong sayo ginoong serapio, wala! Ni ang pulis, ang pahayagan, kahit sino man sa mundong ito. Ang mga hiyaw mo’y di maririnig, ang bawat kilos mo’y mabibigo, walang papansin sayo.” This line stated by the judge, certainly describes the cruelty of those people who have the authority. This goes to show the unfair treatment of lower class people. That the reality of attaining justice is a battle. And that the social status of a person determines what kind of treatment will be gained. Another line is “Dumaing ka pa, at bukas makalawa, matatagpuan ang iyong maagang katawan sa maitim na bulaklak ng Pasig.” This another statement by the judge certainly describes the culture of the past and the current government system. The killings had always been present and serves as a punishment to those innocent people that dared to interfere to those who are in a position, that if someone is accused of being guilty and that person fights for his right by giving his opinion on the situation based on what is morally acceptable, that person will be given a warning not do so. Being so, their safety becomes a threatened.
The play “Ang paglilitis Ni Mang Serapio” or the trial of Mang Serapio represents the corruption in the Philippine system. Serapio fought for his right until the end of the trial, but no matter what he do, he would still be fined as guilty and will be punished. He had no chance in winning over the trial, and he had no choice but to experience the merciless authorities who cheat the system. Up to the present time, this kind of cheat in the system still remains true, unfortunately. Where the practices made, generates the future system of the Philippine Government System.
III.CONCLUSION
In the play’s last lines of "Ang Paglilitis ni Mang Serapio". Show the culture of the Philippine Government System, the Country’s sizeable population of mendicants. Since Cultural studies is a field of theoretically, politically, and empirically engaged cultural analysis that concentrates upon the political dynamics of contemporary culture, its historical foundations, defining traits, conflicts, and contingencies. Where in researchers generally investigate how cultural practices relate to wider systems of power associated with or operating through social phenomena.
In the poem, Family Reunion discussed the attitudes of the parents when it comes to their children. When it comes to the Philippine Culture regarding Family Reunion present in the poem, Filipinos has this tradition to have a get together with relatives, specially so when families had not seen each other for the longest time. Also the perfect time to be united again whatever mistakes there may be in the past. Be reunited, is what Family Reunions are for.
The poem "Gabi ng isang piyon" or "A Night of a Construction Worker". Talks about how hard-working Filipinos are in order to survive, doing everything to provide for the family. The cultivation presented in this poem, shows how substandard the salary of construction workers are here in the Philippines. It shows how people belittle the job and the people who works as one.
As argued by Johnson (1986), that 'all social practices can be looked at from a cultural point of view, for the work they do, subjectively'. Cultural Studies' primary concern is to identify the factors that affect the social practices and the views of the people towards this. It aims to keep track to the practices, how it gradually forms as a culture and soon creates a culture hereafter.
LIST OF REFERENCES
Bressler, C. (1999) Literary Criticism: An Introduction to Theory and Practice. A Viacom Company Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.
Dela Cruz (2013) Ang Paglilitis Ni Mang Serapio Retrieved on August 2017 from http://tagaloglit.blogspot.com/2013/02/ang-paglilitis-kay-mang-serapio.html?m=
Mendoza, S. (2014), Family Reunion by Carlos A. Angeles. Retrieved on August 2017 from https://prezi.com/m/n8mkxrg/jhbo/family-reunion-by-carlos-a-angeles
N.A (2013) Hearing of Summary of Mang Serapio Retrieved on August 2017 from http://pianomixblossom.net/?tag=ang-paglilitis-ni-mang-serapio-summary
Rodman, G. (2013) Cultural Studies and History Retrieved on August 18, 2017 from http://users.comm.umn.edu/~grodman/pubs/History.pdf
Shmoop Editorial Team (2008) Cultural Studies Retrieved on August 18, 2017 from https://www.shmoop.com/cultural-studies/
White, D. (n. d.) Cultural Studies: Definition, Theory & Methodologies Retrieved on August 18, 2017 from http://study.com/academy/lesson/cultural-studies-definition-theory- methodologies.html