College Educated Pinatubo Aytas: A ‘Struggle of Identification’”

After the eruption of Mt Pinatubo (Philippines) in 1991, most Aytas living at the foot of the volcano were resettled in lowland areas. Breaking with the past entailed a painful struggle particularly among these indigenous people who were uprooted from their source of life. As they tried to adapt to their new environment, they had no choice but to conform in re-establishing their habitat and in attempting to find ways of achieving a better future. Since formal education was a most promising venture, there were Ayta parents who welcomed the scholarships offered by the government or the private sector to their children. This study features interviews with Pinatubo Aytas—who were given the opportunity to finish college—and highlights their struggle as they aspire for socio-economic mobility. The new generation of Aytas has become an emerging breed of acculturation that puts their identity fundamentally at stake: their case demonstrates a “struggle of identification,” to use Bhabha’s term. Their experience of self-consciousness in their psychic identification with the dominant culture or their alacritous acceptance of their assimilated condition remains a critical issue calling for further inquiry

King Sinukwan Mythology and the Kapampangan Psyche

This paper focuses on the metaphorical categories of the Sinukwan legends that could account for the ethnocentric qualities of the Kapampangans (people of Pampanga, a province in the northern part of the Philippines) and their behavioral patterns as a distinct race. According to oral accounts, Sinukwan, supposedly the first inhabitant in Pampanga, was a noble, gigantic being whose countenance reflected beautiful traits such as royalty, wisdom, faithfulness, ability and love. Sinukwan is a product of the Kapampangans’ primordial culture but, in many respects, he serves as a central image in the maintenance of their internal racial affinity as well as in the interaction of their past and present. On one hand, he may be perceived as an instrument of sentimental evocation. But on the other, Sinukwan is an indispensable force in asserting and reasserting the Kapampangan identity. The Kapampangans still believe that their historical beginnings were woven into and their society constructed within the realm of a powerful cultural symbol. In the development of Kapampangan civilization, Sinukwan has become an established archetype in Kapampangan arts and literature, a rallying point in the socio-political transformation of the Kapampangan community, and the paradigmatic model that is constantly invoked in the unfolding events of Kapampangan history. To be mentioned in particular is an aspect of a Sinukwan legend that provides a colorful explanation of one of the worst calamities that struck Pampanga: the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The story is, in a sense, an imaginative articulation of a historical phenomenon that pierced through the very heart of Kapampangan civilization and altered the course of its development

Personal Meaning and Psychological Well-being of Senior College Students of Pup College of Social Sciences and Development

This research study attempted to determine the personal meaning and psychological well-being of selected senior college students of the College of Social Sciences and Development. It also sought to establish whether a relationship exists between the two personal meaning and well-being of the respondents. The descriptive-correlation was employed as the research methodology of the present study. The method is appropriate since it aimed to describe the present condition of the two variables. To measure personal meaning and psychological well-being of the respondents, standardized instruments such as the Personal Meaning Profile (PMP) and WellBeing Manifestation Measurement Scale (WBMMS) were administered among the respondents. The respondents were 258 students from the five Departments of the College of Social Sciences and Development (History, Cooperatives, Economics, Psychology, and Sociology). They were chosen randomly using the stratified sampling procedure. To interpret the data of the study, both the descriptive statistics (ranking and arithmetic mean), and inferential statistics (Pearson-r) were used. Based on the findings, the respondents showed positive personal meaning with respect to the variables achievement, relationship, religion, and self-transcendence. Therespondents, however, manifested moderately high personal meaning with respect to intimacy and fair treatment. The findings also revealed that the overall psychological well-being of the respondents is positive as revealed in their responses to the wellbeing variables control of self and events, happiness, social involvement, self-esteem, mental balance, and sociability. The relation between the personal meaning and psychological well-being of the respondents was also tested. Based on the findings, there is a significant association between personal meaning and the variables control of self and events, happiness, social involvement self-esteem, mental balance, and sociability. The findings clearly revealed that the well-being of the respondents depends partly on their positive perception of their personal meaning which is measured using such aspects of the respondents’ lives as their relationship with others, their sense of being intimate with others which may be personal or private in nature, their sense of accomplishment, their religious orientation, their sense of purpose and direction, and sense of satisfaction or happiness with themselves. Keywords: Achievement, Happiness, Personal meaning, and psychological well-bein

King Sinukwan Mythology and the Kapampangan Psyche

This paper focuses on the metaphorical categories of the Sinukwan legends that could account for the ethnocentric qualities of the Kapampangans (people of Pampanga, a province in the northern part of the Philippines) and their behavioral patterns as a distinct race. According to oral accounts, Sinukwan, supposedly the first inhabitant in Pampanga, was a noble, gigantic being whose countenance reflected beautiful traits such as royalty, wisdom, faithfulness, ability and love. Sinukwan is a product of the Kapampangans’ primordial culture but, in many respects, he serves as a central image in the maintenance of their internal racial affinity as well as in the interaction of their past and present. On one hand, he may be perceived as an instrument of sentimental evocation. But on the other, Sinukwan is an indispensable force in asserting and reasserting the Kapampangan identity. The Kapampangans still believe that their historical beginnings were woven into and their society constructed within the realm of a powerful cultural symbol. In the development of Kapampangan civilization, Sinukwan has become an established archetype in Kapampangan arts and literature, a rallying point in the socio-political transformation of the Kapampangan community, and the paradigmatic model that is constantly invoked in the unfolding events of Kapampangan history. To be mentioned in particular is an aspect of a Sinukwan legend that provides a colorful explanation of one of the worst calamities that struck Pampanga: the eruption of Mt. Pinatubo. The story is, in a sense, an imaginative articulation of a historical phenomenon that pierced through the very heart of Kapampangan civilization and altered the course of its development

Indigenizing the Zarzuela: Kapampangan Ethnocentric Adoption of the Foreign Genre

When the Spanish colonizers reached Pampanga, a province in the northern part of the Philippines, the meeting between the East and the West meant an impact of the grafted civilization over the conquered people. Religious and cultural hybridization (Bhaba 1994) inevitably took place in Pampanga. Kapampangan verbal art modestly welcomed an alien counterpart and a cultural synthesis in a “liminal space” took place. What the Spaniards introduced—religious literature, metrical romances and the zarzuela—to advance their imperialistic cause pressed on the folk and blended naturally with the Kapampangan sensibility. Kapampangan literature took on a hybrid form that came to be an incitement for the movement of the province’s literary history. Mariano Proceso Pabalan Byron, a Kapampangan poet, was the first to domesticate the form and content of the zarzuela, a Spanish literary genre. He, together with other writers such as Crisostomo Soto, established a zarzuela tradition and produced masterpieces. The enthusiasm for the zarzuela lasted for decades even after World War II; poets like Jose Gallardo easily adopted the favorite literary genre of his predecessors. The genre was most welcome because its elements constituted their familiar world. The zarzuelas that were produced reveal the constant appropriation of the native values and beliefs in the foreign literary form

INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL FACTORS INFLUENCING ENROLLMENT INTO AN UNDERGRADUATE ARABIC LANGUAGE PROGRAM IN INDIANA: A SURVEY OF UNIVERSITY FRESHMEN AND SOPHOMORES

Within the rankings of world languages, Arabic takes a prominent place, being the fifth most-spoken language in the world (Lane, 2016). Despite the surge of concern in modern media with relations in the Middle East, particularly in Arab-populated countries, very little focus has been put on improving enrollment in Arabic programs in the United States, and in particular in the Midwest. At Purdue University, enrollment in Arabic language courses have only been low and no effort has been made on the part of the university or the department to understand this trend from more than a purely statistical analysis of enrollment numbers (Purdue, 2016). In the present study, freshman and sophomore perceptions of an undergraduate Arabic program at Purdue University were evaluated with specific regards to the relationship between enrollment and motivations students had for enrolling or not enrolling in the program’s courses. Despite the participation of only one student enrolled in Arabic language courses at the university, factors found that significantly affected student enrollment into foreign language courses included student perceptions about personal abilities and the foreign language departments themselves, student perceptions about the availability of jobs in their field which required the use of a foreign language and the requirement or non-requirement of foreign language courses in student plans of study. Results were discussed in terms of student responses to qualitative survey, whose responses are described and characterized quantitatively

The Region in Motion in the Road Movie Patay na Si Hesus (2016)

Utilizing the theories of Bakhtin’s dialogism, Hall’s cultural identity, and Gidden’s globalization, this article analyzes the Cebuano regional road movie Patay na si Hesus (2016). The road film genre reveals that the Philippine regions have a diverse identity, as shown in the image of the regional landscapes and unconventional characters. The use of camera techniques such as the traveling shot and other related styles reveals a dialogue among the diverse cultures of the regions. Furthermore, the image of the automobile in road movies and its mobility also illustrate that the regions combine an image of tradition and modernity as they constantly change because of globalization. Ultimately, this essay affirms that understanding the existence of cultural diversity in the regions is also a means of comprehending their complex identities