Subversive readers needed

The Subversive Reader: Essays on Critical Theory, Cultural Politics and the Philippine Insurgent Experience by E. San Juan Jr. (Vibal Foundation, 2023) is a hefty volume, a collection of challenging and politically engaged essays that asks readers to look beyond the surface of Philippine culture and history, literature and politics. That in itself is quite a tremendous undertaking and preoccupation, quite a huge task to require of a reader.

This reading seems timely, coming on the heels of the recently held and highly successful Manila International Book Fair with its theme of “Get Lit: Reading in a New Light.”

This volume contains 22 essays, all bearing the central concern of the relationship between culture and power. It helps us all understand ourselves and our society better, in the context of our history and political struggle.

The title’s use of the word “subversive” is important to point out as it veers away from the usual associated meanings of rebellion or resistance, but subversive in terms of learning to question ideas that seem unquestionable or long entrenched as acceptable or permanent.

In inviting the reader to be more aggressive rather than passive consumers of information, San Juan wants the reader to be critical and to challenge judgments which have become acceptable because of colonialism and our continuing struggles over our national identity.

How then should a subversive reader approach this reading and similar other readings? He/she is not just an individual who disagrees with everything, but asks why certain ideas have emerged dominant.

A basic example is when Filipinos are impressed with the perception that Western culture represents modernity while local traditions represent backwardness, the subversive reader hopefully asks: Where did this assumption come from? Who defined what modernity means? Why should Filipino development be measured according to foreign standards?

The subversive reader cannot and should not just accept ideas as the following without a critical reading and investigation: when the English language is automatically associated with intelligence, when foreign products are considered better than local products or when Philippine history is interpreted primarily through the perspective of colonial powers.

One of the major strengths of The Subversive Reader is its effort to connect theories developed in Western intellectual traditions with the concrete historical experience of the Philippines.

The book ranges across critical theory, cultural studies, postcolonial theory, aesthetics, Marxism, globalization, imperialism and Philippine political experience – quite a wide sweep but all shaping our contemporary thinking.

These theories should not be used and mechanically applied to the Philippines, but evaluated in terms of how they are in the context of Philippine realities.

The subversive reader is reminded that a critical understanding begins from the Philippine historical experience rather than simply borrowing intellectual frameworks from powerful countries.

Questions which are important to ask are: Who gets to tell the story of the Philippines? Who is considered a hero?Whose suffering is remembered? Whose contribution is unheralded? Who gets to define what it means to be Filipino?

The experience of martial law provides another important context for understanding the book. During this unlamented era of dictatorship, political opposition was suppressed, thousands of Filipinos experienced imprisonment and other human-rights abuses and many individuals were killed or disappeared. The struggle against authoritarianism consequently became a major part of the political and cultural memory of the Philippines.

The discussion of language as an important part of Philippine consciousness today is highlighted because while the dominance of English in Philippine education has provided Filipinos with important international opportunities, it has unwittingly held up English as more prestigious than Filipino, our national language, and Philippine regional languages. A welcome development is the publishing industry’s deliberate initiatives to promote all Philippine languages.

The subversive reader should question the hierarchy of languages with English lording it over, mistakenly deemed as a more sophisticated vehicle of communication over Filipino, Cebuano, Ilocano, Bikol, Waray or other Philippine languages.

The book remains relevant today as we are surrounded by too much information and misinformation, propaganda, fake news, political manipulation and ideological echo chambers.

It behooves the subversive/critical reader to question: Who produced this information? What evidence supports it? Who benefits from people believing it? What perspective is missing? Is the language designed to inform or manipulate? What historical context is being ignored? Are emotions being used to prevent a full and sober understanding?

The book is said to bring to mind quotations from different thinkers that capture the spirit of critical reading. These are worth bearing in mind as one reads this thought-provoking volume.

Brazilian educator and philosopher Paulo Freire, known for his critical pedagogy: “Reading is not exhausted merely by decoding the written word or written language, but rather anticipates and extends into the knowledge of the world.”

And this familiar reminder from our national hero, Jose Rizal, on the importance of historical consciousness: “He who does not know how to look back at where he came from will never get to his destination.”

A reader can simply consume a book or become a subversive reader, asking difficult questions or questions not often dared asked.

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