Feminist Readings of Philippine Fiction

The author detects the coexistence of feminist consciousness and its unconscious repression in short stories by Lilia Pablo Amansec, Edith L. Tiempo, Tita Lacambra-Ayala, Kerima Polotan, and Ines Taccad Cammayo. She also examines the representation of women by four male fictionists - Nick Joaquin, Rony V. Diaz, Gregorio C. Brillantes, and Jose Y. Dalisay, Jr. Except for young Dalisay, all these writers were most productive during the so-called Golden Age of Philippine Fiction in English, an age when feminism was a non-word in literary discourse. An analysis of their stories within the contemporary feminist environment opens them to fresh insights which the traditional male canon would normally overlook. This book thus hopes to develop an awareness of a fascinating activity, namely, reading as a woman, particularly a Filipino woman. But the reader need not be a woman to get the point.