Identity/identification in the national psyche: The project(ion) of melancholia in Bienvenido N. Santos novels
Date of Publication
2015
Document Type
Master's Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts in Language and Literature Major in Literature
Subject Categories
English Language and Literature
College
College of Liberal Arts
Department/Unit
Literature
Thesis Adviser
David Jonathan Bayot
Defense Panel Chair
Jeremy De Chavez
Defense Panel Member
Ronald Baytan
Shirley Lua
Abstract/Summary
The fictions of Bienvenido N. Santos have long been stigmatized as works that strongly resonate themes of sadness, loneliness, and exile, positing the analyses of his works mainly on thematic grounds. This critical study departs from the usual undertaking of his novels in order to achieve a sound inquiry of what constitutes an authentic Filipino identification in relation to the nature of melancholia. Furthermore, his expanse of novels is posited as a corpus that aims to address not just an individual concern, but a national interest. His five novels, (1) Villa Magdalena, (2) The volcano, (3) The praying man, (4) The man who (thought he) looked like Robert Taylor, and (5) What the hell for you left your heart in San Francisco, collectively present varying facets and insights (almost like a project) to how Santos develops this concept of melancholia. The framework of Santos projection of melancholia is initiated by a characters loss of selfhood, patterned after Jacques lacans imago, this then turns the character vulnerable and gradually transits him/her to the space of melancholia, which are chiefly manifested by their overt monologues of misery and display of weaknesses, as discussed in Sigmund Freuds Mourning and Melancholia. The main proposition of the study is to examine and interpret how the varied melancholic manifestations of his novels characters serve to collectively build an identification, or working identity, for the Philippine psyche that is anchored on a melancholic projection. The consequent results of each novels analysis verifies Julia Kristevas claim on the antidotal nature of melancholia in her essay The Melancholic Imaginary, and serve to reveal the greater motive of Santos projection of a Philippine psyche immersed in melancholia in order to address a nations burden.
Abstract Format
html
Language
English
Format
Electronic
Accession Number
CDTG006564
Shelf Location
Archives, The Learning Commons, 12F Henry Sy Sr. Hall
Physical Description
1 computer optical disc ; 4 3/4 in.
Keywords
Melancholy in literature
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Recommended Citation
Guevarra, M. I. (2015). Identity/identification in the national psyche: The project(ion) of melancholia in Bienvenido N. Santos novels. Retrieved from https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_masteral/5111