After Postcolonialism: Remapping Philippines-United States Confrontations

by Epifanio San Juan Jr.

This innovative analysis of the Philippine historical crisis is accompanied by a critique of a U.S. racial formation in which Filipinos constitute the largest Asian group. Literary and artistic expressions by Filipinos manifest a new emerging identity defined by the multicultural debates crossing the Pacific, transforming the Philippines into a borderland of East and West. Caught betwixt the Asian continent and the hegemonic power of the United States, the Philippines occupies a contested space between past and present. Between the memory of colonial experience and an emergent nation-making dream, can a meaningful future be envisioned? This provocative book explores this problematic zone of difference through a critique of the Western production of knowledge in the context of local resistance. While Americanization of the Filipino continues, the encounter of globalizing and nationalizing forces has precipitated a profound political and social crisis whose outcome may be a paradigmatic lesson for many so-called third world countries. What happens in this Southeast Asian nation may foretell the fate of the ideals of democracy and social justice now beleaguered by the market and the unrelenting commodification of everyday life.

272 pages, Paperback

First published May 24, 2000

About the author

Epifanio San Juan, Jr. is a Filipino cultural critic and public intellectual. His works span a broad spectrum of fields and disciplines, from cultural studies, comparative literary scholarship, ethnic and racial studies, postcolonial theory, semiotics to philosophical inquiries in historical materialism.

San Juan applies a Gramscian approach and a critical Marxist optic on cultural events and texts in the Philippine historical process of national liberation. He is also notable for being the first Filipino male intellectual to have engaged with feminist discourse in his "Filipina Insurgency: Writing Against Patriarchy" (Giraffe Books, 1999). In 1999, San Juan received the Centennial Award for Achievement in Literature from the Cultural Center of the Philippines because of his contributions to Filipino and Filipino American Studies.

Reviews

[sdw · Rating 3 out of 5]

Marxist post-colonial literary critic meets the Asian American literary canon. E. San Juan, Jr. is not, of course, “meeting” the canon. As a leading critic of Filipino literature, he is renarrating the canon to fit with his analysis of historically situated dialectically created identity articulated within the uneven development of late capitalism. And the truth be told, the Asian American literary canon really only figures into the beginning and ending chapters (with Hagedorn getting her own chapter), the bulk of the book focuses on engaging various critical debates around postmodernism and postcolonialism for the uneven relations between the Philippines and the United States. The book was a surprisingly enjoyable read although I was newly impressed each page with the author’s ability to utilize so much jargon, and yet have each sentence remain (more or less) interpretable, particularly if one actually slowed down to read every word.

[S. Alberto ঌ⁻⁷ (always yearning) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was… alright. I read it hoping it would be a strong support text for my seminar term paper, but it didn’t quite hit the way I wanted it to. The ideas are definitely important—San Juan tackles the complicated, messy relationship between the Philippines and the U.S. with a critical eye, weaving together imperialism, identity, nationalism, and cultural resistance—but I found myself expecting more cohesion or sharper takeaways.

It had its moments, and there were a few quotes and sections I did end up using, but overall it felt more like a broad overview than a deep dive. I think I was hoping for something a little more grounded or applicable to the specific themes I was working on for my paper. That said, I respect what the book is trying to do—it's just one of those reads that feels more like a jumping-off point than a main source.

Decent read, important lens, but not exactly the game-changer I was hoping for.