From Darna to Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Desire and Fantasy: Essays on Literature and Popular Culture

by Soledad S. Reyes

Collectively taken, the seven essays in this book all seek to further widen the critical space that academe has set for studies on marginalized cultural productions—vernacular literature and popular texts.

Genres: Essays

306 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Dr. Reyes graduated with an AB English Literature degree from Maryknoll College in 1966 and received her MA in Literature from the Ateneo de Manila University in 1971. She obtained her PhD in Philippine Studies from the University of the Philippines in 1979, and her MA in Sociology of Literature from Essex University, England in 1981. Reyes joined the Interdisciplinary Studies faculty of Ateneo as instructor in 1971 and never left since. In 1986, she earned full professor status at the university.

Students in the Philippines and abroad who are interested in learning more about Philippine culture and literature have benefited from Dr. Reyes’ expertise. In 1997, she was an exchange professor handling modules on Philippine literature and popular culture at Peking University. In 1992, she was among the delegates of the Ateneo to the Peking University-Ateneo de Manila University Exchange Program. In 1987, she engaged students of Xiamen University in China on a two-month series of lectures on Philippine literature, culture and history as part of the exchange program between the two universities.

Dr. Reyes has served the Ateneo in various capacities including editor of the "Loyola Schools Review" (Humanities) from 2001 up to the present. She is currently an active member of PEN International as well as the Writers’ Union of the Philippines (Unyon ng mga Manunulat ng Pilipinas – UMPIL). From 1987-1995, she served as board member of UMPIL.

Dr. Reyes is also a multi-awarded writer and author of books, the most recent of which are From Darna to Zsazsa Zaturnnah: Desire and Fantasy and Other Way (2009) and A Dark Tinge to the World: Selected Essays 1987-2005.

Reviews

[Rise]

Ang aklat ay naglalaman ng limang sanaysay tungkol sa popular culture (komiks, pelikula, FPJ, Pacman, telebisyon, atbp.) at dalawang sanaysay tungkol sa panitikan (nobelang Ingles at Tagalog). Isa na akong tagasubaybay ni Soledad S. Reyes. Magaling syang magpaliwanag ng mga ideya kahit isang akademiko. Maraming bagay ang matututunan. Halimbawa ay kung bakit hindi kailangang basta na lang isantabi ang mga produkto ng popular culture kagaya ng teleserye, mga formulaic na pelikulang aksyon at pantasya, pelikulang slapstick, Precious Hearts Romances pocketbooks. Kailangan ay tingnan sila sa konteksto ng kultura at panahong pinanggalingan nila.

Sa panitikan na bahagi naman ng aklat, magaling nyang nailahad ang epekto ng kolonyalismo sa pag-unlad ng nobelang Ingles at Tagalog, ang mga pagbabago ng istratehiya at tema ng mga nobela sa paglipas ng panahon, at ang iba't ibang paraan ng produksyon nito.

[Kim Faner · Rating 3 out of 5]

If there is something Soledad S. Reyes can write about without a doubt, it is the local popular culture. What I admire the most about these essays is the scholarly work Reyes has obviously put out on her topics. When she mentions a movie, a short story, a novel, or a person, you can bet she watched, read, and knew them enough to say what she has to say about them.

I haven’t read a lot of her essays before, but I read enough to know that she examines in the structuralist lens. And these works further reinforce this notion of mine. She’s consistent with her observations and how she does the observing. This is another thing I admire about these works. She scrutinizes phenomena at a synchronic level and then at the diachronic level. She always situates a subject in its historical context and does the analysis of this big picture.

One may say that the seven essays on this anthology are almost identical, and I may agree to that. She thoroughly examines different nuances in a popular culture of the same people, so she does end up saying almost the same things (or simply reinforcing what she has always been saying). My favorite though is “From Manila to New York: Literature and Colonialism,” which looks at how literature developed in the Philippines. In this work, she also examines the case of Filipino writers in America and how we grope for our identity as a people.

It can be a bit tedious to read the essays in one sitting, because, as mentioned above, since she’s talking about the same history, she is inclined to say the same things. But, then again, maybe these ideas about popular culture—a concept we think we already know but have actually barely scratched the surface—are worth repeating ad nauseam.

Just a small note: There are typos and grammar lapses on some of the essays, which made me think that Anvil just literally copied and pasted the text into a book format.

[Earl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Had this book in my shelf for months already before I started reading it, and I regretted reading it late. Ma'm Sol had a lot of insights here that enables us to see how pop culture figures really play a big role in our socio-political lives. The question here is how to appropriate and use this influence to shape the consciousness of people toward working for a better future.

[Kichi · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting exploration of Philippine literature. Soledad Reyes explains how these cultural instruments were created and appreciated by a people bombarded with polarizing events in all facets of life within the past century.