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"DOGEATERS" (JESSICA HAGEDORN) & "ROLLING THE R'S" (R. ZAMORA LINMARK).
Term Paper ID:24930
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Essay Subject:
Reviews of works on Filipino experience in Manila & Hawaii. Class & generational conflict, assimilation, language.... More...
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6 Pages / 1350 Words
2 sources, 12 Citations,
MLA Format
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Paper Abstract:
Reviews of works on Filipino experience in Manila & Hawaii. Class & generational conflict, assimilation, language.
Paper Introduction:
Two recent novels--Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn and Rolling the R's by R. Zamora Linmark--illuminate different aspects of the Filipino experience, the first set in Manila and so in the Filipino homeland, the second in Hawaii and so a reflection of the immigrant experience in America. Both works reflect the difficulty faced in the conflict between the old culture and the new. In both books, the older generation is tied to the culture of the Philippines while the younger generation is seduced by American popular culture. In Dogeaters, this conflict takes place in the Philippines as the powerhouse of American popular culture beckons to the young. In Rolling the R's, the conflict takes place in Hawaii as people who have immigrated form the Philippines are exposed even more directly to American life and culture. The themes of class conflicts, assimilation, and the
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"CoconutPalace" refers to the Philippine government during the colonial era, while"The Song of Bullets" refers to the civil tensions accompanying the rise ofa dictator to power in the 195 s. The language in this book also tends toward the present tense and sohas the same immediacy as the other book, with the added element that thisbook is set in contemporary Hawaii and so connects more directly with thelives of the readers. Stephen objects to being called a haole (Linmark69). They bring along other cultural elements as well and find waysto fit these into and mix these with their American experience. The central position in thenovel of the public celebration, such as the beauty pageant or the filmfestival, shows how the people come together around certain issues,cultural events, and ideas, people from very different backgrounds whomight in other societies be much more distant from one another. For the young girl,though, American culture is defining, as is apparent when she and Puchawant to be like their favorite American stars. Dogeaters is set during a period of political conflict in Manila,beginning in 1956 as a dictator consolidates his power over the people ofthe Philippines. The same sort of dreaming and imagining is apparent inRolling the R's by R. Zamora Linmark--illuminate different aspects of the Filipinoexperience, the first set in Manila and so in the Filipino homeland, thesecond in Hawaii and so a reflection of the immigrant experience inAmerica. . He has another reason, though: "I don'twant to be a Filipino because the only filipino everyone knows is theFilipino that eats dogs or the Filipino that walks around with a broom inhis hands" (Linmark 68). The people continue their lives in spite of the turmoiltaking place around them, and the society in which they live is a societyof combinations and contrasts, with large class differences, socialdistinctions, and other differences existing in a mix showing less concernfor making distinctions than for living them. New York: Penguin, 199 .Linmark, R. (Hagedorn 115). In Rolling the R's, the conflict takes place in Hawaii aspeople who have immigrated form the Philippines are exposed even moredirectly to American life and culture. . Theperiod in which the story is set is thus made into an eternal "now," andthe way the narrator comments on herself as if speaking to herself alsocreates a sense of immediacy while drawing the reader into her mind andexperience, as when an excerpt from the "Only Letter Ever Written byClarita Avila" is cited: Santos is good, one of those rare good men with an unpredictable exuberant sense of humor . The mixture of languages reflects the colonialhistory of the Philippines, for the colonial powers left behind elements oftheir culture, of which language is one of the major aspects. Zamora. The themes of class conflicts,assimilation, and the need to belong are evident in both books and areaddressed both in terms of cultural differences and sexual orientation. Thelinguistic style of Dogeaters is true to the era, with slang kept to aminimum and with language shaped in ways conforming generally to "normal"English. Pucha wants a perm because AudreyHepburn and everyone in Hollywood and Rome are doing it (Hagedorn 237).Girlie Alacran dreams of golf and evokes all the known American names--Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan (Hagedorn 18 ). The titles for the twoparts of the book also link past and present when taken together. In both these novels, the clash of different culturesshapes and is shaped by language, and language and culture determine thesocial position of groups both in Manila in 1956 and Hawaii in the 199 s. However,there is no doubt that doing so marks them as different and is one reasonthey are consigned to their own communities, kept from the better jobs, andprevented form assimilating more readily into the mainstream. Zamora Linmark from the beginning: Last night, I had sex with Scott Baio, Leif Garrett, Matt Dillon, too. He often wins "Most Original" at those transvestite beauty contests he goes to with my mother (Hagedorn 81).Opposites are thus combined in characters and situations throughout thenovel so that differences are not erased but blurred until they no longermatter. Racialdifferences are often cited as reasons why different populations havedifficulty making headway when the immigrate to America, but ethnic andcultural differences can be just as difficult to overcome along the road tofull assimilation. While this may be ashared experience, it is not shared directly but only because millions arewatching at the same time. This mixed language is then further influenced by popular songs,movies, television shows, and other cultural elements that shape how we allview the world and how we express ourselves about it. Two recent novels--Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn and Rolling the R'sby R. In the case of thenarrator of Rolling the R's, though, the mixture of language and the waypopular culture is borrowed relates to the immigrant experience and to thesexual uncertainties of the main character and some of her friends. In both books, the older generation is tiedto the culture of the Philippines while the younger generation is seducedby American popular culture. Works CitedHagedorn, Jessica. The narrator describes at length a vision ofthe replay of the Grand Prix finals of Dance Fever, recreated with friends(Linmark 34-35). New York: Kaya, 1995.----------------------- 3 Nelson says, "I'm sick and tired ofbeing called a Filipino" (Linmark 68), and in part this is because he doesnot speak Tagalog or Ilocano. I know he has eyes for my brother Raul (Hagedorn 8 ).The same thing applies to the narrator's uncle: Uncle Panchito likes to wear dresses and other women's clothes from time to time. This means that thecharacters may exist in different social contexts but see themselves aspart of one context, that of the Philippines. Each section is introducedby an excerpt from a book written about the Philippines by Jean Mallat in1846, showing a sense of historical continuity. The author again turns to public celebrations anddisplays, but while these in Dogeaters tended to bring people together inways allowing contrasts and comparisons, in Rolling the R's the publicevent is often public because it is on television. In Dogeaters, this conflict takes place inthe Philippines as the powerhouse of American popular culture beckons tothe young. The subject of this novel is not simply the story of the charactersbut the story of the Philippines as an entity. In spite of his effeminate gestures, Salvador is married, the hardworking father of seven. Justas Filipinos are marginalized in Hawaiian culture, so are homosexuals andlesbians, creating a double barrier surrounding these individuals. The way language is used derives from cultural roots and denotescultural meanings. Dogeaters. The novel is given immediacy by the language used, for the narratorspeaks not only in the first person but also in the present tense. Both works reflect the difficulty faced in the conflict betweenthe old culture and the new. This sense that differences are not that important and can beoverlooked in some social sense is apparent in the attitude towardsexuality as well, as can be seen in the character of Salvador, whoembodies male and female without attracting much attention or concern, asthe narrator indicates when she says, He fascinates me too. In Hagedorn's book, much of the time of the narrator and her friendsis taken up with daydreaming about America and American personalities, asin the golf story. In Rolling the R's, R. The power of American culture in this distant area of the world isapparent in the many cultural references by which the narrator makesconnections between her world and the American world to which she aspires,though in the end, her memory of her youth in Manila is what will appeal toher more after she has actually lived in America. Rolling the R's. I can tell the poor bastard's smitten, but who wouldn't be--with that sweet face of yours? In Rolling the R's, the language of the narrator is morefreewheeling, shaped by exposure to years of advertising, rock music, and alevel of street cynicism that infuse every word. The narrator says, "Weaffect the casual teenage glamour of Gloria Talbott in our favorite movie,All That Heaven Allows" (Hagedorn 236). When theFilipino people immigrate to America, they carry this mixed language withthem and find even more new linguistic elements to add to their verbalrepertoire. Zamora Linmark uses language in interestingways to evoke a mixed colony of people in Hawaii, immigrants from thePhilippines who have kept some of their original language (Tagalog),Spanish (also spoken in the Philippines), and English, including differentlevels of English from emulations of conversational English to the use ofdifferent kinds of slang. We was workin' it, free for all, rough take (Linmark 1).This book is also filled with American popular culture references, and muchmore than in the hagedorn book, the narrative and the style are influencedby a variety of popular culture forms, such as the repeated use of popularsongs as a rhythmic device for shaping the language, as in, "So if you wanthis body and you think he's sexy, roller skate on down to America, sugar,and let him know" (Linmark 26). Language is often a central issue, as when different individualscomplain about what they are called.
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