Nationalism in the poems selected from Guerrilla Flower, 1946: A postcolonial interpretation

Abstract

Poetry is a creative form for expressing an opinion with regard to a pressing situation. The poems selected in the Guerrilla Flower were manifestations of the perceptions and aspirations of the Filipinos, especially the Ilonggos, caught in World War II. The poems were published in Iloilo City after the Ilonggos experienced the turbulent years of the Japanese occupation. For them, the occupation was unforgettable experience that enabled them to affirm nationalism. However, underlying such affirmation was a tragic flaw, that is, they were complacent and inclined to sympathize with the Americans while being sarcastic and hostile towards the Japanese, even though these two foreign powers were both colonizers and worthy of condemnation. The realities of Philippine society under war led to distinct Filipino views and actions toward these two colonizers. After the process of distillation of the poems, the elements of nationalism, such as language, religion, and historical experience,e were tainted with colonial influences. The use of poetry for historical investigation has a seminal appeal since it maintains the rationale of interdisciplinarity—the fusion of literary criticism and historiography to bring out a better off and encompassing understanding of the complicated nature of present Philippine social reality. The use of postcolonialism as a theoretical tool enables the Filipino people to collocate the abject past and present to determine the effects of colonialism for the future.