Modernity in Kiray-a Poetry

Abstract

The Modernity in Kinaray-a Poetry – A study of 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems using the concept of Modernity is written to analyze the poems in Kinaray-a using the concept of Modernity. This study aims to gather 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems and examine the discourses of “modernity” or postmodernity as embedded in 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems.

These poems are taken from a book The Rise of Kinaray-a and literary issues. This study concludes that there are four major concerns of “modernity” present in 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems. Suprisingly, the poems reveals that this generation has already identified themselves with modernity that the past is no longer present or common ways in the past slowly fades and rural lands had been attracted to transfer in urban areas for opportunities and fast access on facilities.

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Introduction

Kinaray-a literature is known to have an exciting tradition.

The siday, known to be ancient Kinaray-a poem performed during the pamalaye or betrothal and luy-a luy-a or religious ritual. According to Villarreal (1997), siday is a generic term to refer to all folks of Panay and Negros. Modern poetry in Kinaray-a are mostly in free verse. A poem in Kinaray-a is called binalaybay. Binalaybay is famous during fiesta in various places in Antique especially in barangay 3 town of San Jose, mostly performed by old folks. Kinaray-a, is a language mostly used by Antiquenos.

According to “The Rise of Kinaray-a, a book by Alex C. Delos Santos, Kinaray-a is one of the minor languages classified under Austronesian/Malayo-Polynesian lineage. It is spoken in all of Antique, from Libertad to Anini-y, parts of Aklan and Capiz, most of Iloilo, and even in Negros Occidental where the biggest number of sakadas, seasonal workers in the haciendas, is Kinaray-a from Antique. It is difficult to trace the origin of Kinaray-a but old folks says it comes from the root word iraya which means high place where water comes from.

In the absence of print, there had been two media through which Kinaray-a literature persisted, through radio and theater. These actually served the transition from purely oral to written literature according to Delos Santos (2003). Other than radio and theater, the fast outcome of modern technology had a great help among Antiquenos as well as Antiqueno writers. The emergence of “Balita Antiqueno” in Buenavista Cable and the “Kinaray-a. com” an Antiqueno community website had been a way for Kinaray-a to fully show their talents as well as poetry.

Issues on gender roles, and class races have been used in many studies but rare cases on Modernity. Modernity is used as a framework for this study to present new concepts in literature, for in Kinaray-a poems modernity is also prominent. Statement of the problem This study is meant to analyze Modernity in 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems by different Antiqueno authors. Objectives of the study This study aims to: 1. gather 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems and; 2. examine the discourses of “modernity” or postmodernity as embedded in 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems Significance of the study

Most people especially in West Visayas think that Kinaray-a poetry lacks value and that Kinaray-a is just an oppressive part of literary world due to the fact that “Kinaray-a writers suffered a form of oppression by the hegemony of Hiligaynon” (Delos Santos 2003). Somehow, this leads to the decline of the interest of Kinaray-a writer to bloom their hidden talents. Kinaray-a writers uses Tagalog, English or Hiligaynon instead of using Kinaray-a as a language for their written text to escape from civilized people’s view that Kinaray-a as a language is “buki” or unusual. Modernity reatly influenced young writers nowadays. “Students that are products of Universities” (The Rise of Kinaray-a 2003 p. 32). These students mostly come from provinces, barrios/rural lands, that within their written poems, modernity is highly present.

Review of Related Literature

Dr. Alicia P. Magos wrote The Enduring Maaram: An Ethnography of a Kinaray-a village in Antique (1992), known to be one of the first comprehensive studies on an Antiqueno life. And this inspires to bloom the title Maaram: Studies on Antique an anthology of essays and papers on Antique, by Antiquenos, for Antiquenos.

A maaram refers to a medicine man (shaman) as an intermediary between the sick and the spirit world. According to Maaram, very little about Antique could be seen in printed materials such as tourist brochures, fiesta souvenir programs, and sketchy legends of each of the 18 towns of the Province. This could be one of the basis that even poems in Kinaray-a is not widely known among other people and that writers in Kinaray-a uses Tagalog, English or even Hiligaynon in writing their poems and a little of them uses Kinaray-a.

In the Inaugural Lecture with the theme “Textualizing Kinaray-a in the Republic of Letters” held in UPV (2008). Tomasito Talledo says, “its not necessary to translate Kinaray-a poems into English neither Tagalog or Hiligaynon, and anyone who wants to study the poems but does not know the Kinaray-a language, will do well by learning it. ” This line of Talledo stresses that Kinaray-a writers tend to escape to their native language. Modernity is one of the reasons because natives or parents from rural lands send their children in urban schools to have fast access in facilities due to modernity.

Kinaray-a literature fro Antiquenos is way through which they could reflect the essence and presence of modernity, that in one way or another being “modern” is not a choice but a need. Furthermore most written works of Kinaray-a young writers modernity is reflected for one reason is they have been products of Universities. Talented individuals that have been influenced by the norms and culture within the urban areas. Moreover, Ma. Milagros G. Lachica is the first Kinaray-a to gain recognition given by the CCP Literature Grants for Poetry in 1989.

Her work “Antike: Lupa kag baybay sa pinggan” (Antique: Land and sea on a plate) spoke of the poetry and social ills of the Province. This doesn’t mean she was the first one to write in Kinaray-a. Russell Tordesillas may have been the first one. He wrote his manuscripts which he read on air in DYKA (radio station in Antique). Next to win the CCP grant is Alex C. Delos Santos and followed by other Kinaray-a writers. This begins when Lachica and Delos Santos attended the workshop of Hilgaynon writers in UPV because there were no groups of Kinaray-a writers.

In Antique, only Sumakwelan could be considered but its members compose of Hiligaynon writers. Dr. Leoncio Deriada as the panelist (Professor in UPV and a writer) told Lachica and Delos Santos to try the writing grant and use Kinaray-a in their entry. There were no other individuals who could write better the story of Antique but only the Kinaray-a people and Kinaray-a literature should value most by Antiquenos. A writer has the responsibility in the language he/she uses. Additionally, Kinaray-a writers didn’t have the means to publish but they did a lot of writing too only in Hiligaynon because it was the only way to get published.

There is a big break for individuals to take chance in reading and appreciate Kinaray-a literature especially those in the academe, if only Kinaray-a writers will use Kinaray-a in their written works. The big problem which Kinaray-a people does not observe, there is less use of Kinaray-a in writing. Among various languages, Antiquenos must obliged to use Kinaray-a than use other languages such as Tagalog, English and Hiligaynon, because it is the language they are used to and its quickly for them to catch ideas on paper.

As for modern poetry, or free verse, Sumakwelan writers suggested the term hilwalaybay for “hilway nga binalaybay”; hilway means free, according to The Rise of Kinaray-a (2003). But the Kinaray-a writers did not catch on, and preferred to use binalaybay, whether rhyming or free verse. Most of the poems of Kinaray-a writers are in free verse. Sometimes, the Hiligaynon coinage dilambong, for “dila nga maambong” (beautiful tongue), is also being used. Poet John Iremil E. Teodoro suggest the use of them dilambong to mean poetry.

It points not to the poem itself, but to the art of writing a poem, according to The Rise of Kinaray-a (2003).

Theoretical Framework

Modernity is a shorthand term for modern society or industrial civilization. Portrayed in more detail, it is associated with (1) a certain set of attitudes towards the world, the idea of the world as open to transformation by human intervention (2) a complex economic institutions, especially industrial production and a market economy (3) a certain range of political institutions, including the nation state and mass democracy.

Largely as a result of these characteristics, modernity is vastly more dynamic than any previous type of social order. It is a society more technically, a complex of institutions-which unlike any preceding culture lives in the future rather than the past (Gidden 1998, p. 94). In Jurilla's analysis, “Modernity is a powerful cultural construction that usually favors the originator – the West. Western modernity has always been maintained as the standard civilization. A person that is not modern is “manol” or uncivilized.

A person that does not submit to modernity's cultural apparatuses is either a beast or a god. ” Furthermore, Raul Pertierra presents three features of modernity: “the nation-state as the main site of sovereignty, the extraordinary gains in science and technology and the rise and prominence of culture as a socially constituted activity. Personal identity or individuality is also one distinguished discourse of modernity. For in modernity, norms are subdued to give way to the sovereign individual who is the source of knowledge and reason.

Modernity is simply the sense or the idea that the present is discontinuous with the past that through a process of social and cultural change life in the present is fundamentally different from the past. The “crisis of modernity” is the sense that modernity is a problem, that traditional ways of life have been replaced with uncontrollable change and unmanageable alternatives. The crisis itself is merely the sense that the present is a transitional point not focused on a clear goal in the future but simply changing through forces outside our control, but this study limit itself to modernity in 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems.

Methodology

To start this study, the researcher gathered related literatures from books of Antique Provincial Library, and researches from the Internet. Scope and Limitation This study focus only on the 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems of different authors taken from the following books and literary issues: Binirayan ’08: Manggad nga Antiqeno, Paranublion kang Filipino Binirayan 2007: Culture and Arts The Rise of Kinaray-a: History and Anthology of Contemporary Literature in Antique, These poems are: 1. Laragway (Florentina Egida) 2. Halin kay Nanay (Ma. Felicia Flores) 3.

Paglatas kang handum ( Ma. Felicia Flores) 4. Iliili kang Manugpatad (Ma. Milagros Geremia-Lachica) 5. Hinugot sa post card (Jose Edison C. Tondares) 6. Strit Ekis (Jose Edison C. Tondares) 7. Sugidanun (Lucena C. Tondares) 8. Sulat (Ma. Milagros Geremia- Lachica) 9. Ang Tumuluon (Genevieve C. Arnaez) 10. Patadyong (Linda Casalan Arnaez) 11. Tag-ururan (Francisco Javier III) 12. Dyoker ay (Ma. Milagros Geremia- Lachica) 13. Sa Kinaray-a (Reymar B. Gallego) 14. Ra Tana! (Stephen Checa) 15. Ang Ginawali sa Atlantic City (Ma. Milagros Geremia-Lachica)

 Analysis and Discussion

Modernity & the Environment

Sometimes, it’s not the land that waits. In many cases, Antiquenos leave because there is no land to speak of, (Delos Santos 2003 p. 49). In cities there are lots of opportunities to grab while in native lands, there is no assurance. Modernity shapes the urban areas through the presence of modern technologies, facilities, etc. In Egida’s poem Laragway”, nature’s beauty can no longer be seen. In the first stanza, Pintahan mo ako kang bukid Mga kahoy gapaindis-indis. Pintahan mo ako kang banglid Nga ang kilid bukut it pud-is. Kay daw sa damgo ko lang dya nakita.

Most of beautiful views we could see nowadays are almost man made which have a big difference from nature’s beauty of the past which is natural. Nowadays, agricultural lands are being transformed into industrial lands in which big infrastructures are built. In the first stanza to the last stanza, the persona can only see nature’s beauty only in his dreams. Another poem is “Tag-ururan”, the rain and mother’s tear is compared to sacrifices and sufferings. In the lines, Nagbilin kang danaw ang uran Sa salug makita ang langit Ang luha ni nanay sangka dagat Naga hiribiun para sa atup

The mother wanted to escape from poverty, in the lines, San-o ayhan mamara kang adlaw Ang luha kag uran The mother wanted a more concrete house specifically a better roof to comfort her family when heavy rain comes. II. Modernity & Education Modernity in education is also present in Kinaray-a poems. Many have been lured by the city, especially the natives. For in urban areas, their children could engage in the fast access of facilities and lots of opportunities. Modernity and education gives assurance to natives to have a secure future. In “Halin kay Nanay”, Inday felt bad for a delayed allowance.

Most parents at present times sends their children in urban schools, to have a better and secure future, because they believe that it is the only way to lift them up from poverty. Halin kay Nanay is also a form of protest in the lines, Inday, Nagsungon gid ikaw Wara kami dayon kapadara Buhay mabaton ang sulat Hay nagbaha ang suba Nautod ang tulay the breakdown of the bridge is one of the causes why Inday’s allowance was delayed. If banks are present in Inday’s place, the mother does not need to wait for the reconstruction of the bridge, instead she will deposit in Inday’s account and Inday can get her allowance anytime.

The mother believes that technology can somehow help her for a faster way of sending Inday’s allowance. “Paglatas kang Handum” is another poem which also shows that sending a child in urban schools would mean greener pasture. In the lines, Indi namun ikaw ni Tatay mo pagpunggan Ano man abi ang imo mangin paraabuton rugya sa uma Wara man kami ti inogpanubli kanimo maski sampingas the mother believes that living in a remote place is useless or having no future if compared to cities. Another poem “Sulat”, a letter comes from the province had received by a student studying in the city. At the bottom of he letter the words were not clear and it seems there were islands formed in the lines, Naglubad ang iban nga mga tinaga Daw mga isla kon turukun The student searched where Antique is Ginpangita kon diin nayon ang Antique Nay, indi ko run mabasa ang sulat mo Raku pa nga isla ang nagturuhaw Napuno run ang pahina The student could no longer read the letter of her mother. In the last eight lines of the poem, the daughter pleaded to her mother not to write her again because she doesn’t want to see the islands again. In the lines, Nay, indi run ako pagsulati Indi run natun pagpaayawan ang kartero

Kinii ang paggamit kang tinta Agud indi mamantsahan ang lamesa mo sa kusina Kag ang mga isla Indi ko gusto nga makita ruman. Nagapalangga, Ang imo anak. These lines also convey to its readers that the student wanted to forget the place where she came from because it’s a province. III. Natives favor Modernity Natives are in favor to modernity. The poem “Ang Tumuluon”, the student has questions that longed for answers and compared it to the particle that somehow floating within the personas thought, Sa paramangkutanun nga daw mga bagtuk nga nagalabugay Sa akun paminsarun. In the lines, Namit gid man ang imported

Bisan sabor kang sara-sara, Malipatan mo. The student appreciates the taste of an imported drinks offered to hi, but still the answers didn’t show up and the student felt more nervous in the lines, Garing hay, Wara gid naglugdang Ang mga lagtuk Sa akun pensar, Nagtubo pa ang nerbyos ko. In these lines, the student is bothered by the effect of imported goods. This poem has an imagery of how people were blinded by imported goods/products that it has a bad contribution to our own Philippine product, that in one way or another, instead of buying local products, people are eager to buy imported ones.

This poem somehow reflects how individuals/natives behavior is changed by modernity that life in the present greatly differs from the past. “Patadyong” is another poem, patadyong is a native product woven into different designs. Unlike before, patadyong has limited uses, but because of modernity, it is now used for different fashion shows. From a simple cloth to elegant gowns. kon kaisa, wara naga ararangay ang imo mga duag pero katingalahan, nagapabilin kaw nga maanyag kabay nga duro pa gid ang magasuksuk kanimo Kinaray-a. Com- patadyong kang Antikenyo.

Moreover, because of modernity patadyong does not only referred to as a cloth but also as a community website which is the kinaray-a. com that makes Antiqueno unite and shapes the Antiqueno identity. The poem “Hinugot sa postcard”, Labtugs mother appreciates the characteristics of Labtug’s wife who came from the city, Kang nag-abot ikaw Halin sa syudad Rugya sa amun sa Igcococ, Raku ang nagkuon nga swerte gid Ang bata ko nga si Labtug. According to Jurilla, a person who is not modern is termed as “manol” in the lines, Kon maglatay kaw gani Sa mga kahon sa tunga kang parayan,

Daw hinugot ikaw Sa nagainaw-inaw nga post card. The mother is very conscious of the woman’s behaviors who came from the city even on the ways the woman walked to the field. The poem itself reflects a mother’s view to a civilized woman. She has not considered the behavior of Labtug’s wife as an adaptation to the tradition in a barrio but instead, Labtug’s mother is very appreciative of a woman’s behavior coming from the city, that somehow Labtug’s wife is different among other native women. Native’s view that marrying a man/woman from the city is a lucky catch.

Also in the poem “Sugidanun”, the “karne” (meat) represents change which made the persona in the poem doubt if change would be grasped or not. Mayuhut nga karne Akon ginligon-ligon But due to “modernity”, traditional ways of life have been replaced with uncontrollable change and unmanageable alternatives. The persona realized of accepting change specifically modernity, Daw parehas lang Ka binuy-an mo Nga sugidanum: Mapait Pero akun gintulun. Another poem “Ra Tana”, the first stanza shows the difference of a car into a carriage and uses as a status symbol within the society.

Ang awto kag ang karusa Rayu gid kun ikumparar ta Ang tanda kag suruklan dya Pangabuhi sa syudad kag uma Moreover, from the second stanza to the last stanza, when natives goes into the city, he/she is ashamed of using the native language and uses other language. They adapt themselves to how people in the city socialize. The reason is civilized people view native language as unusual or “buki”. The poem itself addresses its readers that native people have been influenced by modernity, that instead of being proud of their own native language, they rather choose to speak other languages or dialects.

In “Sa Kinaray-a”, also shows how modernity changes the early ways of having friends. Nowadays, Internet can be access any time and a person can have friends at anytime. This poem somehow tells that Kinaray-a people have been united by the Internet. IV. Modernity in Lifestyle The leisure time of natives nowadays are mostly influenced by Western Culture which is a great representation of modernity. Gambling is influenced by Western countries such as Spain. In “Dyoker ay”, a mother believes on her luck in “madjong” and ignores her child who is pleading for a food at supper, Nay, indi run magpautang

Si manding Sibya ano bay idapli namun! The mother continued playing while having “tsismis” (gossips) with other gamblers, Ano bay kuon ni Posang Hay may dara si Idok na Nga Sibwana kuno? and even somebody asked her to go home because her husband was drunk, still the mother continued playing, M're buslan 'ta kaw Uli 'to anay Nalingin kuno si Polding mo In the last line of the poem “Dyoker ay”, the mother won in “madjong” and retains her luck. This poem represents the modern ways of leisure time and somehow source of income of natives that instead of thinking for a better work, they still prefer gambling.

The next poem is another form or representation of gambling. Lottery is a form of gambling and millions of people are engaged into it. People wasted much money in trying their luck at lottery and win millions of pesos if they are lucky enough. In “Iliili kang Manugpatad”, a father keeps trying his luck even if he was out of luck, Dimalas gid ang sabat Mapatad ta liwat but still hope of winning and says he will try again his luck.. Another poem is “Strit Ekis” the people were also engaged into gambling such as lottery. In the lines Ay tabang! Tabang! May nagbungguanay the people were crowded because there was an accident.

But instead of helping they are bothered of a certain happening and objects that signifies or represents numbers, Ano gani ang numero Kang dugo? Kang traysikel tana? Ay! ay nagabusong! Ay abaw! Ano? May nagabusong pa! Sige! Abaya sa numero! Srit ekis! Pulo ang patad. Ay tabang! Tabang! Ay abaw it was a late realization for the people to help those in the accident. Another poem is “Ang Ginawali sa Atlantic City”, its surprising to know that even in church, modernity is present. In the lines, Pinasahi ang bagting ka mga simbahan relihiyon ka swerte ang ginawali kang mga kaparian kang kapalaran a Caesars, Trump Marina, Sands, Taj Mahal ukon Borgata The ringing of the bell in Atlantic City’s church is different among others. In these lines, prayers are not just viewed as a way to praise God but also to have a prosperous life. It is not the teachings of God that enables people to attend mass instead it’s the physical appearance of the church beauty that pushes people to offer prayers and big offerings, daragkul nga mga katedral nagairigpat, nagapanghagad sa mga tumuluo sa paghalad pagnobena kag pagsimba sa altar ka mga slot machines kag baraha; The church is also open 24 hours a day,

Sa dya'ng mga simmbahan ang mga misa wara't katapusan adlaw-adlaw sanda bukas sa byente kwatro oras Somehow churches in Atlantic City represents modernity wherein people forgotten the early ways of praising God. In the last lines, Parehas kang pagkanabaw kang dya'ng relihiyon nga napasad, bukut sa bato kundi sa pagsipal sa swerte nga ginadamgo. religion is slowly vanishing and later on would be viewed only as a way of having prosperity.

 Conclusion and Recommendation

Contemporary Kinaray-a poetry are mostly works of young writers that have been products of Universities. To borrow Deriada’s words. The neglect of the countryside in favor of the big city. ” This is somehow the reason why in present works of Kinaray-a writers, “modernity” is present or reflected. There are four major concerns of “modernity” present in 15 Contemporary Kinaray-a poems. These are: 1. Environment. Modernity in the environment is one way through which individuals tend to leave the native land. Natives are somehow longing for the past but it was already changed or gone away because of modernity 2. Education. Natives send their children in urban schools for the fast access on facilities and this gives them hope. 3.

Natives being in favored to modernity. They have this notion that being in favored to modernity would mean lots of opportunities and 4. Gambling as social vice. Modernity in gambling could highly show that in leisure time and lifestyle of natives nowadays, “modernity” is present The concept of modernity makes us understand that the present is discontinuous with the past, than through a process of social and cultural change, life in the present is fundamentally different form the past. These poems make us believe that modernity highly affects us individuals that we have adapted through the process of change due to “modernity”.

This generation has already identified themselves with modernity in this case, the past is no longer present or common ways in the past slowly fades and rural lands had been attracted to transfer in urban areas for opportunities and fast access on facilities. Literature is a marginalized field but its change due to “modernity” is not felt by all. Further research is also recommended for the better understanding of “modernity’s” effect in Contemporary Kinaray-a poems.

Works Cited

1. Books Binirayan ’08: Manggad nga Antiqeno, Paranublion kang Filipino. Special Literary Issue Binirayan 2007: Culture and Arts Issue. Published by Binirayan Foundation, Inc. 2/F Antique Development Center MAARAM: Studies on Antique, University of San Agustin, edited by Alex C. Delos Santos. Copyright©2003 by Paranublion-Antique,Inc. Delos Santos, Alex.
2. The Rise of Kinaray-a: History and Anthology of Contemporary Literature in Antique, 2003. Selden, Raman, Peter Widdowson, and Peter Brooker. A Reader’s Guide to Contemporary Literary Theory. 4th ed. Great Britain:Prentice Hall/Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1997
3. Bhaba, Homi K. ”’Race’and the Revision of Modernity. ”Postcolonoial Criticisms. Eds. Pertierra, Raul. The Work of Culture. Manila:De la Salle University Press,Inc. 002 Electronic Sources http://www. kinaray-a. com/content/category/5/16/75/50/0/
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