Finding Our 'Humanness' in Asian Literature

Byline: ROMMEL B. DE LA CRUZ, Ed.D. Graduate School, Jose Rizal University

IN our country divided by ideas of different nature, ideas which spawned unspeakable hatred, violence, and wars, how can we, Filipinos, think of ourselves as one people than many? How can we learn from our experiences and of those peoples we share this continent we call Asia? One answer is looking at the past. This past is best told not from history but from literature. Literature is a history not only of what man has done but what he has thought of himself, his world, and his ideas all may come as fact, non-fact, or simply beyond fact. Asian literature tells the world in no less than dramatic, esoteric, philosophical and religious way of the journey of the human spirit for that elusive communion with its destiny. On her way, we have learned that the journey is no less significant than the destiny, and that the spirit is always in communion with its destiny. This journey and its essential have to be told.

In the past, we have the Indian drama. It is less interested in the pursuit of the higher function of the mind but more in the more mundane cravings of the flesh. Still in many ways it has produced that pleasant, primordial, and positive feeling for those people it has worked its charm. The proper blending of the character, time, place, actors gestures and voice, and historical …

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Publication information: Article title: Finding Our 'Humanness' in Asian Literature. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Manila Bulletin. Publication date: August 14, 2005. Page number: Not available. © 2009 Manila Bulletin Publishing Corp. COPYRIGHT 2005 Gale Group.

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