Description
More Mindanawon Than We Admit
History, Culture, and Identity in the Philippine South
Edited by Jhoanna Lynn B . Cruz
More Mindanawon Than We Admit explores the history, culture, and heritage of the very diverse people of Mindanao and how it especially manifests within the purview of Filipino identity. The region and its people have always been portrayed differently from the rest of the country, creating certain biases either by chance or design that putting their identity at the forefront also creates an invisible barrier that disconnects them from the rest of the archipelago.
The book’s contributors, esteemed researchers, historians, philosophers, anthropologists, and even architects and artists, bring their unique perspectives and expertise on the subject, promising its readers a provisional understanding of the people, places, and practices of the past and how they affect the present.
The Mindanawon identity is explored, especially the need for it to be given a name, unlike the people of Luzon and Visayas. The region’s historical path to peace is also discussed, emphasizing the variety of ways one can pursue harmony between people as well as creating spaces where peace can be pursued and enforced. Light is shed on the lives of the aging Mindanawon lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual (LGBTQIA+) members, which often remain unperceived, sometimes even in the eyes of their fellows within and outside of their localities.
Mindanawon identity is also examined through creative works and literary studies. The anthology realistically puts the perspective of the artists’ fear for their safety and their desire to give justice to the subjects of their work. It also begs the question of wanting to present one’s culture to the world and challenging cultural stereotypes while also helping to perpetuate these stereotypes themselves. Biases are also relevant, as certain works cannot be brought together or translated without a loss of meaning.
More Mindanawon Than We Admit contains valuable insights into how Mindanao’s culture has evolved and at the same time remained integrated into both the historical and cultural narrative of the Filipino people. In part, its essays highlight the region’s journeys and contributions towards the larger and encompassing Filipino identity, characterized by its people’s stories, struggles, and triumphs. These aspects of life are shared with the rest of the country in one way or another, pointing out that the more we embrace our diversity—in part by being a Mindanawon—the more Filipino we become.
The book is like Mindanawon identity itself: complicated, colorful, and diverse. Although it is a glimpse of Mindanao, the book is also a significant publication to break the many stereotypes we have of the region and its people. The greatness of Mindanawons shines in its pages and every Filipino should be proud that they are part of our overall identity.
—Michael Charleston “Xiao” Chua
Assistant Professorial Lecturer,
De La Salle University Manila
More Mindanawon Than We Admit extends the continuing discourse of what constitutes a Mindanawon identity. The book narrates a multi-disciplinary understanding of the various histories, cultures, and identities of the people of Mindanao. Indeed, this work is a valuable study that will inspire and energize more studies about and in Mindanao.
—Mark Francis Francisco
Chairperson, Cultural Science Department
College of Liberal Arts, Western Mindanao State University
CONTENTS
Foreword by Patricio N. Abinales
Preface by Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz
The Mindanawon Identity
Karl M. Gaspar, CSSR
Transitional Justice and Kalinaw Mindanaw: Personal Reflection of a Mindanawon Historian
Rudy “Ompong” Buhay Rodil
Making Space for Peace: Placemaking and Peacebuilding in Southern Philippines
Maria Carmen Fernandez
The Provincial Capitols of Mindanao, Southern Philippines as Expressions of Power and Authority
Nory Loyd Narvaez-Pernes and Mottie Idasanka P. Santos
Defiance in Davao Gulf: The Rancheria of Tagum and Muslim Resistance in the Nineteenth Century
Theresa Mae Gallardo
The Dwelling Places of the Sama Diluat of Rio Hondo and Transitioning to Justice
Mucha-Shim L. Quiling with Tuttoh J. Awang, Anthony M.P. Penafiel, and Adzhar B. Ibno
Aging in the Narratives of Older/Tiguwang Lesbians in Davao City, Mindanao
Raymundo R. Pavo and Gina Rose L. Chan
Images of A “Lost Past:” Representation of the Indigene in Selected Short Stories of Macario D. Tiu
Farah Aimee S. Virador-Cagayan and Emmanuel M. Cagayan
Kalibugan and Husay (Complexity and Peacebuilding): Theorizations of Lumad Law and Justice in the Twenty-first Century
Jeremy Simons
What Is an Editor?: Ricardo de Ungria as Producer of Knowledge (excerpts)
Julian dela Cerna
Cinematic Archiving of Life in Mindanao and Sulu: Notes on Methodology
Jay Jomar Quintos
Narration, Translation, Fiction
John Bengan
No (National) Love Lost: Notes from a Tawi-Tawi Sojourn and Encounters with Dutertismo
Patricio N. Abinales
Tsuru
Fiction by Macario D. Tiu (originally in Binisaya)
Translated by Merlie M. Alunan
To Calm a War Narrative
Portri Norania Hadji Jamel
Tepeng
Portri Norania Hadji Jamel
Acknowledgments
Image Credits
About the Contributors
Index
About the Editor
About the Editor
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz is a full professor of literature and creative writing at the University of the Philippines Mindanao and is currently serving as dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and Master of Arts in Language and Literature, major in English, both with high distinction, from De La Salle University–Manila, where she had also finished an AB in Literature, cum laude. She holds a creative practice PhD from RMIT University, Australia. Cruz is the president of the Davao Writers Guild (2023–2025) and concurrently a member of the Executive Council of the National Committee on Literary Arts, representing Eastern and Southern Mindanao, under the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, capacities she had also held from 2011 to 2016. She also serves as a board member of PEN Philippines. Her memoir about rebuilding her life in Davao City, Abi Nako, Or So I Thought (2020), published by the University of the Philippines Press, is the first lesbian memoir in the Philippines. Among the anthologies she has edited are Tingle Anthology of Pinay Lesbian Writing (2021) and Davao Harvest 3 (2018). Cruz holds the distinction of UP artist.
Academica Filipina +
Copyright © 2024
272 pages; 15.24 x 22.86 cm.