Songs of Ourselves: Writings by Filipino Women in English

by Edna Zapanta Manlapaz

This is a chorus of many voices singing themselves as Filipino women. Listen! From time to time during the near hundred years of Philippine literature in English,...consciousness-of-self-as-Filipino-woman has expressed itself through the voices of writers. But their speech has not always been listened to with the attentiveness conventionally claimed by male discourse. The silent assumption appears to be that women's stories, because often confined within the space of closed rooms and fenced yards, have nothing significant to say about the world outside. Private space cannot accommodate public issues; fairy tales and lullabies and cuentos cannot articulate political statements; small talk cannot encompass big question. This anthology does more than affirm these experiences of women as valid and valuable in themselves, it privileges them. -Edna Zapanta-Manlapaz in her Preface

Genres: Poetry, Short Stories, Anthologies, Fiction

397 pages, Paperback

First published March 15, 1994

About the author

Edna Zapanta Manlapaz is a prominent Filipina literary scholar, feminist critic, writer, and editor known for her contributions to the study of Philippine literature in English, with a special focus on Filipina women writers.

Manlapaz's research provides an extensive biographical and critical overview of Filipina women poets and fiction writers in English, spanning nearly a century of literary work. Her studies often examine the interplay of gender, class, language, and history within their writing. In recognition of her scholarly work and mentorship, a book of essays, poems, and short stories titled Prowess and Grace: A Festschrift for Edna Zapanta Manlapaz was published in her honor in 2010.

Reviews

[Chary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, a set of filipino texts that I actually enjoyed. Good stuff! Thanks Ate Chole!

[Diane Pugarin]

I want to read this story 😔

[Mostly on Storygraph · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few anthologies of its kind, Songs of Ourselves is a compilation of poetry and short fiction written in English by women whose cultural background is from the Philippines.

Edited by Edna Zapanta Manlapaz, the collection does not claim to highlight the greatest in female Filipino writing, nor does it claim a feminist intent. While written with the purpose of sharing the stories and perspectives of Filipino women (i.e., Filipinas), anyone who is female (no matter what culture), who is merely interested in learning the norms and idiosyncrasies of another people, or who is of a strict family upbringing or strong patriarchal culture will find much value in this book. Manlapaz, in revealing the motivation behind the compilation, states that while many men have presented the plight of the Filipina in their English writings, "their speech has not always been listened to with the attentiveness conventionally claimed by male discourse" (xiv).

This collection hence gives a voice to the many Filipinas out there, relating stories spanning history and countries, including a story of of a lonely seamstress in the province and a poem of a silent woman who returns from Kuwait with physical and emotional scars of slavery. Still, a lot of the writing is triumphant, offering in small doses the very essence of growing up female in this culture, of plowing through boundaries and coming out victorious. Included is a thorough and highly informative introduction written by the editor, who includes a brief history of the English language as it was viewed among the colonies and the sexes as well as a summary of the authors included, their struggles as writers, and the various topics they cover. There is also an annotated list of the contributors at the end of the book which solidifies the admiration and understanding of the challenges the writers faced in their culture and presented in their works.

While my entire family descends from the Philippines, I have struggled to learn the native language. This volume was therefore a privilege to own. Within its covers it presents so many of the idyllic narratives of the past as well as present firebrand and contemporary issues of the present, all in a creative form that was inviting and thought-provoking.

Those who want to further pursue this track will be interested in A Native Clearing: Philippines Poetry and Verse from English Since the '50s to the Present(1993) edited by Gemino H. Abad for the University of Philippines Press, Filipina I(Women in Media Now)(1984) edited by Mila Astorgo Garcia, Marra PL. Lanot and Lilia Quindoz-Santiago for New Day, Forbidden Fruit: Women Write the Erotic(1992) edited by Tina Cuyugan for Anvil, and Kung Ibig Mo: Love Poetry by Women(1993) edited by Marjorie M. Evasco and Benilda S. Santos, also for Anvil. Those who are priveleged enough to know the Tagalog language of the Philippines may also be interested in the companion to Songs of Ourselves entitled Ang Silid na Mahiwaga.