Gendered Voices: A Postmodern Feminist Reading of Selected Texts in the Canon of Philippine Literature

Abstract

Primarily, the study attempts to hear women's voices in selected Philippine short stories. The research answers the following questions: What thematic considerations are conveyed in the selected five literary works in the canon of Philippine literature in English? What are the symbols that predominate in the works? What images of women are paramount in the works? How are women's voices considered in the works? More specifically, it is anticipated that different groups of people, including Chinese students, the Chinese Reading Public, Chinese literature teachers, chairpersons of the English/literature department, and future researchers, will benefit from the study.

The main problem of this study is to do a feminist reading based on the textual analysis of literary elements of five selected works in the canon of Philippine literature in English. To fulfill this study's goal, the researcher uses the descriptive method, which is more than data gathering —it is deemed the best method. As with the former, it typically uses contrasts and comparisons and may try to establish a causal connection between factors that were not manipulated.

The research finally yields such findings: themes of the works touch upon the everyday life struggles of women in Philippine society; symbolism in the five selected literary texts are culturally contextualized and reflected thru their distinct ways; the "images" of the protagonist in these literary texts, though different from one another, are showing common traits; the voices of the women are considered to be justified and reasonable in their times.

As a result of these concerns, the researcher had the idea of analyzing the text of five selected Filipino short stories written in English by well-known female authors in the hopes that it would assist readers in developing a greater appreciation for literature.

Based on the summary of findings and the conclusion therein drawn, the following recommendations are now presented: The Department of English/Literature of every higher education institution must include in the curriculum "women's studies" to enlighten the students on the role of women in society; Pursue a Marxist Reading on women's stories in terms of their struggles as a human person in Philippine society.