Let me start by re-inventing a Jungian concept: "If, for a second, we regard the nation as one particular person, we see that it is sort of a individual carried away by unconscious powers; and likes to maintain sure issues tucked away in separate drawers." There's after all an concept that rests inside the coronary heart of Philippine history-an concept so absurd that one could result in imagine that Jung was proper when he mentioned that "our world is, so to talk, dissociated like a neurotic". And the concept is that this: change is merciless, so one should reject change for no matter comes from change is only a corruption of the unique; for change too has develop into an issue in Philippine historical past that one should "tuck it away" in a "separate drawer" to ensure that the folks to see what they solely wish to see.
Philippine historical past is stuffed with myths which are, in a way of talking, a step shorter from delusions and hallucinations. For instance, I give two myths and a consequence of those myths. The primary fantasy is that of a Filipino Civilization earlier than the approaching of the Spaniards-or to be extra correct, earlier than the approaching of Islam. The second fantasy is that of the True Filipinos who dwell inside such a civilization. The mixture of each produces the primary narrative of the neurotic historical past of the Filipino folks. It seems now that to start with there was a civilization and the civilization was good; the early Filipinos (due to this fact, True Filipinos) have been good maritime navigators, have already got a type of faith, have been capable of produce songs, create wares, construct small huts, domesticate lands and began agriculture, set up a authorities system referred to as barangay, set up commerce with different Southeast Asian neighbours, and so on. and so on. It was when the Spaniards got here (the second and already expurgated narrative of the neurotic historical past of the Filipino folks) that this civilization was enslaved, exploited, oppressed, raped and ripped to items, and naturally enslaved, exploited, oppressed, raped and ripped to items. (Simply learn any Philippine historical past e book.)
Here's what it actually appeared liked-maritime navigation that failed to determine a neighborhood folklore on sea adventures (largely as a result of these maritime consultants have been pirates and raiders), a faith so primitively pagan and animistic, songs that have been by no means written as a result of writing tradition was not but mainstream, wares that have been someplace between fundamental and elaborate, small huts and an architectural design that by no means went past primitive, lands cultivated by sticks, rice terraces with out the storage services within the model of Mohenjo Daro, agriculture so primitive it by no means went past the realm of their minute political consciousness, with politics as minute as a ship, and an ego-centric commerce (historical past tells of neighbours coming to the Philippines and buying and selling with the Filipinos, however by no means the opposite means round once they have been supposedly skilled maritime navigators). If that is what it means to be civilization, then I am starting to surprise what civilization actually meant the primary time it was used. In any case, Philippine historians-much extra like Philippine politicians-are keen on redefining phrases to fulfill their wants. One should rethink the time period "civilization" once we discuss pre-colonial Philippines inasmuch as one should additionally rethink the phrases "literature" and "historical past" due to the shortage of a writing tradition. Moreover, these True Filipinos of the pre-colonial period-irony of ironies!-do not have a little bit of an idea of what it takes to be Filipino, what's a Filipino, and that Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao are island groupings thought of as a single political unit referred to as the Philippines.
One could surprise if one can name the Celts in primeval Britain the True English (horrendous!), or the Ainus of historic Japan because the True Japanese (unbelievable!), or the Goths of early Iberia because the True Spaniards and the True Portuguese (intoxicating!). It will lead us to the consequence of our neurotic historical past: the concept of ancestral area, that's the presumption that those that settled on the land first are its unique house owners. Is it not true that the Celts settled the British plain far too lengthy than the Philippine indigenous peoples have settled wherever-they-were earlier than? I ponder if the Japanese authorities will give up the Yamato plain to the Ainus and transfer the Japanese capital far to the frozen north. Will the European Union give to the Italians-descendants of the Romans-the ancestral area which was as soon as beneath the jurisdiction of the Roman Senate? Pure folly that may solely come from the Filipinos.
The neurotic historical past of the Filipino folks may be summarized on this method:
(1) they'd civilization;
(2) the Spaniards got here and arrested additional developments of that civilization;
(three) the Individuals got here and likewise contributed to the destruction of no matter remained from that civilization;
(four) such that till now they're confused of what and who they're as a result of they've misplaced a lot of their former innocence;
(5) that they emerged as, and nonetheless are, Restricted Filipinos of the up to date world.
The modifications which have occurred previously 443 years (much more) are to be thought of as a corruption of their pre-1521 tradition. They criticize themselves for being fakes and having colonial mentality, and reward their distant previous for his or her innocence-for being "unique" (no matter which means).
So, if we-in Jungian terms-translate the nation as a person, what do we now have on the Filipinos is that this:
(1) an harmless youngster stuffed with a lot curiosity and freedom that what issues with him was solely enjoying and consuming;
(2) the primary wave of modifications got here when his dad and mom began pressuring him over many issues and he began considering that life just isn't so simple as earlier than;
(three) the second wave got here via peer stress as he entered right into a complicated age of adolescence and actually began to bicker that being a toddler is way more enjoyable;
(four) he emerged as a confused grownup despising himself for having been corrupted by all of the modifications that occurred to his life;
(5) concern of the current made him lengthy for his harmless past-at this stage, the person represses his personal historical past as a historical past of ache and struggling, tucks it in a drawer, and creates substitute tales to cowl the ache and struggling.
Nostalgia for the previous is manifested in constantly summoning the previous to look essential of the current. To cowl the hysteria produced by the very modifications that occurred to him, he creates myths. Philippine historical past is neurotic to date.
However, within the Freudian, Adlerian, and Jungian means, these myths-this neurotic historical past of the Filipino people-cannot keep away from to manifest what was tucked away within the unconscious. Thus, Philippine historical past to date is describable within the widespread neurotic signs of melancholy, nervousness, and the lack to adapt via the ensuing modifications of life and time. What we certainly have in Philippine historical past is the documentation of their very own fears and tragedies and the longing to return to a time when the Spaniards weren't there but to spoil all the things. The product of such a historical past is an enormous collective inferiority complicated that may solely really feel satisfaction within the punches of a Pacquiao, within the strokes of billiard gamers, on the highest of Mt. Everest, on the passing of a bar examination, and on the little issues that different nations discover not a lot of a significance however are within the Philippines thought of massive time. What their historical past is producing just isn't a historic folks that may discover one thing to be happy with of their history-for Philippine historical past just isn't a historical past of modifications and accomplishments however of struggles and sacrifices-no, not a historic folks; for so long as their historical past is sort of a Philippine tele-novela, identical to its media counterpart, it's doomed to imply nothing. What it's producing are a hysterical folks afraid and dissociated of its history-a neurotic race from its neurotic tales.
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