discourse analysis proposal_summer solstics.pptx

This presentation is a proposal for a material to be used for discourse analysis.

1. Summer Solstice By: Nick Joaquin

2. This story is set in colonial Manila during the feast of St. John that also takes place in connection to the pagan ritual called “Tatarin”, which celebrates the power of femininity and fertility. In the story, Doña Lupeng, who at the beginning of the narrative dismisses the ritual, undergoes a transformation as she learns through the ritual and ultimately experiences its liberating qualities. The reaches its height when Don Paeng kneels before Doña Lupeng, representing the subversion of patriarchal power and the reversal of traditional gender roles that dominate the Philippine society. Description

3. "Summer Solstice" is rich in the interplay of cultural, gender, and ideological discourses. The story offers many layers of meaning--colonial influence vs. indigenous ritual, patriarchal power vs. female agency, and moral rigidity vs. sensory freedom--making it particularly well suited for Structuralism, New Historicism, and Feminist Discourse Analysis. The rich imagery combined with a symbolic narrative and socio-historical context provide sufficient resources to examine how language constructs power, identity, and culture. Reason

4. It investigates the binary oppositions present in the story: male/female, paganism/Catholicism, tradition/modernity, authority/subordination, among other things. It analyzes the cultural codes such as rituals, feasts and festivals, and social stratification organize organize and influence meaning in the text. Structuralism

5. It highlights how traditional gender roles are constructed, contested, and reversed as reflected in the story. It explores the transformation of Lupeng from a skeptic, submissive wife to a positive figure of power, suggesting the awakening of female agency in a patriarchal society. Feminist Discourse Analysis

6. It situates the text within the historical context of colonial Philippines, with Catholicism and indigenous culture coexisting in a community. It analyzes the cultural practices which represent the relations of power between the colonizer and the colonized, as reflected in the story, and how literature negotiates history and identity. New Historicism

7.  Social and Historical Context - The short story is published in 1972 but the timeline of the story itself in set in the 1850s during the Spanish colonial era in the Philippines.  Author’s Purpose Based on the Text - Joaquin's purpose in looking at rigid definitions of cultural practices, colonial influence, and gender roles was equally to examine the conflict between the attention paid to indigenous rituals and colonial morality and its influence on social norms and gender perspectives. Overview

8.  Audience - The story is intended for the Filipino audience. However, one assumes that readers familiar with Filipino culture in the 1940s will recognize many of the cultural implications linked to ritual, religion, or social stratification during this era. More generally, the story will engage readers and scholars interested in examining postcolonial, gender, and cultural discourses in and through literature. Overview

9. Other Relevant Background Information (The Tatarin Ritual) -The Tatarin ritual is very important to the story, and has origins in pre-colonial fertility celebrations that still existed under the Spanish Catholic influence. Joaquin utilizes the Tatarin ritual to frame questions of morality, power, and liberation within a historical context that is both native and colonial. Overview