Literature as History: Igorots and the Culture of Resistance in the Fiction of Sinai C. Hamada

Literature as History: Igorots and the Culture of Resistance in the Fiction of Sinai C. Hamada

The true history of revolution in the Philippines is not tied to the center where forces converged to resist western colonization. I assert that the contributions of those in the margins, like the Igorots of the Cordillera, north Luzon, Philippines had significant contributions in the complex history of the Philippine revolution.Two short stories by Ibaloi-Japanese writer Sinai C. Hamada reflect the historical and cultural aspects of Igorot resistance in the Cordillera against Spanish and American colonial rule. Using the biographical approach and James C. Scott's notion of “hidden transcripts" or “infrapolitics,"structures of domination can be gleaned from these stories. More importantly, the creation and defense of a social space in which offstage dissent to the official transcript of power relations (J. C. Scott xi) are manifested in Hamada's short fiction. In the end, turning to the literatures of people from the peripheries may serve as testimonies of colonial domination and “guerilla-style campaigns of attrition" waged by the marginalized.