Atalia to academe: Don't be 'elitist,' accept public majority's canon
An award-winning Thomasian professor on Oct. 18 urged the academe to also acknowledge the masses' canon and write more about Filipinos' concerns.
"Ang masa ang dapat targetin ng akademya. Hindi kayong mga nakapag-aral. [A]ng problema sa bansa natin ‘yung mga matatalino, sila lang ‘yung mga nag-uusap. Patalinuhan pa sila. Sa mga conference pataasan ng ihi," said three-time Palanca awardee Eros Atalia in a book talk at the Philippine Normal University (PNU).
Atalia emphasized that the First World countries' concerns are different from the Third World countries', including the Philippines'.
"[N]apakaelitista ng akademya. [I]ba ‘yung concern ng First World sa kagaya nating nagdudukha, nagdidildil ng asin at mahirap na bansa. Ang panitikan sa atin is a very middle class concern," he said.
“Sa ibang bansa ang isang libro katumbas lang ng isang oras na trabaho nila, [hindi katulad satin] [na] uunahin mong bumili ng bigas kaysa [bumili] ng libro,” he added.
Atalia said academe should not undervalue Wattpad, an online storytelling application.
The paradigm shift of literary genres proliferated through online platforms should also be considered literature, he said.
“[P]latform lang yung pinagkaiba, pero ['yung] element ng Literature na hinahanap natin, naroon pa rin,” Atalia said.
“Ang isusulat ng batang writer ay yung alam niya, yung mundo niya. His crush, love, bullying,” he added.
Atalia cited educational attainment and low wage as some the reasons why the academe's literature is not accessible to majority of the Philippine population.
Atalia recently won the grand prize in the Nobela category in the 67th Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature for his entry “Ang Ikatlong Anti-Kristo.”
Other speakers in the book talk were: Joselito De los Reyes, a Thomasian author and professor; and Pia Besmonte, a poet and a Literature teacher.
The event was organized by Circulus Literati, an organization of literature students of PNU. Paul David L. Gelario