Pagbasa sa mga Gawa ni Rosario CruzLucero, isang maka-Lumberang Dulog

Abstract

This paper analyses the work of writer and scholar Rosario Cruz-Lucero using the nationalist methodology described by critic Bienvenido Lumbera in his essay “The Rugged Terrain of Vernacular Literature.” The framework is nationalist and feminist, addressing the blind spots of both traditional literary criticism like Formalism and New Criticism.

In Lumbera’s view, a descriptive instead of a critical approach is necessary in order to highlight the political and historical context of a work. He also, somewhat heretically, emphasizes the need to humanize the literary text, reinforcing instead of abolishing the space of the author.

The work of Rosario Cruz-Lucero encapsulates the concerns of this nationalist feminist literary criticism. The paper describes Lucero’s biography, as well as her social context as a woman, Negrosian, and writer. The paper touches on Lucero’s entire body of work, from her first collection Herstory, to her most recent book La India, or, Island of the Disappeared. As a critic and scholar herself, Lucero’s collection of criticism The Nation Outside Manila is also given a close reading.

Keywords: Feminism, Postcolonialism, Nationalism, Literary Criticism, Women’s Writing