WRITINGS (and writers) who are considered on the sidelines of mainstream literature took center stage during the 2008 annual conference of the Philippine Poets and Playwrights, Essayists and Novelists (PEN). The event was held last Dec. 6 at the Bulwagang Pambansang Alagad ng Sining of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The Philippine PEN is the local chapter of the International PEN, an association of writers advocating for freedom of expression. The Philippine branch was founded in 1957 by Francisco Sionil José, the National Artist for Literature.

Three main topics dominated the lectures, namely: ?Struggle/People?s Literature,? ?Gender Issues in Literature? and ?Critical Issues/Special Topics.? Writers, students and academicians were among those who attended the conference.

To provide a background on the conference?s theme, ?Literature from the Margins: Changes in the Literary Canon,? noted literary scholar Resil Mojares discussed in his keynote speech the relationship of the ?center-margin? power division in literature. This term refers to the domination of one locale or power base over another through political, economic and cultural means.

According to the Cebu-based scholar, while writers can think that they are writing from the ?center? by being involved in state-sponsored cultural activities, these could only be what he termed as mere ?ambitions and illusions.? All that the writer is sure of is that he?s writing for himself.

?Writers can think of themselves as writing for the center through drafting speeches, being employed in think tanks and taking their National Artist titles seriously. [Yet] a writer can only speak for himself,? Mojares explained.

To find out if a writer?s perspective is from the ?center? or not, Mojares said, one must bear in mind three points: recognition of his location, a writer?s stance and his orientation.

According to him, the location influences the writer?s consciousness which in turn would be reflected in the milieu of his works. As for the writer?s stance, he explained that this is influenced also by the power dynamics between the national and the regional. But it is still up to the author on how he will act.

He explained it is important to find out ?what direction a writer is turned to.? Many regional writers still look to being published in Manila as a mark of success.

Underground writing

The panelists for the first session discussed the exigencies of writing in underground movements. Among the writers who took part in this session were cultural studies professor Rolando Tolentino; essayist Luahlhati Abreu; poet Mila Aguilar; literary critic Gelacio Guillermo; novelists José Rey Munsayac and Norman Wilwayco; and poet Axel Pinpin.

Munsayac said it is important for the writer to be socially involved while at the same time being aware of his ?bourgeois? origins.

Using the Marxist framework, Guillermo explained that the current canon in literature is primarily a ?petit bourgeois? preoccupation whose standards are dictated by the upper class.

But even the writing of literary pieces for the underground movement has to follow standards similar to those observed by writers in the ?center,? Pinpin said.

Pinpin was one of the members of the ?Tagaytay 5? activists who were detained a few years ago on charges of being members of the New People?s Army. They were released this year.

This opinion was also shared by Abreu, who wrote a collection of essays titled ?Agaw-Dilim, Agaw-Liwanag.? As she puts it: ?Uunahin ko muna ang aking likuran bago ang harapan.?

Meanwhile, Aguilar narrated the changes in her writing career beginning from the time that she just decided to take up writing as a course until she joined the communist movement in the 1970s.

?When I returned to Manila in 1979, I felt that I almost lost touch with the city life because of my long years in hiding; my poems during this time were seemingly detached from life,? Aguilar said.

Gays, women

Ideological tendencies and the lack of canonical standards are some of the problems hobbling Philippine gay writing, according to writer-academic Ronald Baytan.

?There are [two] qualities by which a work is classified as ?gay writing.? One is that the author is gay [his/her consciousness and identity] and...second, homosexuality is central to the text,? Baytan related. However, ?the sexuality of the author is not an issue here,? he clarified, making a distinction between gender and sexuality as used in gay writings.

Meanwhile, women?s studies scholar Thelma Kintanar tackled the relationship between gender and multiculturalism in her talk ?Border Crossings in Philippine Literature.? She said some works by Filipina writers show how overseas Filipinas try to regain their identity amid the diaspora.

Karina Bolasco of Anvil Publishing discussed the contribution of women?s writings to the history of Philippine publishing.

Bucking the trend of many writers who include social concerns as their primary focus in their works, essayist Jessica Zafra said that as an Internet denizen, she writes on topics she feels strongly about.

?Being a citizen of the Net, I write about Filipino events having a touch of absurdity. This also makes me free to be. [Writing about topics on the Internet], this is what the 21st century looks like,? Zafra explained.

Other issues

Fictionist Susan Lara discussed the growing popularity of creative non-fiction. She said the pieces have become less of literary journalism and more author-centered.

Novelist Charlson Ong talked about the evolution of how Filipino-Chinese are represented both in the movies and in novels. He also mentioned three ways on how overseas Chinese react to their past: personalizing it, downplaying the role of the nation-state in their history, and altogether abandoning their Chinese origins.

Other speakers were fictionists Rosario Cruz Lucero, Jun Cruz Reyes and Luna Sicat-Cleto and National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera.

UST rector on conscience

The annual José Rizal Lecture, a highlight of the yearly PEN congress, was delivered by Fr. Rolando de la Rosa, OP, rector magnificus of the University of Santo Tomas (UST).

The learned head of Asia?s oldest university mixed humor and wisdom in his speech that tackled freedom of conscience.

He lamented the devaluation of the word ?conscience.? ?Those who are pushing for a Con-Ass to amend the constitution claim that they are doing that in conscience,? he said. ?Meanwhile, a woman doing her laundry with a detergent brand is doing it out of conscience too. As the broadcast advertising puts it, ?Malinis pati konsensiya ko.??

De la Rosa quoted Cardinal John Henry Newman: ?In this age, conscience has been superseded by a counterfeit: the right of self-will.? The rector explained there?s a tendency for people to equate conscience with their own interests. But the subjectivity of consience ?should not be absolutized? since there are objective standards of right and wrong, he added.

De la Rosa urged writers to consider Rizal.

?Rizal considered the existence of conscience as consequent to his belief in God?s existence.? He added that Rizal wrote: ?How can I doubt God?s existence when I am so convinced of my own? Whoever recognizes the effect recognizes the cause.?

De la Rosa said that for Rizal, conscience is a God-given ?lamp of intelligence? that serves as a person?s moral guide.