Rhodora G. Magan
I discovered two scholarly papers on my second novel, Magdalena, by Rhodora G. Magan.
The first one, entitled Cecilia Manguerra Brainard's Oriental Oriental " Magdalena" : A Linguistic Reinvention, was published in GSTF Journal of Law and Social Science (JLSS) Vol. 4 No. 2, October 2015 - see abstract and excerpts below.
The second is entitled "Eve and Her Beings: A Chopin-Brainard Simulation" delivered at the Asian Conference on Literature & Librarianship, April 2-5, 2015 in Osaka, Japan
Many thanks to Rhodora G. Magan for her comprehensive papers on Magdalena ~ Cecilia Brainard
Cecilia Manguerra Bainard’s
Oriental Oriental
“Magdalena”: A Linguistic Reinvention
Rhodora G. Magan
Abstract--- Critical at this point in
the postmodern society is ‘an idea’ nuanced in myriad voices. This paper
contends that in the Philippine context there may be very little room for this type of linguistic
exploration but is enough to exhibit the
existing engagement of writers with the never-ending phenomenon of
interpretation, that is, a particular meaning is contingent to one’s
“situational frame”. Simply put, two similar structures/codes/words are
associated with multiple meanings. More so, these modes of interpretation will
eventually affect one’s capacity to assign an array of codes to build upon the
very image one intends to create. In this paper Magdalena in Cecilia
Manguerra-Brainard’s Magdalena is
thought to be the embodiment of the Biblical Magdalena sought to be determined
by linguistic limitations in the context of the author herself. She is exactly the very image of a woman
that the author, in her capacity, would wish to create given her own
situational frame----her milieu. Likewise, as the reader engages himself with
the text, another frame is recreated so that the meaning becomes ultimately unstable in a continuous
regression. Meaning-making incidence is primordially seen in this study as the
crux of the matter by which different ‘situational frames’ can be understood as
such. The character, Magdalena, is seen
in that respect as it largely depends on how such relations are created between
the signifier and the signified. Dwelling
much on Saussure’s perspective, the meaning that is evidently explored which
gives Magdalena ‘the identity’ is not
only drawn from the characteristics nor from her inner sensibility as a person
but from the intricate connections that surround the perceived object of woman
through which binary oppositions are thought to emerge.
. . .
(Excerpt 1) In Cecilia Manguerra-Brainard’s novel,
the language proves Bakhtin’s theory of dialogism in the narrative’s portrayal
of women whose descriptions are the results of the author’s perceptions founded
on the experiences from years passed. This element of narrativity allows her to
uncover the intricate events that connect three powerful women in this war
novel such that it can be observed the
display of prowess in
wielding language of independence
and controversy in different milieus.
The varying tones and degrees of their experiences are all weaved into a
distinctive fabric that redefines woman such that from the biblical archetype it
proceeds to have taken the role of a character accessorized by the whims of
another civilization.
In the light of the above creativity,
the credit goes to the processural nature of simeosis which Parmentier (27)
succinctly believes to have implied:
an inherent asymmetry in what can be
termed the level of simeosis between the
vector of determination and the vector of representation.
The concept highlights the capability
of the
‘representamen’ to correspond to the object (original) in
many ways. This opens doors for innovations thus obliterating the concept of
mere replication which is only confined to the known characteristics of a
certain thing that serve as pattern. Apropos the necessary alterations of
perceptions which bring out this principle of asymmetry, Baudrillard (6)
asserts that such practice lends stability to the concept called “hyperreality”
which by definition is brought about by infinite regress, that being mainly
characterized by a lack of fixed point of reference.
. . .
(Excerpt 2) Toward the
end, Brainard chooses to further her case with justifications of certain issues
involving women. Her choice of ending the narrative in a way that one can least
suspect parallels that with the new context (liberal) that she designs for her
characters to operate upon. With an unpredictable ending, one is led to asking
the intent of the author in not revealing the key to Juana’s father’s
happiness:
“For a moment I was tempted to confess to him that
Magdalena was his daughter, but there was too much ground to cover, too many
lives that would be upturned; and so I remained quiet, as I had these past
twenty-seven years.”
The
implications of her language at the end are clearly manifestations of an
erudite writer who creates room for her readers to appropriately end it the way
they ought to. A monologue at the end is a sign that before one returns the
novel back to the shelf, at least, he is given access to the mind of one of the
characters. No third-person “objective” narrator can influence any judgment one
has for the novel in that everyone is free to interpret whatever he thinks
about with respect to his experiences, beliefs and culture.
Likewise,
select images embellish the whole text as if in a nutshell everything can be
thoroughly explained (but will still depend on how each one views them). The
novel with its unique plot encourages readers to go back and forth as
flashbacks become so frequent that no
present event is independent at all. Ironically, whichever chapter one begins
to read there is that element of isolation that enables a particular chapter to
stand on its own. This ultimately
characterizes Brainard’s style of offering cross-sections of life to examine
its complexity. This technique manifests the case of language which can be set
apart from the rest, yet still prominent in its own dimension.
Brainard
exhibits the unique craftsmanship that endows the text’s musicality inherent in
poetry. The style can be hinted at the very basic interposing of words whose
meanings reside beyond the literal level and whose sounds create rhythm beyond
the monotony of daily discourse. Such lines are testaments of her ingenuity:
“She was bits and fragments of words and paper and cellulose---ethereal,
a ghost ….”
“The sea beyond had settled into
gentle lapping … and ribbons of gray smoke trickled ….”
“She feared the sensation of
losing touch with reality, of disappearing into the heavens, of being one with
Victor.”
“…was another stroke in the debit side of Fermin’s balance
sheet in her heart.”
“He tastes of the sea this man.
He is like a god risen from the sea.”
Figurative
language such as consonance, personification, hyperbole, zeugma and simile
enhances the way words are grouped together.
There is more to each arrangement than meets the eye because the
dynamism of meanings spring from it and myriad interpretations emanate from its
vibrant texture. On the surface glare the words that constitute a story after
another story whose plots are governed by the point of views of the firstperson
and third-person narrators:
First person---“When I felt life within
me, I felt it was time to turn their secrets into stories.”
“My
grandmother lived to see me married---
happily, I might add.”
and
Third Person---“Luisa, invited Magdalena to lunch and spelled out some new details about Victor: he
had a mistress; in fact they lived together in
Mandawe….”
One voice in the prologue and epilogue
sets the tone of indecision and decision. In between is another voice of an
observer who apparently wants to enlighten “the perceivers” about the issues
that build on one after another. This observer prevails in all of the chapters
except in two accounts which means that the author succumbs to the objective
retelling of events rather than what one participant might just feel throughout
the time frame. Yet the fact that it is not
a purely objective fictional construct does imply that one perspective
is not enough.
This, too, is an indication of the
lack of the fixed point of reference which gives way to the innovative
reinvention of a context that transcends the original. The representation of
multiple points of view contributes to the phenomenon of ontological uncertainty
for having capitalized on the irregular flow or the destruction of the
complacent perspective of order
Predictable outcomes become a less likely occurrence once plot structure
is disintegrated so that there arrives a “plotless” presentation of existential
time. Erickson (103) purports that one dimension of this experience of time is
“existential time”. It is ingredient both in experiencing of time and in time
as it is experienced. To explore time is to look at it prior to an instance
which is impossible if one says ‘time began’ because it can never have a
beginning.
Designing the whole novel like a set of
stories (not even a series of short stories), time appears to be dislodged from
a specific point. The indispensability of the idea that time is independent
heralds the unconventional narrative that goes beyond reality. Brainard’s style
is one of unusual indetermination of what comes next along with language
structures’ inevitability to take new forms over time. The oriental attitudes
take on the form of varying tones of structure that surround the concept of
woman represented by Magdalena...
(Excerpt 3) CONCLUSION: Magdalena is the product of the “unstable signified” that asserts
authority over the simulacrum that it has created. The simulacrum in turn
asserts the same linguistic characteristic that assumes more power than the
predecessor. The quality governing its existence is highly dependent upon the
“situational frame” of the author and eventually upon
that of the reader’s, which Rimmon-Kenan (qtd. in Hoffmann 122) understands as
a frame to “reduce indeterminacies” of the world by giving them “form”.
Consequently, the more it reduces such the more that these propensities
flourish to establish another taste, flavor, desire, behavior, and ultimate
characteristics that define another creation propelled by the determination of
language to innovate.
The reader
(which includes the author herself being the first-hand reader) does not react
passively to the narrative but activates his own potential to innovate the “form”.
With more than just replication, “the perceiver” exercises and strengthens his
exclusive or contextual treatment of a text. This gives him power to
either give justice to certain issues
in the text or condemn any element in it.
From the
aforesaid perspectives on the functionality of language, Magdalena is most
probably understood as belonging to the Biblical domain given the context that
basically draws many of its practices from the Bible. The Philippines as a
religious nation, therefore, creates different levels of conception. The union
of interaction, context, performance,
and culture conclude this understanding of language power (Duranti and Goodwin
1992).
Magdalena has
been existing in millions of oriental discourses that foster clarity as to her
real purpose in the society. The term “Magdalena” per se signals for ballistic
targets directly to the minds of individual members of the group that now
reflects the Filipino psyche----the prevailing thought towards Filipino women
who despite being indecisive continues to take control of what is left in her
possession. The oriental side elides the fear and lack of determination.
Society then engulfs the new thought as language deems it to be as dramatic as
possible when it comes to shaping the universal consciousness.
Wielding power
also comes with symbol and style which
in this study lend gravity to the effect the text intends to create. The
relationship with which these two are drawn is explicated in a way that the
development of the latter depends heavily on the dynamism of the former. Both
are gleaned from the surface as chimeras that cast light on the ulterior
direction of the text-- the “Magdalena” undergoes a transformation with respect
to its new situational frames (the author’s and the reader’s).
Bio of Rhodora G. Magan:
Rhodora G.
Magan, DALitcom, has been a resident language, literature, and
communications instructor at the Cebu Technological University Cebu City Campus since 2010 and a
lecturer in the Graduate School three years hence. Along with the
responsibility to impart knowledge to students is her great interest in several
local, national and paper presentations that build her the habit of accessing a
repertoire of literary expressions and perspectives. From being a prolific
researcher she takes on the identity of a writer. Despite the rising techniques
in the postmodern era they never impede The
Cottage, the entry submitted to an international body, to be appreciated as
it bears exuberance of local color weaved in a significant way. Her determination
to succeed in different fields is recently proven in her first authorship along
with three others in the university. The publication of New Literatures: New Texts, New Voices, New Perspectives speaks of
her dedication to educate learners on the thriving literary texts across
timelines. Rhodora Magan is an educator, a researcher and a fictionist.
Read also
Review of Magdalena by Eileen Tabios, Babaylan Speaks
Review of Magdalena by Kathleen Flanagan, World Literature Today
Eve and Her Beings: A Chopin-Brainard Simulation, by Rhodora Magan
Fiction by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard "Talking About the Woman in Cholon"
Brainard Collection of Philippine Fil-Am Books at Jackson, TN Library
Tags: Philippines, Filipino, literature, novel, books, fiction, stories, Cebu, Sugbo, Cebuano, Magdalena, women, Filipina, Filipiniana, review, research study, simulacra, Eastern situational frame, hyperreality, simeosis, synchronic, diachronic
This is all for now,
Cecilia
Review of Magdalena by Kathleen Flanagan, World Literature Today
Eve and Her Beings: A Chopin-Brainard Simulation, by Rhodora Magan
Fiction by Cecilia Manguerra Brainard "Talking About the Woman in Cholon"
Brainard Collection of Philippine Fil-Am Books at Jackson, TN Library
Tags: Philippines, Filipino, literature, novel, books, fiction, stories, Cebu, Sugbo, Cebuano, Magdalena, women, Filipina, Filipiniana, review, research study, simulacra, Eastern situational frame, hyperreality, simeosis, synchronic, diachronic
This is all for now,
Cecilia
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