When Victoria Hoffarth was at graduate school in the U.S., her lecturer, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, once told her class, “There are so many varied places in the world. It is incumbent upon us to search for one where we most fit.” Thus, despite having been born and brought up in the Philippines, Victoria never felt at home there. And so, she became a cultural refugee, searching for where she most fitted. Her engaging and intimate narrative remembers back to the early 50s, when her little town was still recovering from the destruction caused by World War II, through thirty years of discontented wanderings to America and back, then onwards to the UK, Germany, and Canada. Victoria delves into Philippine culture, what is unique to their society and what can be learned by the wider world. Likewise, she suggests what Filipinos can learn from the wider world. She further questions what it is to be Filipino, and if she can call herself that? Are you no more than where you are born and raised? A liberal globalist, two other issues uppermost to her are her being a woman in a setting where feminism is frowned upon, and her beliefs as an “a-la-carte” Roman Catholic, given the mindset of a deeply conservative and traditional society. Much more than a memoir, this is the story of finding yourself and learning to look beyond what you know to find home - even if that is where you first began.
The fantastical tales of your culture’s mythology can shape your world in ways that you don’t even realise. Victoria Hoffarth embarks on a journey to seek such myths from the Philippines, explaining the symbolic values as well as the underpinnings of 15 myths, legends, and folktales from the island of Negros, given the collective culture of the Philippines. Through interesting and well written tales, Dr Hoffarth shows how myths are intimately related to history and religion – from Christianity to Islam, from ancient Greece to Hollywood, from pre-Enlightenment Spain to modern, secular Europe. Especially relevant to those interested in commonalities among peoples coming from different cultures, this is a very accessible book with a tone that bridges the gap between academia and popular literature. Entertaining, informative, and insightful, it stimulates our imagination, and encourages us to ask questions. Whether you’re intrigued by the folklore of a culture rarely delved into, or in general curious about the origins and meanings of myths, Song of Negros is a go-to book for you.
When Victoria Hoffarth was at graduate school in the U.S., her lecturer, the anthropologist Margaret Mead, once told her class, “There are so many varied places in the world. It is incumbent upon us to search for one where we most fit.” Thus, despite having been born and brought up in the Philippines, Victoria never felt at home there. And so, she became a cultural refugee, searching for where she most fitted. Her engaging and intimate narrative remembers back to the early 50s, when her little town was still recovering from the destruction caused by World War II, through thirty years of discontented wanderings to America and back, then onwards to the UK, Germany, and Canada. Victoria delves into Philippine culture, what is unique to their society and what can be learned by the wider world. Likewise, she suggests what Filipinos can learn from the wider world. She further questions what it is to be Filipino, and if she can call herself that? Are you no more than where you are born and raised? A liberal globalist, two other issues uppermost to her are her being a woman in a setting where feminism is frowned upon, and her beliefs as an “a-la-carte” Roman Catholic, given the mindset of a deeply conservative and traditional society. Much more than a memoir, this is the story of finding yourself and learning to look beyond what you know to find home - even if that is where you first began.
Well written and interesting stories about myths in the Philippines and how they compare to myths elsewhere. For the curious as to why such fantastical tales and what they mean, it gives explanations about their symbolic values as well as their underpinnings given the history and collectivistic culture of the Philippines.
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