THE POETRY OF DISSENT:

THE BALAGTASAN (VERBAL JOUST) DURING THE AMERICAN COLONIAL PERIOD OF THE PHILIPPINES

A lecture by Filipino poet-critic Virgilio Almario:
The balagtasan, a Filipino poetic form, was invented
and performed during the American occupation of the
Philippines. The balagtasan honored Francisco
Baltazar (also known as Balagtas), the 19th century
Filipino author of the Filipino narrative poem
Florante at Laura. As a literary form, it was based
on a traditional Filipino form of debate in verse that
was popular in the rural areas at that time. This
popularity partly accounts for its success as
entertainment until after World War II.

However, the balagtasan was also the product of a
nationalist and anti-colonial impulse in Filipino
vernacular literature during the early 20th century.
The balagtasan was used by Filipino writers and poets
to express the most progressive and current political
ideas then and to comment on contemporary social
issues. Join us for an afternoon of Filipino
literature, history and poetry with Philippine
National Artist Virgilio Almario.



About the Author:
Virgilio Almario, also known as Rio Alma, is the
Philippine National Artist for Literature and
currently serves as Dean of the College of Arts and
Letters at the University of the Philippines. A poet,
literary historian and critic, he has revived and
reinvented traditional Filipino poetic forms even as
he championed modernist poetics. He has published
numerous books of poetry and criticism including the
landmark trilogy "Doktrinang Anakpawis," "Mga Retrato
at Rekwerdo" and "Muli, Sa Kandungan ng Lupa"; "Ang
Makata sa Panahon ng Makina"/ The Filipino Poet in the
Age of Mechanization; and "Balagtasismo versus
Modernismo," to name a few. He is chairman emeritus of
the Unyon ng mga Manunulat sa Pilipinas(UMPIL)/
National Union of Writers of the Philippines and
former executive director of the National Commission
for Culture and the Arts in Manila. Almario's life and
literary work has been defined by his commitment to
Filipino writing that wields the pen against untruths,
hypocrisy, and injustice.

Sponsored by UC Berkeley's Department of South and
Southeast Asian Studies, the Townsend Center, the
University of the Philippines and the Critical
Filipina/o Studies Collective