“Representing a country of multiethnic voices:” Ang kontradiskurso ng grupong Alamat laban sa monokultural at kolonyal na nasyonalismo na umiiral sa Pilipinas
Article
Abstrakt
Ang Filipino boy group na Alamat ay isang multietnikong Filipino boy group na nabuo noong 2020 na may mga miyembrong Tagalog, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Sebwano, Hiligaynon, Bikolano, at Waray. Layunin ng pag-aaral na ito na suriin ang mga orihinal na awitin, covers, at collaboration videos ng natukoy na grupo. Sisiyasatin ng papel na ito ang pagsusulong ng Alamat ng kontra-diskursong lumalaban sa monokultural at kolonyal na nasyonalismong umiiral sa Pilipinas sa pamamagitan ng paggamit at pagkilala sa mga rehiyonal na wikang katutubo, ang pagkilala sa nagbabagong kultura na may paghahalo ng tradisyonal at makabagong kulturang Filipino, ang pagbuo ng kontra-oryentalistang pagbasag sa mga negatibong imahen ng Filipino, at ang pagpapalaganap ng multi-rehiyonal na musikang Filipino.
Abstract
The Filipino boy group Alamat is a multiethnic Filipino boy group formed in 2020 with Tagalog, Ilokano, Kapampangan, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Bikolano, and Waray members. The purpose of this study is to analyze the original songs, covers, and collaboration videos of the identified group. This paper will examine the promotion of Alamat’s counter-discourse that resists the monocultural and colonial nationalism that exists in the Philippines through the use and recognition of regional indigenous languages, the recognition of changing culture with a mix of traditional and modern Filipino culture, the development of a counter-orientalist breakdown of negative Filipino images, and the spread of multi-regional Filipino music.
Alliance Building as a Communicative Action by Anti-Mining Advocates in the Philippines
Article
As we assert the role of communication as an empowerment tool (Rowlands, 1997) and perceive how effective democracies depend on an understanding of the sources and mechanisms of public discontent (Matejova, 2023), this study mainly focuses on how communication enables alliance building of environment advocates, especially in a deeply polarized issue of anti-mining as applied by Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM). In gathering the data, a combination of procedures was employed to capture a rich picture of the phenomenon: (1) document analysis, (2) participant observation, (3) photo-elicitation, and (4) in-depth interview. Data analysis was performed by following the steps in grounded theory. The findings of this study are presented in a theoretical model that demonstrates that the advocates’ communicative approach is a complex process consisting of motivations of the advocates for joining in the campaign, intervening conditions, use of various communication strategies, and outcomes, which are all constitutive to how alliance building as communication for development operates.
Revealing the Differences: Resexualization in the Textual Pluralities of Video Games
Article
Video games can be graphically or narratively overhauled through remasters, remakes, or other forms of textual pluralities to adjust to current game platforms. One of the adjustments is resexualization, narrative and mechanical transformations of bodily and gendered identities of the revisited characters. Drawing upon Gill’s (2003) resexualization of women’s bodies in media, Klein and Palmer’s (2016) textual pluralities, Purnomo et al. (2019) intertextual losses, and Krauss’ (2006) narrative negotiation on a corpus of games along with their textual pluralities, we attempted to explain resexualization in games by classifying resexualization, intertextual losses, and strategies to prevent intertextual losses. Spradleyan domain, taxonomy, componential, and cultural theme analyses were applied in the study. We formulated two types of resexualization namely resexualization type 1 (RT1) and type 2 (RT2) with the former related to gender-bending and latter to sexual objectification and de-objectification. These resexualizations trigger intertextual losses on identity and belonging. To prevent intertextual losses, three strategies are also formulated namely signaturization, alternation, and intratextualization. Game developers could employ the results of this study as a consideration when deciding to resexualize their characters in the context of textual pluralities.
Defining the halata: The social construction of the “obvious gay” in the Filipino Facebook group Samahan ng mga Halata
Article
Othering within the queer dating scene has become prevalent in recent years (Labor, et al., 2023), encapsulated by the phrase “pass sa halata,” which indicates one’s rejection of someone who is “obviously” gay. Yet the very definition of halata [obviously gay], and by extension kabaklaan [gayness], within the Philippine context is ever-changing. Through a symbolic interactionist lens, this study elucidates how the concept of the halata is being conceived and (re)defined in the Facebook group Samahan ng mga Halata [Association of the Obvious Gays], an online community which features gender-based content. From a textual analysis of 257 photos and videos posted from January to June 2024, the study’s results outline the halata’s core characteristics. The findings also indicate that while the age-old gay stereotypes of flamboyant behavior and preference for traditional masculinity persist, these become enmeshed with new and emerging definitions of queerness in the digital age, including tech-facilitated promiscuity and political awareness, thereby producing a novel image of gayness that is suspended between past and present notions of kabaklaan and is thus characterized by contradictory behavior.
Engagements and entanglements in LGBTQ+ hashtag activism: The case of online Pride celebrations in the Philippines
Article
LGBTQ+ pride celebrations in social media are opportunities for collaboration and broader participation. This study interrogates LGBTQ+ activism in X (formerly Twitter) as a functional platform for the LGBTQ+ community to mainstream its advocacy and responses to issues its members face. This research asks the question: How did X users participate in the LGBTQ+ 2021 Pride Celebration using #SulongVaklash? Guided by concepts of hashtag activism and the transnational LGBTQ+ movement, we argue that Pride Month celebrations in online spaces commemorate the event as a transnational protest movement. Findings show that X users utilized #SulongVaklash to join the global call for action to end LGBTQ+ discrimination. Further, the content of the tweets nods to the meaningful local contexts of the online protest, such as the mainstreaming of LGBTQ+ rights advocacy. Online pride protests have also allowed individuals from across the spectrum and social categories to post against discrimination and oppression in solidarity with the LGBTQ+ movement. The study concludes that X has not just become a site for protest through the discursive political appropriation of LGBTQ+ concerns but also a cyber dwelling where LGBTQ+ members recognize the value of their involvement in the fight towards recognition, acceptance, and freedom.
Constructing Hope in Hopelessness: Politics of Hope and Playful Resistances of Affective Publics in TikTok’s #corecore #pinoycore
Article
TikTok has been a site for increasing political activities. But what exactly constitutes political activity? I analyzed #corecore, a trend in the social media platform TikTok that portrays hopelessness in our present realities, and its localization through its combination with #pinoycore. I located the affective political performances of the trend’s creators. Employing thematic analysis to 37 videos, I firstly identified the themes of playful affordances that allowed for the (re)production of #corecore #pinoycore videos. I argued that sound bites, hashtags, and weaved short clips in a single short-form video allows for the constant production and reproduction of #corecore #pinoycore. Second, I identified three affective themes – (1) affective news, (2) tragic reality of social, political, and economic conditions, and (3) recollecting the past – that allow the trend to carry intense emotions in its political performances. The playful affordances and affective intensities that exist in #corecore #pinoycore allow politics of hope and playful resistances to be performed through the trend. Such is seen through a critique of Philippines’ present realities and a reimagination of future possibilities. These affective political performances unearth the role of emotions such as hope and hopelessness in shaping the political, along with its performances and possibilities.
