Biography: Types and Perspectives

Biography

• From the Greek words "bios" (life) and "graphia" (writing).
• A written record and detailed description of a person’s life.

Types of Biography

• Classic Biography: A life history written by someone else.
• Autobiography: A person’s life story written by that person.

Kasaysayang Buhay

• Focuses not only on prominent people.
• Contextualized within the country’s culture.
• Reflects the social life of the featured individual.
• Hagiography and heroic biography are deviations from traditional biographies.

Perspectives on History and Society

• Dr. Roderick Javar (2016): A person’s history is inseparable from their society, and society is historically a product of its striving citizens.

Bayani vs. Heroe (Dr. Zeus Salazar, 1997)

• Bayani: One who fought for the liberation and establishment of the Motherland from colonialism, demonstrating heroism through revolution for the country.
• Heroe: An ilustrado bourgeois who, while anti-colonial, wanted to form a separate but not distinct entity from Spain, relying on individualism and acting for the "nacion".

Approaches in Analyzing Heroes

• Heroic Determinism: History is the effect of individual actions.
• Social Determinism: History has a predetermined course, unaffected by individual actions.
• Evolutionary-Adaptive Approach: Becoming a hero involves extraordinary actions and a social context that allows recognition and flourishing of actions.

Traditional Biography

• Focuses on describing the person’s character and individuality.
• Details the person’s birth, childhood, education, work, family, death, and other personal details.

Schools of Thought in the Study of Biography

• Circumstances: Individuals are significant only due to the times they live in; certain periods favor the rise of great individuals.
• Individual: Forceful individuals have the "power to change the trend of events." Thomas Carlyle claimed that the "history of the world is but a biography of great men."
• Luck: Luck determines who accomplishes great work and who falls into obscurity.
• Middle-Ground: A symbiotic interplay of individual actions and stimuli from society creates history and initiates change.

Republic Act No. 1425 (Rizal Law)

• Mandates all Philippine educational institutions to include courses on the life, works, and writings of Dr. Jose Rizal, especially "Noli Me Tangere" and "El Filibusterismo".
• Aims to awaken and instill patriotism and nationalism among Filipino youth.
• Approved on June 12, 1956, by President Ramon F. Magsaysay.
• A watered-down version of the Recto Bill.
• Advocated by Senator Claro M. Recto and Jose P. Laurel.
• Context: Pro-American policies like the Military Bases Agreement and Bell Trade Act.

Heroism in the Philippine Setting

• Heroism involves: a prominent person taking an admirable part in any remarkable action or event; a person of distinguished valor; a person honored after death for exceptional service to mankind.
• Bayani can mean to prevail, be triumphant, or victorious (mamayani), cooperative endeavor or mutual aid (bayanihan), or one who offers free service in a cooperative endeavor.
• PI 10 promotes humanism (pagiging makatao) and nationalism (pagiging makabayan).

19th Century Philippine Timeline

• 1810: Spanish revolutionaries establish the Cortes and grant colonies the right to representation.
• 1813: The Liberal Constitution of Cadiz is implemented in Manilla, including individual liberties.
• 1815: The Galleon Trade ends.
• 1826: A monarchist counteroffensive ends further secularization of parishes.
• 1834: The Royal Company of the Philippines is abolished. Americans establish commercial houses in Manila. Manila is opened to international trade.
• 1859: The Jesuits return to the Philippines and accept missions in Muslim areas.
• 1863: The Educational Decree mandates establishing a public school system.
• 1864: Father Jose Burgos criticizes Spanish discrimination against secular priests
• 1872: Fathers Jose Burgos, Mariano Gomez, and Jacinto Zamora are executed after a mutiny at the Cavite naval arsenal.
• 1882: Rizal leaves for Europe.
• 1887: Rizal publishes "Noli Me Tangere".
• 1891: Rizal publishes "El Filibusterismo".
• 1892: Rizal returns to Manila, organizes La Liga Filipina, and is exiled to Dapitan. Andres Bonifacio establishes the Katipunan.
• 1895: The Katipunan network expands and elects Bonifacio its supremo.
• 1896: The Katipunan is discovered and begins an uprising. Rizal is executed on December 30.

Rizal’s Formative Years

• Fuijian: The province in China where Domingo Lamco's (Rizal's Chinese ancestor) parents originated.
• Benigna-Regina-Brigida: Names of Teodora Alonso's direct female ancestors, by order of their generation.
• Gobernadorcillo: Leadership position held by Rizal’s great-grandfather Francisco in 1783 in Biñan.
• Narciso Claveria: Governor General who ordered indigenous people to change their surnames to Spanish ones starting in 1848.
• Inquilino: Tenants who rented agricultural lands from the Dominicans.
• Dominicans: Religious order that administered the schools where Francisco Mercado and Teodora Alonso studied.
• Jose Rizal had four younger siblings out of 10.
• At 6 years old, Rizal told his sisters, "When I die, see if people don’t make images of me!”
• Jose Alberto’s wife accused Teodora Alonso of poisoning, leading to her imprisonment in 1871.
• Jose Burgos was Paciano Rizal’s mentor.
• Four months passed between the execution of GOMBURZA and Rizal's entry to Ateneo Municipal de Manila.
• Rizal felt confident about writing in Spanish in his third and fourth years at Ateneo, mentored by Padre Francisco Paula de Sanchez.
• Rizal earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Ateneo at 15.
• Teodora Alonso began to develop a cataract.
• Segunda Katigbak from Lipa, Batangas, was 14 years old when Rizal met her.
• 1875: Rizal wrote 'To The Child Jesus"
• 1876: Rizal wrote "To The Virgin Mary."
• Christopher Columbus was featured in Rizal’s poem in his final years in Ateneo.
• In “Por la Education Recibe Lustre la Patria,” Rizal described the qualities of youth where education is implanted as invigorated and strong.
• Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila recognized Rizal’s poem “A la juventud Filipina” in 1879.
• Rizal published "Tears and Laughter" 10 years later, recounting his unpleasant experience of being mocked for winning the first price in Liceo Artistico Literario de Manila.
• Antonio and Leonor Rivera lived in Intramuros when Paciano and Jose visited them in 1880.
• Leonor Rivera was 15 when Jose Rizal left for Europe.
• Narcisa kept the "solemn bond" between Paciano and Jose about their duties to the country and family a secret.
• Rizal referred to his departure to Spain as a mission to fill.
• Rizal left Manila for Europe on May 3, 1882.

Transformation of Rizal’s Consciousness

• May 3, 1882: Rizal left Manila on a ship bound for Singapore.
• June 13, 1882: He landed in Marseille, France.
• June 15, 1882: He arrived in Barcelona, Spain.
• November 3, 1882: He began his studies at Universidad Central de Madrid.

Rizal in Madrid

• Earned a Licentiate in Medicine on June 21, 1884.
• Gained sobresaliente grades in Philosophy and Letters subjects at Universidad Central de Madrid.

Rizal’s Commitments on his Reform Mission

• Correct the Spaniards’ misconceptions about the Philippines.
• Expose the abuses of the friars through publishing in liberal and republican newspapers.
• Advocate for the Philippines’ inclusion in the constitution, representation in the Spanish Cortes, and proper treatment of Filipinos.
• Showcase the abilities, intelligence, and talents of Filipinos in Europe.
• Juan Luna’s "Spoliarium" won gold and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo's "Las Virgenes Cristianas Expuestas Al Populacho" won silver in the Exposicion Nacional de Bellas Artes, 1884.

Calamba Land Problem

• Rizal planned to move from Calamba to Sandakan, Sabah.
• Encomienda: The system established by the Spaniards that granted land receivers the right to exact tributes from a certain area.
• Rizal compared the corruption of the government, abuses of the friars, and degradation of morals in the Philippines to cancer.
• Rizal compared the Philippines to a person on the verge of dying.
• Rizal believed the Spanish administration made the Philippines indolent.
• Inquilinos: Tenants who leased lands from the hacienda.
• In El Filibusterismo, moral illness is worse than physical ills.
• Twenty-five tenants, including Paciano, were ordered to be deported to Bohol, Jolo, and Mindoro.
• The Dominican order had conflicts with Rizal's family and townmates about fees and taxes in Calamba Hacienda.
• Cabesang Tales in "El Filibusterismo" represented the victims of land-grabbing.
• Rizal used steps as a symbol for the place where the sick must be placed and examined.