Why Counting Counts: Rizal's Novels

• The book Why Counting Counts focuses on studying forms of consciousness and language problems in José Rizal's novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
• Benedict R. O'G. Anderson is the author.
• Ateneo de Manila University Press published the study in cooperation with Philippine Studies.

Copyright Information

• Copyright 2008 is held by Ateneo de Manila University and Benedict R. O'G. Anderson.

National Library of the Philippines CIP Data

• The book suggests a simple way to understand Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo to deepen the understanding of Rizal's perspective and the socio-political context in which they’re set.
• A recommended entry suggests this is a study of forms of consciousness and problems of language in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
• The ISBN is 978-971-550-555-0.

Acknowledgements

• The author expresses gratitude to Jun Aguilar, Neil Garcia, Bomen Guillermo, Carol Hau, Ambeth Ocampo, and Tony Wood for their insightful feedback.
• The author assumes responsibility for any errors or misinterpretations.
• The articles in this book were previously published in Philippine Studies.

A Brief Word to the Reader

• The book is for Filipinos, especially students and teachers, who know Rizal's novels' plots, characters, and locations.
• Provides a simple method for understanding Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, Rizal's evolving perspective, and their complex politico-cultural context.

Introduction

• Critical writing on Rizal's novels often overlooks the author's intended audience and the complexities of race and ethnicity.
• There is a habit of quoting phrases out of context and neglect of the character intentions, which can make the books seem like ethico-political treatises.
• This introduces a systematic study of elements in vocabulary, style, and context, treating the works as novels.
• The study aims to comparatively analyze Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo.
• The texts uses analytical methods and formats to compare the data on both novels.

Noli Me Tangere

Spanish-Colonial 'Racial' Strata and Ethnicity

• Colonial Philippine society was theoretically organized as a 'racial' pyramid, reflecting social and biological distance from a European norm.
• Highest were the peninsulares, Spaniards born in Spain.
• Below them were the criollos or creoles, Spaniards born in the Philippines.
• Mestizos were of mixed parentage.
• The Philippines was distinct, containing a large population of immigrant Chinese and their descendants, hence the need to differentiate between Spanish and Chinese mestizos.
• At the base were the indios.
• 'Ethnicity' emerged as a census category after American colonization.
• The Spanish regime used differential tax and legal statuses to enforce this social hierarchy.
• Significant groups outside the pyramid include non-Catholic Chinese (sangleyes, later chino), unsubdued Muslims, and pagan tribes.
• The term peninsular appears four times, spoken by the Teniente and the Narrator.
• Criollos is even rarer, the male form used once by a friar and the female form by the Narrator.
• Mestizo(s) occurs four times, often specified as español(es).
• Mestizo chino is absent, despite their influence; the Narrator mentions mestiza twice and P. Dámaso uses mesticillos.
• Indio is common, used by all levels of society, numbering 43 mentions with P. Dámaso using it 13 times and the Narrator 7.
• Naturales, a synonym for indio, appears 5 times, split between the Narrator and Don Filipo.
• Chino is frequent, appearing 35 times as a noun and widely distributed. The elderly sangleyes are used only once and by the narrator.
• Moros are mentioned three times by the Narrator and refer to characters in a moro-moro play, not to Muslims.
• Tagalog as a language, but tagalos are mentioned in the Narrator's commentary only five times.
• The complete absence of the Ilocanos, was a strange discovery.
• The novel usually ignores the diverse Filipinos.

Political Vocabulary and Concepts

• España mainly refers to the Iberian country, but the Capitan-General uses it for the Empire and occurs 39 times.
• Español should have an obvious meaning but people born in Spain are not the referent.
• Filipinas is mentioned 59 times, with a wide distribution throughout the story.
• Nacion, patria, and pueblo refer to the Philippines.
• Nación crops up seven times, nacionalidades occur twice, nacionales are used once, and the adjective nacional occurs twice.
• Rizal only used the word nation nine times.
• For instance, Ibarra tells Tasio that every man should love his mother country.