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This document is a module on the mainstream success of Carlos Bulosan, focusing on his literary works and their impact on popular culture.
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# MODULE 6 ## ALLOS' MAINSTREAM SUCCESS ### Introduction This module is a detailed discussion of Bulosan's break into popular culture. His (incomplete) publication history is included, indicating his creative energies and how Allos became very popular, especially for a Filipino in America. ### Dat...
# MODULE 6 ## ALLOS' MAINSTREAM SUCCESS ### Introduction This module is a detailed discussion of Bulosan's break into popular culture. His (incomplete) publication history is included, indicating his creative energies and how Allos became very popular, especially for a Filipino in America. ### Date and Time Allotment October 5, 8 & 9 ### I. Objectives At the end of the module, the students should be able to,: 1. identify factors that lead Carlos Bulosan in popular culture 2. Evaluate selected literary pieces that gave fame to Allos globally. 3. Define and write personal meaning of success ### II. Lecture He originally began publishing his poems and essays in small magazines and newspapers. Bulosan gained much recognition during World War II, with the publications of the essay "Freedom From Want" (1943) and the book The Laughter of My Father (1944). He broke into the American mainstream, was published abroad, and found moderate success beyond writing. But his fame lasted only for a brief period of time. Bulosan's literary circle grew early and rapidly. When working on The New Tide, Bulosan came into contact with a wide array of progressive writers. Some of the writers with whom Bulosan made acquaintance were the Babb sisters, Richard Wright, and Louis Adamic. Bulosan had at least three literary agents - Maxim Lieber, Marion Saunders, and Harriet Wolfe. Maxim Lieber had connections with Harcourt, Brace & Company, who eventually published America Is in the Heart. Bulosan was good friends with author Carey McWilliams, who wrote about migrant conditions in California. He was also close to Grace F. Cunningham (pen name Lysle Carveth), and some of her stories are based on Bulosan's childhood. Bulosan associated with progressives and radicals, who were involved with the Communist Party USA or targets of McCarthyism, which helped develop his own brand of Marxist thinking. Bulosan was acquainted with a handful of scholars and academics. Archival materials show he communicated with Rodrigo and Dolores Feria, Leopoldo Yabes, and Florentino Valeros - all college professors in the Philippines. The extent of Bulosan’s relationship with these Filipino professors is unknown because many of the letters were destroyed, lost, or confiscated by the Philippine government - a result of Bulosan's alleged red taint. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave his Four Freedoms speech in 1941. The four freedoms outlined by the President were: - Freedom of speech - Freedom of worship - Freedom from want - Freedom from fear Roosevelt stated that these are things that people "everywhere in the world" ought to enjoy. In 1943, Norman Rockwell depicted FDR's Four Freedoms through oil paintings, which were published in the Saturday Evening Post, accompanied by an essay defining that freedom. At this time, Bulosan was fully experiencing want, working no financial security and no stable home. He was commissioned to write the essay about the "Freedom from Want" which was published in the Saturday Evening Post, after which he gained national and international recognition as an American writer. Part of the essay reads: "We march on, though sometimes strange moods fill our children. Our march toward security and peace is the march of freedom-the freedom that we should like to become a living part of. It is the dignity of the individual to live in a society of free men, where the spirit of understanding and belief exists; of understanding that all men, whatever their color, race, religion or estate, should be given equal opportunity to serve themselves and each other according to their needs and abilities. But we are not really free unless we use what we produce. So long as the fruit of our labor is denied us, so long will want manifest itself in a world of slaves. It is only when we have plenty to eat plenty of everything- that we begin to understand what freedom means. To us, freedom is not an intangible thing. When we have enough to eat, then we are healthy enough to enjoy what we eat. Then we have the time and ability to read and think and discuss things. Then we are not merely living but also becoming a creative part of life. It is only then that we become a growing part of democracy." Bulosan did not see "freedom" as a political construct, but the readily available access to their basic needs: food, clothing, and shelter. "Freedom" means nothing to those who were starving and homeless. An individual develops their other capacities only after they fulfill their basic needs. Thus, one's economic well-being was a prerequisite to their participation in democratic politics. Bulosan published The Laughter of My Father, a collection of short stories, in 1944. The stories were based on Filipino folklore and people Bulosan knew in Binalonan. During the height of Bulosan's success, The Laughter of My Father was a much more popular book than America Is in the Heart. Some of the stories were broadcast over radio stations. It became an international seller; the archives include letters sent from publishers in various countries (England Denmark France Sweden Italy Yugoslavia), in which they ask Bulosan's permission to translate and/or publish the book. Selected stories from the book were also adapted into puppet plays in the Territory of Hawaii, and Drama Theater in South Africa. Bulosan published America Is in the Heart in 1946, and it remains his best-known work to date. The book is semi-autobiographical, but wholly representative of the Filipino immigrant experience. As stated earlier, Bulosan wrote about Filipino sufferings as if he experienced them firsthand. The public did not connect with the numerous and anonymous Pinoys, but could sympathize with one individual. In taking on those sufferings for himself, Bulosan presented an arena in which his audience could seriously contend with the experiences of migrant workers. It is used and cited today in high school and college classrooms in the United States and the Philippines. Bulosan started a sequel, to be titled My Letter to the World, but the manuscript was never found. Bulosan had a chance to start a career in the film industry. Warner Brothers wanted to film a biography of Jose Rizal (1861-1996), a Filipino writer and national hero, and one of Bulosan's influences. Bulosan claims he was asked to be the technical director of the film, but the project was altogether rejected by Rizal's then-living sister, Trinidad. He does not mention when the film's production was to take place. But if the story is true, it reflects the incredible respect Bulosan held for Rizal himself. Bulosan was compelled to write to expose the poverty and destitution he and other Filipinos experienced on a daily basis. His work in the labor unions fuelled his creative drive, and he gained limited success in his first ten years in the United States. His career skyrocketed with the publication of “Freedom from Want” and The Laughter of My Father, but his fame plummeted just as quickly. Bulosan never regained his wartime popularity.