Anti-Colonial Archipelagos: Expressions of Agency and Modernity in the Caribbean and the Philippines, 1880-1910 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Kristina A. Escondo, M.A., B.A. Graduate Program in Spanish and Portuguese The Ohio State University 2014 Dissertation Committee: Dr. Ignacio Corona Dr. Ileana Rodríguez, Adviser Dr. Fernando Unzueta, Co-Adviser Copyright by Kristina A. Escondo 2014 Abstract In the past decade, an impetus towards a more globalized field of Hispanic studies has emerged, critiquing the Peninsular/Latin America binary in academic departments and highlighting the need for significant studies of Hispanic Asian and African literatures. Various scholars have been contributing to this call, both in the study of Africa and in Asia, in order to move away from the centrality of the Spanish presence. My research is located in this emerging trend. This project highlights Filipino texts in order to continue building a transoceanic bridge to the Pacific by comparatively placing it alongside Cuban and Puerto Rican texts. This project carries out a transoceanic comparative study of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Filipino nationalist and revolution literatures written during the late nineteenth century, leading up to Spain’s loss of its final colonies in the Spanish-American War in 1898 and the first few years of U.S. neo-colonization. This study uses South Asian and Latin American Subaltern Studies as a point of departure and addresses the gap in Iberian and Latin American studies that ignores the former Spanish colonies in the Pacific Ocean with a decolonial objective in mind. The works studied show the development of a new, regional and national consciousness and reveal the authors’ responses to modernization, highlighting the political, cultural, and social tensions of that time period aesthetically and socio-culturally. ii By employing a transoceanic approach of the Filipino propagandista movement and the Latin American modernista movement, I aim to disrupt coloniality’s focus on the Atlantic and allow for the emergence of decolonial thought that considers the inclusion of the formerly marginalized Pacific. Through an analysis of these parallel movements, my overall claim is that, by reading these texts through a transoceanic lens, we see not a mimicry of a European style, but rather an educated, elaborate response to the collapsing empire and to the international community. In this response, the subaltern asserts his agency, fostering dialogue on nation, citizenship, modernity, and identity. My chapters (1) trace the seeds of a rising indigenous / criollo consciousness in both the Caribbean and in the Philippines against Spanish identity; (2) study the development of this new consciousness into nationalist identity and explore the creation of the meaning of the autonomous national subject; (3) explore the transformations of some of these nationalist sentiments into a revolutionary form of anti-colonialism; and, (4) examine the cultivation of anti-colonialism into anti-imperialist responses via crises of negotiation between old and new empires. Through this study, I show that, in the struggle for the active participation in the production of knowledge and power, justice, and the creation of a national identity, both Latin American and Filipino cultural and ideological production were carried out by autonomous agents that confronted, negotiated, and initiated their own responses to the colonizing and modernizing projects. iii Dedication To my family and friends, both here and across the oceans, To remembering my roots, And to Patrick iv Acknowledgments This dissertation would never have happened without the generous support and encouragement of numerous individuals. First, mil gracias to my adviser, Dr. Ileana Rodríguez, for pushing me beyond what I believed were my limits. She saw the value in my research and fostered my motivation to pursue it, both on an academic level, as well as on a personal one. Likewise, to Dr. Fernando Unzueta for graciously co-advising my dissertation; his unparalleled insight into nineteenth-century nationalist literature provided inspiration for many future projects. Additionally, to Dr. Ignacio Corona, who especially fueled my passion for modernismo, Orientalism, and border thinking. These professors’ expertise, comments, suggestions, and guidance have been indispensable to this project, and for that, I am very grateful. To Judy and Melodie, for guiding me through the paperwork which is always harder to keep track of than it seems. And to my friends and colleagues at the Ohio State University in the Department of Spanish and Portuguese, who continuously inspire me and provide mental support – I am grateful to draw from their brilliance. Maraming, maraming salamat sa aking mga magulang – my parents have been my strongest supporters. Without really understanding my passion or the significance of this dissertation, they have nonetheless encouraged me and been a unique fount of knowledge on Filipino heroes, anti-heroes, and the Philippines in general (and even v purchased hard-to-find books for my research on their trip to the Philippines!). Special thanks to my extended family; they have also been absolutely essential in their help with Tagalog translations into English, especially with the old Tagalog (improving my Tagalog is my next project). Maraming salamat sa inyong lahat. Special thanks to my non-academic friends, who kept me grounded, especially the Frankart-Hoffman family, who have provided an endless supply of chips and salsa, comfy couches, and laughter. And last, but certainly not least, to Patrick, who rejoiced and suffered with me during the entire process. I owe a debt of gratitude for his patience and emotional support, for being a soundboard for my ideas, for rigorously interrogating my work, and, ultimately, for everything. All of these individuals share in the joys and successes of this work, but all errors, inaccuracies, and shortcomings are my own. vi Vita 2003................................................................Garfield Heights High School 2007................................................................B.A. English and Spanish, Marietta College 2009................................................................M.A. Spanish, The Ohio State University 2007 to present ..............................................Graduate Teaching Associate/Lecturer, Department of Spanish and Portuguese, The Ohio State University Publications Escondo, Kristina. “Cuba, the Philippines, and Anti-Imperial Alliances.” A Review of Koichi Hagimoto’s Between Empires: Martí, Rizal, and the Intercolonial Alliance (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013). A Contracorriente 11.2 (Winter 2014): 447-453. Fields of Study Major Field: Spanish and Portuguese vii Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................... ii Dedication .......................................................................................................................... iv Acknowledgments............................................................................................................... v Vita .................................................................................................................................... vii Introduction: Anti-Colonial Archipelagos .......................................................................... 1 Transoceanic voices ........................................................................................................ 5 Comparative African and Asian Literature in Spanish ................................................... 7 Modernity, Modernismo, and Orientalism .................................................................... 11 Modernity/Coloniality, Subaltern Studies, and Decolonial Thought ............................ 24 Chapter 1: Islands of Consciousness: Representation in the Works of Julian del Casal and Isabelo de los Reyes ...................... 38 Julián del Casal and the Chronicle ................................................................................ 47 Isabelo de los Reyes and Folklore ................................................................................. 71 Chapter 2: Islands of Nationalism: The Poetry of Ramón de Emeterio Betances and José Rizal ............................................ 98 Sentimentalism, Progress, and Nation in José Rizal’s Poetry ..................................... 105 viii Love, Freedom, and Patriotism in Ramón Emeterio Betances’ Poetry ....................... 132 Chapter 3: Islands of Revolution: Manifestos of José Martí and Andrés Bonifacio............................................................. 152 José Martí and his “Manifiesto de Montecristi”.......................................................... 158 Andrés Bonifacio and “Ang Dapat Mabatid ng Mga Tagalog” .................................. 169 Chapter 4: Islands of Modernity: The Responses of Apolinario Mabini and José de Diego ............................................... 189 Apolinario Mabini, “The Sublime Paralytic” .............................................................. 196 José de Diego, “The Father of the Puerto Rican Independence Movement” .............. 221 Afterword: Transitions .................................................................................................... 249 Bibliography