Maria Anjelica Wong is an educator and researcher from the Philippines. She holds a BA in Literature and History from the University of the Philippines Visayas and is pursuing a master’s degree in Philippine Studies at the University of the Philippines Diliman. As a Lecturer at UP Visayas, her interests encompass Philippine literature, culture, and ecopoetry, with a focus on indigenous and regional environmental perspectives. Her research interests lie in exploring the intricate connections between culture, nature, and society in the Philippine context. E-mail: mcwong1@up.edu.ph
Antonio D. Salazar Jr. is pursuing a master’s degree in Public Policy at Chiang Mai University. His background in political science, public policy, sociology, and history allows him to address social phenomena. He has conducted research on water governance, children’s rights, and pandemic response. E-mail: adsalazar2@up.edu.ph
The Environment as Kapwa: An Exploration of the Three Ecologies and Interconnectedness in Hiligaynon Ecopoetry
Abstract: Ecocriticism in the Philippines examines environmental issues within the web of phenomena that include calamities, climate change, environmental injustice, and rapid urbanization. All these issues can be foregrounded in ecopoetry while allowing readers to be more aware of the space and place they occupy. This is because ecopoetry has a unique ability to, not only offer an aesthetic experience of nature through poetic language, but also submerge the reader into the world that is represented in the text (O’Brien, 2001). The three Hiligaynon ecopoems analyzed in this paper offer deep ecosophical messages that are useful in communicating environmental issues and possible solutions. This paper aims to uncover these ecosophical messages following a close ecocritical reading of the three Hiligaynon poems. The poems to be studied are “Ang Katapusan” [The End] by Alfredo Diaz, “Paghulat sa Ulan” [Waiting for the Rain] by Jelyn Odango Aliniajan, and “Si Gaya Sa Talamnan” [Gaya Along the Fields] by Alice Tan Gonzales. The paper also argues that the concepts of pakikisangkot, pakikiisa, and kapwa in Sikolohiyang Pilipino reflect the principles of ecosophy developed in The Three Ecologies by Felix Guattari, as well as the concept of interconnectedness in ecocriticism.
Keywords: ecopoetry, ecosophy, ecocriticism, sikolohiyang Pilipino, Hiligaynon poetry