DELA CERNA
I first heard about Resil B. Mojares when I was a college student at STC in the 1960s when he sat as a panelist in the oral defenses of the theses of English majors.
His reputation as a writer and scholar grew and I enrolled only in one subject he handled in graduate school at the University of San Carlos – Historiography — where I learned the different methods of research in local history and culture.
Then from the 1970s to the 1990s, I knew him more from the various lectures and conferences where he was a keynote speaker or one of the main resource persons.
When I was the coordinator of Education Forum (EF) – Cebu in the mid 1980s, I invited him to be the keynote speaker of the EF Conference in Cebu on August 22, 1987 where he presented his paper on “Modeling the Filipino: The Politics of Values Education” where he discussed the politics rather than the pedagogics of values education.
Mojares stirred interest in intensive study and research on local history and culture through the activities of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos which he founded in 1975 and was its director until the 1990s.
This influenced the putting up of a unit-wide committee on Local Studies in UP Cebu in 1990 where I was its chairperson.
We held the First Cebu Cultural Week on September 23–28, 1991 with the theme: “Cebu’s Contribution to the National Culture” and I invited him to speak on the theme.
He was at that time involved in compiling the Cebuano entries for “The Cultural Encyclopedia of the Philippines” which was a project of the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
Then I went on leave for my doctoral degree in Philippine Studies at the Asian Center in UP Diliman from 1992–2997.
In 1994, I enrolled in the subject Readings in Philippine Society and Culture which focused on Compilation handled by the erstwhile professor and scholar, the late Dr. Virgilio Enriquez.
For our requirement, we had to submit a compilation of selected works of noted Filipino scholars (and make them available) which are significant contributions to Philippine Studies.
It came natural to choose Dr. Resil B. Mojares whom I consider belonging to a rare breed of writers and scholars in the country.
Resil Mojares combines the methods of literary criticism, cultural anthropology and history.
His writings focus on Cebuano culture and history within the context of the national culture and which serve as samples of studying Philippine society and culture from a regional perspective.
Twenty selections were culled from a voluminous bibliography of Dr. Mojares’ works which covered the areas of local history, folklore, traditional art, language, values, literature, theater, houses, drinking, jeepney-riding and the like.
Most of these selections were originally papers presented in national conferences and congresses held all over the country from the late 1970s to the 1990s: two were chapters from two prize-winning books, five were articles from his column entitled “Footnotes to the Absent Text” which was a regular feature of the Sunday edition of Sun Star Daily.
The compilation was composed of two parts: Part I featured the state of Philippine scholarship, the writing and teaching of local history within the national context, the use of folklore to supplement appreciation for historical events, the gaps in studying traditional art, the importance of language in “imagining nationhood,” and a critique of the politics of values education.
Part II showcased samples of a regional perspective in the study of Philippine Society and Culture; the residence as a social and cultural instrument and symbol, a theater tradition enriching the social history of a Cebuano village, Cebuano social life and contributions to the national culture.
Concepts, interpretations, insights, analyses, critiques, Filipino values, language, meaning and symbols in the works of Dr. Mojares provide thought-provoking discussions.
Preparing a compilation of selected works of Dr. Mojares has provided a background in coming up with a sourcebook for the integration of local studies in the teaching of the social sciences.
It also provided additional readings in Philippine Society and Culture as well as topics or areas for further inquiry for masteral theses and doctoral dissertations in the Philippine Studies Program.
Most of all, it helps understand the Filipino better.
This is what a National Artist for Literature is!