In partnership with the UST Publishing House, the Faculty of Arts and Letters’s Department of Literature held its annual Paz Latorena Memorial Lecture with Dr. Epifanio San Juan on March 2, 2017 at the Tanghalang Teresita Quirino, Benavides Building.
According to San Juan, the aim of introducing this idea of studying literature through the phenomenon of Filipino Diaspora is to reorient the Filipino’s sensibility and vision regarding their own individual responsibility in society; it is also to initiate the “rethinking” about themselves as an equal citizens of a nation-state with a specific history; and it is to kindle the conscientization of our mind.
Capping the memorial lecture, San Juan’s latest book entitled Learning from the Filipino Diaspora: Lessons of Resistance and Critical Intervention (UST Publishing House) was launched. Discussing the dynamics of literature, San Juan noted that social changes also reshaped the academic landscape, which led to the recognition of women writers as well as Afro-American writers, for example, in United States of America. “The students and the teachers force the institution to change [because] no institution will change by itself due to the inertia. People are used to doing the same thing.” San Juan said.
This annual memorial lecture aims to introduces teachers and students of Literature to the Creative Writing process to understand and appreciate literary text; familiarize both faculty and students with literary, historical, cultural, political, and economic forces which collectively constitute a literary work, expose the literature teachers and students to renowed Filipino writers; and to inspire young writers to hone their skills and craft in writing as Paz Latorena demonstrated during her career as fictionist.
