Re(dis-)covering Filipino identity: Counter-colonialism as a critico-theoretical backbone for reading and teaching era-specific Philippine literatures in English

This paper is a section in an analytical swathe that re-orients the role of criticism in inscribed Filipino identity, Philippine Literatures in English, and Critical Pedagogy of Literature. Re-examining Philippine short stories in English through a de-westernised lens, the paper offers a comprehensive analytical and critical backbone for anyone who reads and teaches Philippine Literatures in English, especially those during the American colonisation. By revealing overlooked aspects of Filipino consciousness and challenging traditional literary analysis coming from the usual Western-oriented paradigms, the treatise provides not only a conceptual provocation, but a framework for reinterpreting colonial-era literature and promoting a more nuanced understanding of national identity. Ultimately, the critique contributes to decolonising scholarship in the Philippines, aiming to rebuild local, native, and national consciousness through critical literary examination, allowing peripheral signifying practices and significant principles of Filipino consciousness to be revisited and re-viewed.