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Verbal Arts in Philippine Indigenous Communities. Poetics, Society, and History. By Herminia Meñez Coben. (Manila, Philippines: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2009. Pp. x + 392, acknowledgments, notes, references, index.)
This tour-de-force from a Filipina folklorist is a fascinating and welcome analysis of the verbal poetics of indigenous groups from the coastal, inland, and mountain areas of the Philippine archipelago. The work takes a much-deserving subject, the verbal art of ten ethnic groups (the Isneg, Kalinga, Ifugao, Kankanay, Mangyan, Subanon, Bukidnon, Bagobo, Tausug, and Sama Dilaut) and illustrates the centrality of this lore in the social life of the communities, with the addition of a historical context that accounts for the impact of colonial encounters that in turn affected the performance and content of myth, narratives, epics, and chants. Folklore-in this case, the verbal poetics of indigenous peoples-reveal the often violent impact of historical and social change, and as Coben adeptly illustrates, the verbal artists themselves are not just active bearers of tradition but also "agents of cultural change" who balance "the new with the old, while charting a new course for the future" (p. 359).
A graduate of University of Pennsylvania's Folklore and Folklife department, Coben's training in performance theory and aesthetics along with her insights into gender politics and understanding of Philippine history within the Southeast Asian context combine to create a fine analysis that considers the role of women, as well as men, in the poetic lore of the ten groups. The beginning prologue of the book discusses the prevailing opinion among Filipino writers and other scholars about the "insignificance" of Philippine poetry and oral traditions, and it lays the challenge that Coben sets out to refute. And this she does, and with aplomb. Each chapter begins with an overview of the ethnic group, preceded by a short example of their verbal art. Coben then deftly combines a background incorporating...