Excessive Writing and Filipina Time
Chapter One examines Nick Joaquin’s novella, The Woman Who Had Two Navels (which was published before the longer novel version with the same title) and two short stories from Mia Alvar’s In the Country in order to consider the critical role that writing plays in navigating the diasporic maternal. Joaquin’s novella mourns the failure of the Philippine revolution, which becomes metaphorized through a discussion about language. Alvar’s stories address both the prospects and limits of writing: “In the Country” depicts the lives of journalists working against the Marcos regime and the deleterious effects of subversive, embodied writing on the family. In “A Contract Overseas,” Alvar challenges us to think about what it means to imagine and creatively write about life abroad.