Vol 1 No 1, 2025 Research Article
Erwin S Fernandez
Doctoral Research Scholar, Universidad de Salamanca, Spain.
DOI: To be assigned
[Article History: Received: 05 Mar 2025. Accepted: 07 June 2025. Published: 09 June 2025]
Abstract
The Pangasinan short stories and novellas of Leonarda Carrera are examined in this essay. Born in Mangaldan, Pangasinan, in the Philippines and with the penname “Amor Cico”, which refers to the weed known as “amor seco”, and means “dry love” in Spanish, Carrera was a skilled short story and novella writer in the tradition of Maria Magsano, the grand dame of Pangasinan literature, one of the eight major literatures in the Philippines. Even as a college student encouraged by her mentor, Magsano, Carrera was able to write short stories in the Pangasinan language, whose literary tradition had been orally passed down until the advent of printed texts, presumably during the Hindu-Buddhist period before the Spanish conquest. Literary criticism of Pangasinan literature is few and far between. As presented here, images of playboys and devoted men can be discerned in her short stories and a novella. Her works also served as a platform for her to criticize and lampoon society, a form of social commentary that highlighted issues such as government waste of resources. A number of her protagonists were also writers like herself. Her literary works reflect the period when they were written – the teaching of Spanish in the Philippine university curriculum, the Harry Stonehill scandal that rocked Philippine politics, and the glamorous romantic affair between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the 1960s. But why is there a preoccupation with playboys and loyal men? Why has the emphasis on Don Juans and devoted husbands been given? In the conclusion, the reason for these is hinted at in Amor Cico’s poem.
Keywords: Leonarda Carrera, Pangasinan short stories, Pangasinan novella, masculine images, Philippine literature.
