Two recent novels--Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn
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Two recent novels--Dogeaters by Jessica Hagedorn and Rolling the R's by R. Zamora Linmark--illuminate different aspects of the Filipino experience, the first set in Manila and so in the Filipino homeland, the second in Hawaii and so a reflection of the immigrant experience in America. Both works reflect the difficulty faced in the conflict between the old culture and the new. In both books, the older generation is tied to the culture of the Philippines while the younger generation is seduced by American popular culture. In Dogeaters, this conflict takes place in the Philippines as the powerhouse of American popular culture beckons to the young. In Rolling the R's, the conflict takes place in Hawaii as people who have immigrated form the Philippines are exposed even more directly to American life and culture. The themes of class conflicts, assimilation, and the need to belong are evident in both books and are addressed both in terms of cultural differences and sexual orientation. Dogeaters is set during a period of political conflict in Manila, beginning in 1956 as a dictator consolidates his power over the people of the Philippines. The people continue their lives in spite of the turmoil taking place around them, and the society in which they live is a society of combinations and contrasts, with large class differences, social distinctions, and other differences existing in a mix showing less concern for making distinctions than for living them. This means that the
. . .
t face of yours? (Hagedorn 115).
The power of American culture in this distant area of the world is apparent in the many cultural references by which the narrator makes connections between her world and the American world to which she aspires, though in the end, her memory of her youth in Manila is what will appeal to her more after she has actually lived in America. For the young girl, though, American culture is defining, as is apparent when she and Pucha want to be like their favorite American stars. The narrator says, "We affect the casual teenage glamour of Gloria Talbott in our favorite movie, All That Heaven Allows" (Hagedorn 236). Pucha wants a perm because Audrey Hepburn and everyone in Hollywood and Rome are doing it (Hagedorn 237). Girlie Alacran dreams of golf and evokes all the known American names--Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Ben Hogan (Hagedorn 180).
In Hagedorn's book, much of the time of the narrator and her friends is taken up with daydreaming about America and American personalities, as in the golf story. The same sort of dreaming and imagining is apparent in Rolling the R's by R. Zamora Linmark from the beginning:
Last night, I had sex with Scott Baio, Leif Garrett, Matt Dillon, too. We was worki
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Approximate Word count = 1594
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)
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