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Friday, September 02, 2005
Encantadia’s cultural and literary value
Encantadia, GMA Network’s top-rating “telefantasya,” not only wows the ordinary TV viewer with its amazing effects, sets, costumes, and plot twists; it has now also caught the attention of members of the academe with its potential literary value and cultural relevance.
A group of 30 guests from the University of the Philippines Diliman, led by UP Institute of Creative Writing Director Victor Nadera, recently visited the set of Encantadia. Professor Nadera, who also teaches in the UP College of Arts and Letters, brought his Panitikan ng Pilipinas 110 students to the Encantadia studio in Pasig as part of their lessons on Philippine Literature.
The students’ questions revolved around motivations for creating the program, the story’s similarities with existing mythology, folklore, and popular fantasy stories, its similarities with the country’s current political situation, the program’s contribution to promoting the Filipino language, and its impact on feminism. The class that went to Encantadia comprised of students from a variety of fields. Most were undergrad students taking up Malikhaing Pagsulat sa Pilipino (Creative Writing in Filipino), some were taking the class as a pre-requisite for their Masteral Degree, while others were students from the UP College of Mass Communications.
One student taking up Sociology, Marty Joseph Macariola, shared that he plans to do his baby thesis on Encantadia because he is certain there must be “something” about the show that makes it such a hit, particularly in the campus dorms. He imparted that whenever the show is on, all dorm residents head for the common room to watch it. “The world stops when Encantadia is on,” asserts Macariola.
(September 2, 2005 issue)
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