On May 13, at 6PM, Instituto Cervantes de Manila is presenting an online lecture on the Filipino identity by anthropologist Fernando Zialcita.
Crossing of peoples and civilizations, the history of the archipelago of the Philippines has produced a very complex identity. The Philippine culture is a combination of influences of the East and West, intermixing and gradually evolving together.
Anthropologist Fernando Zialcita has devoted his academic life to answer the interrogations born from this unique historical condition. In his talk, Dr. Zialcita will discuss and try to answer the not-so-easy question of “What is the Filipino?”
Following the path taken by Nick Joaquin, arguably the greatest Filipino author in English, Zialcita approaches this issue from the principle that “the Filipino is neither East nor West, neither North nor South. The Filipino is all of these, for the Filipino is a griffin. Like the mythical animal that combines the head and wings of an eagle with the body of a lion, the Filipino brings opposites together.”
Dr. Fernando Zialcita, who obtained his M.A. and Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Hawaii, teaches at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the Ateneo de Manila University and heads the Cultural Heritage Studies Program.
He specializes in Heritage and identity, art and its cultural context, and interfaces between the foreign and the indigenous. Dr. Zialcita has written various articles on the Spanish influence on the cultural identity of Filipinos.
The online lecture, presented by Instituto Cervantes de Manila in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines, will be in Spanish but simultaneous translation in English will be provided.
The audience will be able to interact with the speaker by submitting their questions during the event. Admission is free on a first-come, first served basis via Zoom. To access the webinar and for further information and updates on this event, please check out Instituto Cervantes’ Facebook page.
