Banyaga The Song Of War Analysis

Gonzales (2013) examined notions of the “alien” and the “citizen” or the outsider and insider based on the Chinese Filipino experience as portrayed in Charlson Ong’s novel, “Banyaga: The Song of War” (2006). Although the Chinese have lived in the Philippine archipelago since the twelfth century, they have always been considered “banyaga” (alien or foreigner) by Filipino “natives”. The author argued that the marginalization of the Chinese has led them to specialization in trade and commerce, which in turn has steered them, paradoxically, towards exceptionalism. The socio-political alienation of the Chinese in Philippine society is not only due to their race and their legal designation as aliens during various colonial and postcolonial regimes but also from their historic role as trader, middleman, mercantilist, and capitalist.

Zulueta (2012) observed that the younger generations of Chinese-Filipinos have assimilated themselves in Philippine society, adapting to local customs and traditions, as well as speaking in English and Tagalog. The result showed code-switching was a conscious effort to maintain an ethnic identity and a sense of belongingness to the ethnic Chinese community while being members of a larger Filipino community. It is argued that this particular

Therefore, to examine society, relate to the socio-political turmoil, fiction, particularly the short stories, to voice out from dreams, aspirations; frustrations and dilemmas of society. It also show a close link between the literature of a people and their cultures and, therefore, culture has to be analyzed, shared, preserved and revered. Filipino culture can be gleaned through interpretation of the language employed by the authors of the short stories under