“A Study of Speculative Fiction in Philippine Contemporary Literature as Exemplified in the Novel Salamanca and Nine Supernatural Stories Anthology”

1. Title: Speculative Fiction in Philippine Contemporary Literature as Exemplified in the Novel Salamanca and Story Anthology Nine Supernatural Stories

1. Nature and Significance of the Study:

Speculative fiction is a term used as an inclusive descriptor covering a group of fiction genres that speculate about worlds that are unlike the real world in various important ways. It is attributed to Robert Anson Heinlein, an American novelist and science fiction writer. The term first appeared in his 1984 essay and he used it as a synonym for “science fiction.”

In the context of Philippine contemporary literature, although there are many works and authors classified as speculative fiction, the term speculative fiction has been attributed to the writer Dean Francis Alfar. His novel Salamanca, which gained the local prestige by winning the Palanca Grand Prize Award for Novel, is considered as the icon for speculative fiction in the Philippines while Nine Supernatural Stories is an anthology that tells a different sort of supernatural story to show a wider spectrum of the generally known genre.

The point of debates in the literary acceptance of speculative fiction is because the term overlaps a one or more of the already established genres in literature such as science fiction, fantasy fiction, horror fiction, etc. This addresses a verifiable study since the term is used in the academic and ideological criticism of the various genres and more importantly researches that informs those involved in the fields of study in literature, be it the local contemporary setting. The research assumes that speculative fiction in the Philippine contemporary literature deserves serious critical and scholarly attention as matters of public interest and concern.

1. Review of Related Literature

Speculative fiction was a term popularized in the event of the genre science fiction in the international setting. The term “New Wave” was applied in science fiction in 1960’s. The movement was characterized as a time when the experimentation of science fiction writers was evident. However, it was Robert A. Heinlein who used the term synonymous to science fiction (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction, ret. Feb. 9, 2009).

In the context of Philippine contemporary literature, the writer Dean Alfar borrowed the term speculative fiction in classifying his works of fantasy or magic realism. In an interview, Alfar argued against the tendency to marginalize speculative writing. Accordingly, he said that speculative fiction is about the world of fantastic and that limitations imply limits to the imagination (2006).

In the Philippine literati the books that contain the elements of categorization under the scope of speculative fiction are Salamnca and the anthology Nine Supernatural Stories for its supernatural elements. The borrowed term speculative fiction now covers most of the futuristic writing.

Dick Allen argued in his book Science Fiction: the Future that could also go for the two books all deal with the different aspects of reality and might be closer to what is termed speculative fiction or social science fiction than to that which is commonly called science fiction (Preface, 1971).

The study will focus on two books aforementioned so as to limit the focus of the research and the evaluation afterwards will aim to achieve the clarified results.

1. Objectives

The study aims to assess the following:

• • • • to define the term speculative fiction in the context of Philippine contemporary literature

      • to typify the varying definitions of speculative fiction in the Philippine context based on the works categorized under this genre

      • to examine the novel Salamanca and Nine Supernatural Stories in relation to the discussion of speculative fiction and

      • to explore the concepts of speculative fiction as seen by SF writers in the two books

1. Methodology:

This study will make use of the resources such as related literature reviews, interviews and articles online. More references can be found in the reserved book section of libraries. Primary speculative fiction materials can be obtained through supplementary notes of different books that are available.

1. References:

• Allen, Dick (editor). 1971. Science Fiction: The Future. Preface. USA: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc.
• Ruiz, Rowena L.(2006). Inside The Writing Mind. The Sword Review. Retrieved January 31, 2009 from http://www.theswordreview.com/item.php?sub_id=1332.
• Saguisag, Lara and April Timbol Yap (editors). 2005. The University of the Philippines Press. AM Cleofe Prints.
• Speculative Fiction. (n.d) . Retrieved February 1, 2009 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speculative_fiction.