José Wendell Capili

カピリ・ ホセ
José Wendell Capili
Born Manila, Philippines Philippines
Pen name José Wendell Capili
Occupation Professor of creative writing and comparative literature at the College of Arts and Letters,[1] University of the Philippines, Poet, Author
Education University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of Tokyo (東京大学), University of Cambridge, Australian National University
In this Japanese name, the family name is Kapiri.

José Wendell Capili (カピリ・ホセ José Wendell Capili) is a writer and academic from the Philippines. He earned degrees from the University of Santo Tomas, University of the Philippines Diliman, University of Tokyo (東京大学), University of Cambridge and Australian National University. He is a Professor of creative writing and comparative literature at the College of Arts and Letters, University of the Philippines, where he was the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs. His creative and scholarly works were published in Asia, Europe, North America and Australia.[2]

Background and writing career

Despite Capili's lean output, his poems received some critical attention.[3] Says Al Camus Palomar of the University of Oklahoma, "Edith L. Tiempo, Rene Amper, Peter Bacho, Jose Capili, Maria Carino, and the incomparable Fatima Lim-Wilson are included to remind us all of what reading good poetry, feels like. And read Luis Cabalquinto, Jose Capili, and Ricardo de Ungria carefully. You will be immensely rewarded if you do".[4] A.R.D.S. Bordado said that Capili’s “The Great Australian Landscape” and “Gorilla Bay” show the Filipino sensibility imbibing foreign geography. The latter poem describes the beauty of the bay: “Gastropods on a drift/ conceive enclosures of/ bubbles shimmering forth,/ polished and white among/ rocks, splashing as spring/ time turns supremely aqua/ marine, even less torrential.”[5] Of "Baguio: The Demise", critic Ralph Semino Galan writes how Capili utilizes the aftermath of another disaster, the gutted down remains of the Pines Hotel that burned down in 1984, as one of the objective correlatives (“the turn and flow of stones/ we perceived from childhood/ as walls, doors and ceilings/”) to express the emotional vacuity the personae in his elegiac poem are experiencing years after their major romantic breakup. For Galan, Capili is able to obfuscate the obvious intensity of the emotions that are being stirred by the reunion, for he makes the ex-lovers focus on the physical landscape, rather than the inner turmoil they are feeling in each other’s formerly familiar presence: “the rustle of leaves/ behaving like music,” “the landscape of cones/ falling on mountain sleeves,” “pure hemp and other bell-shaped/ things awakening from/ a sudden gush of the wind”.[6]

Research career

In 2001, Capili was commissioned by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (Philippines) to interview National Artist Napoleón Abueva, the "Father of Modern Philippine Sculpture". Capili's interview revealed Abueva's deeper insights about life and art, especially in connection with World War II. Says Abueva: "We sought the remains of our parents from a field of corpses and items belonging to the members of the resistance group. It was painful for me and my siblings to unearth the soiled white shirt with blue stripes, which belonged to my father. We also found a piece of my mother’s dress as well as her rosary. Later, we found my parents’ bodies and we buried them. It was very painful. As an artist, these experiences taught me to see life in a different way. More specifically, I tried my best to look for new ways of expressing ideas as a way of dealing with the pain".[7]

Capili worked on a research project involving Southeast Asian diaspora writers in Australia[8] at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University.[9] In 2004, he was one of eighteen postgraduate scholars from universities across Australia and New Zealand chosen by La Trobe University to read papers during the Australian Perspectives Conference held on La Trobe University's main Melbourne Campus at Bundoora.[10] The conference was opened by La Trobe Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences, Professor Roger Wales, and wrapped-up by Professor of Politics, Robert Manne.[11] In 2005, he was a Visiting Scholar at the National University of Singapore, University of Sydney, Westerly Centre[12][13] of the University of Western Australia;[14] University of Melbourne; and the University of Queensland.[15] These brought about the publication of From the Editors: Migrant Communities and Emerging Australian Literature (2007) and Salu-Salo: In Conversation with Filipinos (2008). But critic Michael Jacklin of the University of Wollongong, in The Transnational Turn in Australian Literary Studies, commented that while publications on Southeast Asian diaspora writers and every other cultural group that has settled in Australia could be provided for the transnational dimensions of Vietnamese-Australian, Lao-Australian or Philippine-Australian writing, such work frequently remains undocumented by literature infrastructure. "Literary cultures across Australia will not appreciate works by community-based Southeast Asian diaspora writers", Capili noted.[16] As Jacklin observes, "Cheeseman and Capili’s book is yet to appear in Library Australia’s listings; it does appear in the Blacktown City Libraries catalogue".[17] Similarly, AusLit, the Australian Literature Resource, cited Capili's 'Southeast Asian diaspora writers in Australia and the consequence of community-based initiatives', in which he notes the difficulty of finding an audience for community-based Southeast Asian writers in Australia.[18]

In The Politics of Identity and Mimetic Constructions in the Philippine Transnational Experience, Sharon Orig noted that Capili's early work on displacement and reterritorialization in Philippine expatriate poetry in the United States (1993) "expounds on 'de-territorialization' as a 'displacement,' 'dislocation,' or simply a feeling of 'not being home'".[19] Hope S. Yu, in "Memory, Nostalgia and the Filipino Diaspora in the Works of Two Filipina Writers", added that Capili attributes the migration of many Philippine migrant writers "mainly to the strong influence America has on its 'neo-colony' as well as the inability of the Philippine government to 'provide its citizens with the most basic material necessities: food, clothing, shelter" [20] Capili's interest in migration studies is more evident in Immigrant themes in Japanese-American and Filipino-American poetry (1995)[21] and The Relocalisation of Japanese Immigrants in Davao, Southern Philippines (1996).[22] Arnold Molina Azurin, in The Japanese in our Midst: An Exploratory Analysis of the Experiences of Japanese Migrants/Settlers in the Philippines, and Shun Ohno (大野 俊), in Rethinking Okinawan Diasporas in 'Davaokuo (｢ダバオ国｣の沖縄人社会再考　－本土日本人、フィリピン人との関係を中心に－),[23] noted how Capili described Japan as dura virum nutrix (a hard nurse of men) due to that country's open and shifting hierarchy. Ultimately, for Azurin, Capili suggests that wealth, not blood, was the greater recipient of position [of privilege], and wealth could be created by (war-making) skill or fraud. "It was a situation where money and contracts, not blood and status, ruled", Capili asserts.[24] Azurin comments: "And then, with direct reference to the dire situation in the early 1900s among the common folk in Japan, he (Capili) suggests that 'Japanese emigrants decided to establish settlements in Davao because…[by his own sweat] a person can move up fairly quickly, certainly within a lifetime'".[25]

Commentator of popular culture

Aside from creative writing and comparative migration studies, Capili also discussed aspects of popular culture in the Philippines. In Originality in the Postcolony: Choreographing the Neoethnic Body of Philippine Ballet, critic Sally A. Ness of the University of California, Riverside noted how Capili identified Agnes Locsin's neoethnic choreographies as a prestigious and technically effective site for what Locsin calls "Filipinization", and on more than one level "the state of the art" in an internationally oriented project of cultural nationalism. Says Ness: "Capili recognized this function of Locsin's work, when Ms. Locsin's neoethnic ballet Babalyan was awarded the prestigious Prince Norihito Takamado Award from Japan's Imperial Family in 1994. 'Once and for all', Capili wrote, in a feature article published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, 'Locsin asserted the fact that we are not a nation of domestics and prostitutes'.[26]

In Who's Afraid of The Kayumanggi?,[27] Stephanie Dychiu implied that openness to a non-white paradigm[28] can be attributed to what Capili described as key incidents in history: "The emergence of the African-American and Asian-American movement; the liberation of colonized countries in Asia and Africa after World War II; the emergence of non-white artists in mainstream cultures, as exemplified by the domination of Motown music during the 1960s and 1970s; the emergence of colored supermodels like Anna Bayle, Naomi Campbell, and others—these are circumstances that were not there before World War II…"[29]

In Barry Cyrus Viloria's Brand X, Brand Y, Brand RP, Capili reacts to the sudden rise of "branded nationalism" (e.g., Philippine map sewn on commercially produced shirts): "self-expression can be achieved in many ways [and these] clothes can be very strong statements". Entrepreneurs behind this "branding" may have the most immaculate intentions. If they, Capili adds, have made sure that these "emblems and colors are utilized to achieve a particular effect on citizens," then they’re moving towards nationalistic. Unfortunately, when mass production and free market saw an opportunity, the event became a fad.[30]

Following widespread public outrage over Miss Universe 2010 runner-up Venus Raj's response to actor William Baldwin's question during the pageant's live telecast,[31] broadcast journalist Mario Dumaual of ABS-CBN's TV Patrol reported that for Capili and Miss Universe 1969 Gloria Diaz, Philippine delegates should be allowed to speak in their native tongue.[32] Says Capili: "Filipinos should speak in the language they are comfortable with…(Raj) should've been allowed to speak in Bicolano, but not because she's unintelligent or incapable of speaking in English. Look at Miss Mexico. She can speak in English but she had an interpreter for the question and answer portion. She had an opportunity to think about her answer twice or thrice".[33]

In an interview with Sam L. Marcelo of BusinessWorld during the 60th Palanca Awards (2010), Capili also commented on the propensity of young Filipino writers to challenge form. For Capili, the aesthetics of the present generation are different owing to the influence of the Internet. Whereas writers in the old days emphasized formalism, writers today draw strength from mainstream literary tradition as well as indigenous and emerging or experimental culture.[34]

In Fritz Rodriguez's "Filipino fascination with Japan goes beyond 'kawaii'", Capili explained that Japanese pop culture gained much popularity in the Philippines in the 1970s due to the abundance of amusement centers featuring videogames and anime shows like Voltes V and Mazinger Z. For Capili, Japanese pop culture goes beyond anime and videogames. “It is a conglomeration of Japan's residual, dominant and emergent values, issues and concerns as reflected in their music, films, television, sports and other disciplines.”[35]

Spanish novelist and screenwriter Ignacio Martinez de Pison's La Filipinas de Amparo Muñoz (The Philippines of Amparo Muñoz, 2011), published in El País, referred to Capili's third book, Mabuhay to Beauty (2003), as a starting point to help explain the iconic nature of beauty pageants and luminaries like Miss Universe 1974 Amparo Muñoz in the Philippines.[36]

In an interview with Ben Sim of South China Morning Post, Capili defended the emergence of K-pop, which can be traced to South Korea's economic collapse in 1998. "Critics may say K-pop stars are manufactured or they're all based on looks, but those accusations have been thrown at some of the greatest figures in pop music, from Elvis Presley to The Beatles," says Capili.[37]

Capili also responded to queries about the popularity of beauty pageant winners in the Philippines. In an interview with the BBC, Capili says that pageants were brought to the country by the American colonial government in the first half of the 20th Century. "In the old days, an untrained candidate may end up winning a title either because she is a great beauty or is someone from a pedigreed family," he said. "These days, there are talent scouts and modelling agencies who actually train some of the girls, months, even years, before the national competition...For the candidates, pageants can be a stepping stone for upward social or economic mobility."[38] The recent successes of Philippine candidates in international competitions have heightened interest even further.

Reacting to the crowning of Filipina Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach as Miss Universe at Planet Hollywood Resort and Casino in Las Vegas last December 20, 2015, Capili tells Channel NewsAsia, "There is a kind of fantasy involved because the majority of Filipinos are living below the poverty line and it can be inspirational that somebody like Manny Pacquiao or beauty queens who win international competitions become a role model for many who come from a difficult financial background".[39]

Literary festivals and conferences

Capili's works were read and featured during the British Council Seminar on Contemporary Literature[40] (Downing College, University of Cambridge, 2000), the Hong Kong International Literary Festival (University of Hong Kong, 2000),[41] the Sydney Writers' Festival[42] (2007,[43] 2008[44]) and the 76th International PEN Congress[45] (Tokyo, Japan, 2010), where Capili also discussed the emigration of Southeast Asian writers to Australia ("東南アジアに近いために、オーストラリアに移住する人が増えている。移住した作家たちは、オーストラリアで受け入れられた。そこでさまざまな活動に参加している。 私たちは文化の多様性を持っている、と自覚することができる。").[46]

Advocacies

In 2008, Capili became Nestle Philippines' Laki sa Gatas[47] advocate for Bear Brand Milk.[48] He joined the product's other television, radio and print campaign endorsers, Batangas Governor and actress Vilma Santos, Manila Vice Mayor Isko Moreno, Miss International 2006 Precious Lara Quigaman, actor Marvin Agustin, singer Regine Velasquez, comedian Michael V. and actress Eugene Domingo. Says BusinessWorld columnist Nanette Franco-Diyco, "With all these very well-chosen endorsers partnering with Nestlé in this much-needed educational campaign targeted at the D and E socioeconomic groups, important health benefits may indeed be obtainable".[49]

In 2010, after newly posted Chilean Ambassador to the Philippines Dr. Roberto Mayorga launched "Chile: Odes from the Philippines-A Poetry Contest for Filipino Students" to commemorate the Bicentenary of Independence of the Republic of Chile, and to celebrate the rescue of 33 Chileans in San Jose Mines, Capili says, "it's a way for Filipino students to connect with Chile…Chile may be geographically remote, but the situation of the miners is not far from our OFWs (overseas foreign workers)." For Capili, poetry may capture a limited number of people, but these are people who can preserve the memories and the close ties, adding that it is a way of nurturing cultural literacy.[50]

During the 150th Rizal Anniversary Conference on Nation and Culture (2011) convened by National Artist for Literature F. Sionil Jose and Senator Edgardo Angara at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, Capili pointed out that funding aside, the biggest problem of establishing a Department of Culture in the Philippines was one of leadership. "Who’s going to head it?", Capili asked.[51]

While promoting the Philippines as a university destination to secondary students in Hong Kong, Capili commented that courses in top Philippines universities, especially in the arts and social sciences, enable students to be more creative by thinking "outside the box". At the University of the Philippines, "students and faculty members enjoy academic freedom, which is not (being) underscored in many schools and universities in the region,” Capili added.[52]

The budget of Philippine state colleges and universities (SUCs) has been cut due to the dwindling national government budget. Capili reacted to suggestions that SUCs should look for other sources of income externally, like leasing land and other services to private companies, or selling products and technology. Capili stressed, "it is not the mandate of the university to make money. Our job is to educate and train students." Capili added that SUCs should not spend so much time and energy raising funds, so he is appealing to the government to prioritize education.[53]

Other activities

Aside from teaching and writing, Capili also works as a university administrator. The Board of Regents of the University of the Philippines approved the appointment of Capili as Assistant Vice President for Public Affairs[54] and Director of the Office of Alumni Relations.[55] He was also the Director of the UP System Information Office (2009–2011).[56]

Books

Poetry

A Madness of Birds, (Quezon City: University of the Philippines Press, 1998)

Essays

Bloom and Memory, (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2002)

Popular culture

(as editor) Mabuhay to Beauty!, (Quezon City: Milflores Publishing, 2003)

Anthology

(as editor) From the Editors: Migrant Communities and Emerging Australian Literature, (Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia: Casula Powerhouse, 2007)

(as co-editor, with John Cheeseman) Salu-Salo: In Conversation with Filipinos, (Blacktown and Liverpool, New South Wales, Australia: Blacktown Arts Centre and Casula Powerhouse, 2008)

Translation

(translated and edited with John Jack Wigley) Lupito and the Circus Village (translation of Si Lupito at ang Barrio Sirkero written by Rowald Almazar, artworks by Jose Santos III), (Manila: University of Santo Tomas Publishing House, 2008)

Honors and awards

References

  1. ↑ http://www.upd.edu.ph/~kal/
  2. ↑ "Jose Wendell Capili,". Panitikan.com.ph. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  3. ↑ "panitikan.com.ph". panitikan.com.ph. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  4. ↑ "''World Literature Today'', Summer 1997, Volume 71, No. 33, page 655". Palhbooks.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  5. ↑ The Varsitarian (November 20, 2008). "A Collation of Postcolonial Poems". Varsitarian.net. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  6. ↑ "''Ideya'' (De La Salle University), Volume 11, No. 1, 2009". Philjol.info. October 18, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  7. ↑ An Interview with National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon Abueva
  8. ↑ Archived February 21, 2014, at the Wayback Machine.
  9. ↑ "Sydney Writers' Festival 2007 – Online Program". Pandora.nla.gov.au. August 23, 2006. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Australian Perspectives Conference". Aussiemuslims.com. August 30, 2004. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  11. ↑ http://www.latrobe.edu.au/bulletin/archive/1004/news5c.html La Trobe University Bulletin
  12. ↑ http://www.arts.uwa.edu.au/CSAL/csal.html
  13. ↑ "Uniview". Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  14. ↑ "''Westerly''". Westerlycentre.uwa.edu.au. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  15. ↑ "Sydney Writers' Festival 2008 – Online Program". Pandora.nla.gov.au. August 23, 2006. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  16. ↑ Jacklin, M, 'Southeast Asian writing in Australia: the case of Vietnamese writing', Kunapipi: Journal of Postcolonial Writing, vol 32, no 1-2, 2010: 180.
  17. ↑ "''Journal of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (JASAL)''". Nla.gov.au. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  18. ↑ The Australian Literature Resource (AUSTLIT), December 2007/January 2008
  19. ↑ "''Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism''". Onlinelibrary.wiley.com. March 18, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  20. ↑ "Memory, Nostalgia, and the Filipino Diaspora in the Works of Two Filipina Writers" by Hope S. Yu, in Philippine Quarterly of Culture & Society 36(2008): 103.
  21. ↑ "(財團法人東方學會)". Toho Gakkai. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  22. ↑ "Publikationsansicht". De.scientificcommons.org. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Rethinking Okinawan Diasporas in 'Davaokuo' with Special Reference to Their Relations with Mainland Japanese and Filipino Residents of Davao, the Philippines (｢ダバオ国｣の沖縄人社会再考 －本土日本人、フィリピン人との関係を中心に－) by Shun Ohno (大野 俊)". Ir.lib.u-ryukyu.ac.jp. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  24. ↑ Image and Reality: Philippine-Japan Relations Towards the 21st century
  25. ↑ Exploring Transnational Communities in the Philippines by Virginia A. Miralao and Lorna P. Makil (editors)
  26. ↑ "''Cultural Anthropology'', Volume 12, Issue 1, 1997". Onlinelibrary.wiley.com. January 7, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  27. ↑ "Who's Afraid of The Kayumanggi by Stephanie Dychiu, ''Marie Claire''". 1.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  28. ↑ "Ibid". Stephaniedychiu.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  29. ↑ "ibid". 1.bp.blogspot.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  30. ↑ "Branded Nationalism by Barry Cyrus Viloria". Fashionalism.webs.com. March 26, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  31. ↑ Petri, Alexandra (August 27, 2010). "''Washington Post''". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  32. ↑ Top 10 Most Unforgettable Pinay Beauty Queen
  33. ↑ "Pinay beauty queens need interpreters during pageants". Spot.ph. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  34. ↑ "12-year-old becomes youngest to win Palanca award by Sam L. Marcelo, ''BusinessWorld''". BusinessWorld. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  35. ↑ Filipino fascination with Japan goes beyond "kawaii" by Fritz Rodriguez, www.rappler.com, May 19, 2012
  36. ↑ "La Filipinas de Amparo Muñoz by Ignacio Martinez de Pison". Elviajero.elpais.com. January 22, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  37. ↑ "Special K - idols unlimited". South China Morning Post.
  38. ↑ "Philippines: How to make a beauty queen". BBC News.
  39. ↑ Philippines' Miss Universe returns home, ignites dreams by Aya Lowe, Channel NewsAsia
  40. ↑ Adil Hussein. "[ARCHIVED CONTENT] Conferences and Seminars - Literature - British Council - Arts". nationalarchives.gov.uk.
  41. ↑ "1st Hong Kong International Literary Festival". Festival.org.hk. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  42. ↑ Erwin Cabucos (April 23, 2008). "Filipino-Australian writers shine at Sydney writers festival". The Filipino-Australian. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  43. ↑ "Sydney Writers Festival 2007". Swf.org.au. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  44. ↑ "Sydney Writers Festival 2008". Swf.org.au. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  45. ↑ "Tokyo hosts 76th PEN Congress, ''Philippine Daily Inquirer''". Lifestyle.inquirer.net. October 18, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  46. ↑ "国際環境文学者会議　各国ペンセンター代表による意見発表｜日本ペンクラブ". japanpen.or.jp.
  47. ↑ ppresence (September 11, 2008). "Nestle Philippines TV Commercial: BEAR BRAND "Wendell"". Youtube. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  48. ↑ ""Bear Brand campaign reaches out to 1-millionth kid" in ''Philippine Star''". 208.184.76.174. March 19, 2009. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  49. ↑ "Nothing beats rags-to-riches stories by Nanette by Nanette Franco-Diyco, ''BusinessWorld Weekender''". Bworld.com.ph. January 7, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  50. ↑ "Student poetry contest to celebrate Chilean miners by Carmela G. Lapeña". Gmanews.tv. October 16, 2010. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  51. ↑ Looking after the cultural life of a nation by Sam L. Marcelo, Businessworld
  52. ↑ "Positive response for First Educ Fair by Bernadette Sto. Domingo, Hong Kong News". Hongkongnews.com.hk. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  53. ↑ Jalandoni, Apples (October 13, 2010). "Budget for higher education cut by P400-M by Apples Jalandoni, ABS-CBN News". Abs-cbnnews.com. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  54. ↑ "BOR DECISIONS: UP System officials appointed". Up.edu.ph. March 1, 2011. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  55. ↑ "University of the Philippines Officials". Up.edu.ph. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  56. ↑ "Board Work: Officials appointed, ''U.P. Newsletter''". Up.edu.ph. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  57. ↑ "the Japanese Centre of International PEN". japanpen.or.jp.
  58. ↑ "Scholarships". cambridgetrust.org.
  59. ↑ "MEGURO UNESCO ASSOCIATION". meguro-unesco.org.

External links

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