F. Sionil José

Francisco Sionil José (December 3, 1924 – January 6, 2022) was a Filipino writer who was one of the most widely read in the English language. A National Artist of the Philippines for Literature, which was bestowed upon him in 2001, José's novels and short stories depict the social underpinnings of class struggles and colonialism in Filipino society. His works—written in English—have been translated into 28 languages, including Korean, Indonesian, Czech, Russian, Latvian, Ukrainian and Dutch. He was often considered the leading Filipino candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Early life

José was born in Rosales, Pangasinan, the setting of many of his stories. He spent his childhood in Barrio Cabugawan, Rosales, where he first began to write. José is of Ilocano descent whose family had migrated to Pangasinan prior to his birth. Fleeing poverty, his forefathers traveled from Ilocos towards Cagayan Valley through the Santa Fe Trail. Like many migrant families, they brought their lifetime possessions with them, including uprooted posts of their old houses and their , a stone mortar for pounding rice.

One of the greatest influences to José was his industrious mother who went out of her way to get him the books he loved to read, while making sure her family did not go hungry despite poverty and landlessness. José started writing in grade school, at the time he started reading. In the fifth grade, one of José's teachers opened the school library to her students, which is how José managed to read the novels of José Rizal, Willa Cather’s ''My Antonia'', Faulkner and Steinbeck. Reading about ''Basilio'' and ''Crispin'' in Rizal's '' Noli Me Tangere'' made the young José cry, because injustice was not an alien thing to him. When José was five years old, his grandfather who was a soldier during the Philippine revolution, had once tearfully showed him the land their family had once tilled but was taken away by rich ''mestizo'' landlords who knew how to work the system against illiterates like his grandfather.

Writing career

José attended the University of Santo Tomas after World War II, but dropped out and plunged into writing and journalism in Manila. In subsequent years, he edited various literary and journalistic publications, started a publishing house, and founded the Philippine branch of PEN, an international organization for writers. José received numerous awards for his work. ''The Pretenders'' is his most popular novel, which is the story of one man's alienation from his poor background and the decadence of his wife's wealthy family.

José Rizal's life and writings profoundly influenced José's work. The five volume Rosales Saga, in particular, employs and integrates themes and characters from Rizal's work. Throughout his career, José's writings espouse social justice and change to better the lives of average Filipino families. He is one of the most critically acclaimed Filipino authors internationally, although much underrated in his own country because of his authentic Filipino English and his anti-elite views.

Sionil José also owned Solidaridad Bookshop, located on Padre Faura Street in Ermita, Manila. The bookshop offers mostly hard-to-find books and Filipiniana reading materials. It is said to be one of the favorite haunts of many local writers.

In his regular column, ''Hindsight'', in ''The Philippine STAR'', dated September 12, 2011, he wrote ''"Why we are shallow"'', blaming the decline of Filipino intellectual and cultural standards on a variety of modern amenities, including media, the education system—particularly the loss of emphasis on classic literature and the study of Greek and Latin—and the abundance and immediacy of information on the Internet.

Death

José died on the night of January 6, 2022, aged 97, at the Makati Medical Center, where he was scheduled for an angioplasty the next day.

Awards

Five of José's works have won the Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature: his short stories ''The God Stealer'' in 1959, ''Waywaya'' in 1979, ''Arbol de Fuego'' (Firetree) in 1980, his novel ''Mass'' in 1981, and his essay ''A Scenario for Philippine Resistance'' in 1979.

Since the 1980s, various award-giving bodies have feted José with awards for his outstanding works and for being an outstanding Filipino in the field of literature. His first award was the 1979 City of Manila Award for Literature which was presented to him by Manila Mayor Ramon Bagatsing. The following year, he was given the prestigious Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts. Among his other awards during that period include the Outstanding Fulbrighters Award for Literature (1988) and the Cultural Center of the Philippines Award (Gawad para sa Sining) for Literature (1989).

By the turn of the century, José continued to receive recognition from several award-giving bodies. These include the Cultural Center of the Philippines Centennial Award in 1999, the prestigious Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et Lettres in 2000, and the Order of Sacred Treasure (Kun Santo Zuiho Sho) in 2001. In that same year, the Philippine government bestowed upon him the prestigious title of National Artist for Literature for his outstanding contributions to Philippine literature. In 2004, José garnered the coveted Pablo Neruda Centennial Award in Chile.

Works

''Rosales Saga'' novels

''A five-novel series that spans three centuries of Philippine history, '':
* ''Po-on'' (Source) (1984)
* ''The Pretenders'' (1962)
* ''My Brother, My Executioner'' (1973)
* ''Mass'' (December 31, 1974)
* ''Tree'' (1978)

Original novels containing the ''Rosales Saga''

* ''Source (Po-on)'' (1993)
* ''Don Vicente'' (1980) – ''Tree'' and ''My Brother, My Executioner'' combined in one book
* ''The Samsons'' ''The Pretenders'' and ''Mass'' combined in one book

Other novels

Novellas

* '' Three Filipino Women'' (1992)
* '' Two Filipino Women'' (1981)

Short story collections

* '' The God Stealer and Other Stories'' (2001)
* ''Puppy Love and Thirteen Short Stories'' (March 15, 1998) and
* ''Olvidon and Other Stories'' (1988)
* ''Platinum: Ten Filipino Stories'' (1983) (now out of print, its stories are added to the new version of ''Olvidon and Other Stories'')
* ''Waywaya: Eleven Filipino Short Stories'' (1980)
* ''Asian PEN Anthology'' (as editor) (1966)
* ''Short Story International (SSI): Tales by the World's Great Contemporary Writers'' (Unabridged, Volume 13, Number 75) (co-author, 1989)

Children's books

*''The Molave and The Orchid'' (November 2004)

Verses

* ''Questions'' (1988)

Essays and non-fiction

* ''In Search of the Word'' (De La Salle University Press, March 15, 1998) and
* ''We Filipinos: Our Moral Malaise, Our Heroic Heritage'' (1999)
* ''Soba, Senbei and Shibuya: A Memoir of Post-War Japan'' (2000) and
* ''Heroes in the Attic, Termites in the Sala: Why We are Poor'' (2005)
* ''This I Believe: Gleanings from a Life in Literature'' (2006)
* ''Literature and Liberation'' (co-author) (1988)

In translation

* ''Zajatec bludného kruhu (The Pretenders)'' (Czech language, Svoboda, 1981)
* ''Po-on'' (Tagalog language, De La Salle University Press, 1998) and
* ''Anochecer (Littera)'' (Spanish language, Maeva, October 2003) and

In anthologies

* ''Tong'' (a short story from ''Brown River, White Ocean: An Anthology of Twentieth-Century Philippine Literature in English'' by Luis Francia, Rutgers University Press, August 1993) and

In film documentaries

* ''Francisco Sionil José – A Filipino Odyssey'' by Art Makosinski (Documentary, in color, 28min, 16mm. Winner of the Golden Shortie for Best Documentary at the 1996 Victoria Film and Video Festival)

Reviews

See also

*Philippine literature in Spanish
*Philippine literature in English
*Literature of the Philippines
*Philippine English
*Thomasites
*Philinda Rand
*Stevan Javellana

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