Each year, the — the world’s largest trade exposition for books and media — brings together experts and audiences from all over the world, and represents a key opportunity for publishers, authors, agencies and media to meet. It also promotes international cultural exchange, and the breadth of literary diversity. This year’s guest of honor is the .
There’s plenty there to discover: 40 new translations of works by Filipino authors will allow readers to get to know the country and its literature better. DW presents a selection of authors, met directly in the Southeast-Asian country.
On the campus of the University of the Philippines in Manila, we meet perhaps the country’s most important writer of the hour: Jose Dalisay.
His debut novel, “Killing Time in a Warm Place,” has just been published in German.
It follows a group of young people who rebel against the regime of in the early 1970s. Marcos responded with martial law and persecution of the protest leaders. The violent repression led many of them to resign themselves to life under the regime. Jose Dalisay was one of those. His novel describes a society that has yet to recover from those wounds, though .
To this day, the country is ruled by family clans. “We were all euphoric,” says Dalisay, “so it’s ironic that we took to the streets to remove the dictator Marcos from office — and now we’re .”
Dalisay feels the limitations of his influence as a writer. The government is “uneducated and immune to metaphors. However, if you are a journalist, you could get into trouble. We novelists have the privilege of being spared this, at least for now.”
Death and destruction caused by natural disasters
In her novel “Remains,” about a natural disaster of biblical proportions, Daryll Delgado explores how language can save, or even destroy, lives.
In November 2013, the Philippines was hit by Typhoon Haiyan. It killed thousands of people, and caused billions in damage. A repeat is tragically becoming ever more likely for the Southeast Asian island nation: The 2025 World Risk Index names the Philippines as the country most frequently threatened by natural disasters globally.
In 2013, Daryll Delgado was working for an NGO there. Her experiences at the time formed the inspiration for this momentous novel. In the midst of death and destruction, the main character Ann — Daryll Delgado’s stand-in — is confronted by her own family’s involvement in the historical crimes committed by the Marcos regime.
“Remains” is not merely an examination of the recent history of the Philippines, nor another novel on climate change. Daryll Delgado also examines the consequences of Spanish and American colonialism, and their impact on identity and language.
Around 170 languages are spoken in the Philippines. In the disaster zone, any warnings for the population — and all information following the disaster — were provided in the official languages: English and Filipino. Languages understood by only few people there. “When we say that the stories of the local people are important, in which language should they be told? They must be told in the language that people understand,” points out Daryll Delgado.
An author as a national hero
By the end of the 19th century, the language being spoken in the Philippines — at least by the social elites — was Spanish. The country had been under Spanish colonial rule for over 300 years.
In 1887, the novel “Noli me tangere” was published in Spanish; its author is now being celebrated as a national hero. That’s because Jose Rizal — an ophthalmologist, writer and cosmopolitan — dared to do the impossible: He criticized the power of the Catholic Church, inequality, and the Spanish colonial rulers’ corruption. Drawing fire from church authorities and those in power, his book was quickly banned.
One of the highlights of the Philippines’ appearance as guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair is the re-release of the book’s German translation from 1987.
It wasn’t that novel that would ultimately cost Rizal his life, however, but rather his essays critical of colonialism, and his contact with insurgents.
Jose Rizal was executed in 1896, at the age of 35. Two years later — with the help of the Americans — the Spanish were driven out of the Philippines.
Today, Rizal is celebrated as a national hero. The anniversary of his death, December 30, is a public holiday, and “Noli me tangere” is required reading in schools. His biographer, Ambeth Ocampo, believes he knows why fascination with Rizal has continued to this day: “Rizal is our national hero because he imagined a nation before it even existed. And it is precisely this imagination that drives us and makes us what we are today.”
That the Philippines of today is also a nation still coming to terms with its past is evident in the remarkable books now waiting to be discovered.
This article was originally written in German.
The post The Philippines: Frankfurt Book Fair’s guest of honor appeared first on Deutsche Welle.
