Models of Revolutionary Action: The Kasama in Ang Bayan

Karlo Mikhail I Mongaya

doi:http://doi.org/10.13185/KK2022.003922

Abstract

This article discusses the concept of the kasama, or comrade, as articulated in Ang Bayan, the central organ of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), in the years 1982 to 1985. Critically reading Ang Bayan articles and related archival material, I look into the concrete articulation of comradeship in the Philippine experience during the height of the anti-dictatorship struggle against the Marcos dictatorship. I underscore the way kasama becomes fully intelligible as a collective subjectivity among those engaged in revolutionary struggle in juxtaposition to the figures of the masses, allies, and enemies of the people. I contemplate how this concept of the kasama is translated into Ang Bayan articles that function to provide readers with models for the effective carrying out of revolutionary tasks. Of significance here is Edel Garcellano’s assertion on the need to read revolutionary writing beyond narrow dominant valuations grounded on illusions of neutrality and profit imperatives. While borne out of specific conditions framed by the exigencies of underground resistance against dictatorship, these revolutionary models not only give an understanding of the term kasama but promise a glimpse of the discursive operation of revolutionary journalism as a distinct genre.

Keywords

Communist movement, Martial Law, political subjectivity, revolutionary journalism, social movements

Please login first to access subscription form of article

Read Full text in PDF

10.13185/KK2022.003922

Browse By

Title

Author

Issue

Kritika Kultura
Department of English
School of Humanities
Ateneo de Manila University

The Philippine Commission on Higher Education (CHED) declares Kritika Kultura as a CHED-recognized journal under the Journal Challenge Category of its Journal Incentive Program.

International Board of Editors

Jan Baetens
Professor
Faculty of Arts
Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (Belgium)

Joel David
Professor of Cultural Studies
Inha University (South Korea)

Michael Denning
Professor of American Studies and English
Department of English
Yale University (US)

Faruk
Faculty of Cultural Sciences
Universitas Gadjah Mada (Indonesia)

Regenia Gagnier
Professor of English
University of Exeter (UK)

Leela Gandhi
John Hawkes Professor of the Humanities and English
Brown University (US)

Inderpal Grewal
Professor of Women's Gender and Sexuality Studies
Professor of South Asian Studies, Ethnicity, Race and Migration Studies
Yale University (US)

Peter Horn
Professor Emeritus and Honorary Lifetime Fellow
University of Cape Town (South Africa)
Honorary Professor and Research Associate in German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

Anette Horn
Professor of German Studies
University of the Witwatersrand (South Africa)

David Lloyd
Distinguished Professor of English
University of California, Riverside (US)

Bienvenido Lumbera
National Artist for Literature
Professor Emeritus
University of the Philippines

Rajeev S. Patke
Director of the Division of Humanities
Professor of Humanities
Yale NUS College (Singapore)

Vicente L. Rafael
Giovanni and Amne Costigan Endowed Professor of History
University of Washington (US)

Vaidehi Ramanathan
Department of Linguistics
University of California, Davis (US)

Temario Rivera
Professorial Lecturer
Department of Political Science
University of the Philippines

E. San Juan, Jr.
Philippines Studies Center (US)

Neferti X.M. Tadiar
Professor of Women’s, Gender, & Sexuality Studies
Barnard College (US)
Director of the Center for the Study of Ethnicity and Race
Columbia University (US)

Antony Tatlow
Honorary Professor of Drama
Trinity College Dublin (Ireland)

Models of Revolutionary Action: The Kasama in Ang Bayan

Karlo Mikhail I Mongaya

Abstract

Keywords

International Board of Editors

Journal

Contact Us