Contracting Colonialism

Translation and Conversion in Tagalog Society Under Early Spanish Rule

Bibliographic Data

ID2686715
AuthorsVicente L Rafael (0000-0001-9638-6013)
Year2020
Publication date2020-12-31
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueContracting Colonialism (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherCornell University Press (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.7591/9781501737572
OpenAlexW3033020286
Open LibraryOL51665794M
ISBN9781501737572
LanguageEN
Citations received115

In Contracting Colonialism, Vicente L. Rafael examines the role of translation and conversion in the establishment of Spanish colonial rule in the Tagalog-speaking regions of the Philippines during the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. He argues that the Spanish project of converting the Tagalog population to Christianity was inextricably linked to the process of translating Tagalog oral culture into written forms, primarily through the use of the Roman alphabet. This process, however, was not simply one of linguistic transfer but also involved a complex negotiation of power, meaning, and cultural identity. Rafael analyzes a range of primary sources, including dictionaries, grammars, confessions, and literary texts, to demonstrate how the act of translation became a central site of colonial encounter, shaping both the colonizer's understanding of the colonized and the colonized's response to colonial domination. He shows how Tagalog speakers, while adopting certain aspects of Spanish language and culture, also strategically appropriated and reinterpreted these elements to maintain a sense of agency and cultural continuity. By focusing on the interplay between language, religion, and power, Rafael offers a nuanced and insightful account of the early stages of Spanish colonialism in the Philippines and its lasting impact on Tagalog society

Biology · Colonial rule · Colonialism · Linguistics · Political science · Tagalog · Translation (biology · Cuban History and Society · Law · Philippine History and Culture · Philosophy · Bekering · Christian converts · Christianisme · Christianity · Christians · Clothing · Colonization · Convertis · Converts · Espagnol (Langue) · History · Koloniaal bestuur · Missie · Philippines · Spanish language · Tagalog (Peuple des Philippines) · Tagalog (Philippine people) · Tagalog (volk) · Taglog (Philippine people) · Traduction en tagalog · Translating into Tagalog

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