Title: Selective Memory and Collective Forgetting: Historiography and the Philippine Centennial of 1898Submitted by:Greg Bankoff, Senior Lecturer in Southeast Asian History, University of Auckland, New ZealandPhilippine history, more especially the historiography of its colonial period, poses some particular problems in serving as the basis from which to fashion an identity suitable for a modern citizenry. Attention has long been drawn to the unique geographical location and cultural experience of the islands; indeed H. G. Hall even omitted the Philippines from the first edition of his seminal history of Southeast Asia. But these observations on their own offer no insuperable obstacle to the creation of a nationalist historiography. Far more significant is the lack of appropriate historical experiences whose symbolic value make of them suitable rallying points round which a counter hegemonic and anti-colonial historiography can coalesce and flourish. However, the occasion of commemorating the centennial of the Philippine Revolution of 1898 presented a unique opportunity to attempt the construction of an expanded national history, a process that involved both the politics of selective memory as well as that of collective forgetting. 'Return to Abstracts menuCarol Burnett Phone: 61 - 3 - 9349 1899 Email: c.burnett@asialink.unimelb.edu.au
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