The Philippine Educational Theatre Association: Working Towards the Establishment of a National Identity or Enabling Cultural Imperialism Upon the Filipino Reality?

Sofia Apospori

Research output: ThesisMaster's Thesis

Abstract

This thesis explores the performance work undertaken by the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA), in relation to the politics and cultural agendas of GOs and NGOs from around the world. The PETA’s main objective is the establishment of a national Filipino identity; the relationship between the country’s colonial past and neo-colonial present raise significant challenges to this objective, as the main oppressive mechanisms that fall upon the contemporary Filipino reality are a trace of a long history of national oppression. Is the PETA really reacting to the country’s neo-colonial present, or is it reinforcing it in the light of its association with a number of GOs and NGOs? The theoretical frame with the help of which this question is answered is shaped by post-colonial theory and Paolo Freire’s philosophy of liberation. The critical examination of PETA’s work through a number of case studies demonstrates that the work produced by the PETA is highly political and pedagogical in its nature. More importantly, it manifests that what seems to be a tendency of enabling cultural imperialism, is PETA’s attempt to provide the Filipino people with an up-to-date creative pedagogy that will empower them as citizens of the world at the dawn of the 21st century.
Original languageEnglish
Publication statusUnpublished - 2007

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