Necessary Fictions: Philippine Literature and the Nation, 1946-1980
by Caroline S. Hau

Examines the connection between literature and nationalist discourse during the postwar period. Through close readings of the works of Jose Rizal, Amado Hernandez, Nick Joaquin, Edgardo Reyes, Ricardo Lee, Kerima Polotan, Carlos Bulosan, and Mano de Verdades Posadas, argues that the long-standing affinity between literature and nationalism is based, in part, on the power of literature to formulate and work through a set of questions central to nationalist debates on the possibility and necessity of social change.

Winner, 2000 National Book Award, for Literary Criticism.

Also available at http://www.uhpress.hawaii.edu