The novel Gerilya demonstrates how literature can help us understand political struggles

In this article, I analyze Norman Wilwayco’s award-winning novel Gerilya (2008) and its representation of the revolution. I argue that the novel examines difficult issues about how revolutionaries encounter challenges in forging relationships in the struggle. I analyze how the novel portrays the messy interaction and tensions between city-bred revolutionaries and rural peasant revolutionaries. Here, I discuss the various issues about how revolutionaries address and correct errors, and build relationships with their comrades and the masses.

The article analyzes a novel about the ongoing revolutionary struggle in the Philippines. It demonstrates the value of fiction in understanding the intricate dynamics of social movements. It also represents an academic intervention into how literature can be an important tool to understand political struggles.

Author: Laurence Marvin S. Castillo (Dept. of Humanities, College of Arts and Sciences, UP Los Baños)

Full paper: https://archium.ateneo.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2074&context=kk