1. Why you can't write good
Filipino science fiction
By dom cimafranca
villageidiotsavant.com

2. (ha. Gotcha.)

3. (of course you can]

4. (it's just harder
than you think]

5. (here's why]

6. what comes to mind when
you think about
Science fiction?
What kind of stories?
What kind of characters?

7. What makes a science fiction story 'filipino?'
-because a filipino wrote it?
-because it has filipino characters?
-because it is set in the philippines?
-because it displays filipino sensibilities?

8. What makes a science fiction story 'filipino?'
-because a filipino wrote it?
-because it has filipino characters?
-because it is set in the philippines?
-because it displays filipino sensibilities?
“filipino-ness”

9. A brief history of science fiction

10. Point 1: science fiction was
founded on a mass market
looking for quick thrills and
easy entertainment

11. (pssst. That's not a bad thing.)

12. Point 2: science fiction is
rooted mainly in american
sensibilities

13. That's slightly more problematic...

14. What are
american sensibilities?

15. 1. frontier mentality
2. self-improvement
3. efficiency through technology
4. capitalism
5. independence
6. equality?

16. So why is this a problem?

17. 1. frontier mentality
2. self-improvement
COLONIZER!
3. efficiency through technology
4. capitalism
5. independence
6. equality?

18. How 'bout these?
1. frontier mentality
Are these Filipino sensibilities?
2. self-improvement
3. efficiency through technology
4. capitalism
5. independence
6. equality?

19. What are
filipino sensibilities?

20. 1. relationships
2. loyalty
3. cheerfulness
4. industry
5. ingenuity
6. providence

21. “kapwa tao”
1. relationships
2. loyalty
“utang na loob”
3. cheerfulness “Pagkamasayahin”
4. industry “masipag”
5. ingenuity “mapanlikha”
6. providence
“mapanalig sa diyos”

22. By the way...
(Ingenuity != innovation)

23. 1. relationships “kapwa tao”
2. loyalty “utang na loob”
Our values are inward-looking....
3. cheerfulness
“Pagkamasayahin”
Accomodation and cooperation
4. industry
instead of confrontation and
“masipag”
conquest
5. ingenuity
“mapanlikha”
6. providence

24. ...and that runs counter to “science fiction”
as we understand it...

25. ...is this why we prefer to write fantasy?

26. ...because we take prefer to
Take refuge in an Imagined past?

27. Reclaiming (and re-shaping) the future

28. Science fiction is important because
It allows us to imagine the future
And our place in it

29. To imagine is to shape the future...

30. To imagine is to shape the future...
...else we be shaped by it

31. To imagine is to shape the future...
...else we be shaped by it
(will our sensibilities survive the coming generations?)
(if they don't, how does that affect our Filipino-ness?)

32. But darnit! We can win!
(and it's our culture and values which will save us)

33. A picture of the near future...
Europe will implode Because of
graying populations (as will japan)
America faces social fracture (widening gap
between rich and poor]
Chinese ascendancy, but stalled by
Graying population
Escalating trade war bet. u.s. And china
Continued Unrest in arab countries, spilling
Over to europe and southeast asia
Where and how does the Filipino fit in all of this?

34. ...and of a farther future...
Global warming
Fossil fuel depletion
Asteroid mining
Extended lifespans (100+ years]
Genetically modified organisms
Pandemics / Zombie outbreak?
Where and how does the Filipino fit in all of this?

35. ...and farther still...
Interstellar travel?
First contact?
singularity?
Will there still be a recognizable Filipino-ness?
What will happen to our communities?

36. (toldja it was hard]

37. A couple more things

38. “Mainstream” vs. “genre”

39. “Mainstream” vs. “genre”
realism Fantasy
Science fiction
Horror
Romance
Crime / Mystery
Alternate History
...

40. “Mainstream” vs. “genre”
realism Fantasy
Science fiction
Horror
Romance
(psst...we have a Crime / Mystery
much longer history) Alternate History
...

41. What's the appeal of genre?
To the reader?
To the writer?
To the publisher?

42. What is the appeal of fantasy?
“Fairy tales say that apples were golden
only to refresh the forgotten moment
when we found that they were green.
They make rivers run with wine only
to make us remember, for one wild
moment, that they run with water.”
― G.K. Chesterton

43. Fantasy is closely tied with identity.
With fantasy we can
reimagine and reinvent ourselves.

44. Thanks for listening

45. This work by Dominique Gerald M. Cimafranca is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Philippines License.
This presentation uses:
* Airstrip Font by Vic Fieger
* A Hundred Miles by Kimberly Geswein

46. Why you can't write good
Filipino science fiction
By dom cimafranca
villageidiotsavant.com