Found letters

FRIENDS and family who have gone over the personal effects of people who have recently passed on often ask me what to do with personal papers. Should they keep letters and photographs? My suggestion, although it takes more effort, is to try and return them to the people who originally sent them. For example, my mother cared for photographs and after her death we went through her things and filled two "balikbayan" boxes of pictures. Many pictures came from family and friends and go back 50 years, returning them is a very touching gesture.

More complicated, however, are diaries and love letters. Do you read them or respect privacy and consign them to the bonfire immediately? I cringe when diaries and letters are burned simply because I would have no historical career today if the Rizal family destroyed his papers. One cannot imagine what is lost to history because Filipinos tend to destroy or recycle old papers and books.

My mother also collected lots of old newspapers and magazines. She had arranged these in dusty piles we always dreaded as fire starters. Opening some of these old magazines made me realize that one person's garbage is another person's treasure. What was junk for most meant money to the junkman and column material for me. Finding clippings from the magazine of the Daily Mirror showing my mother with hair that measured four and a half feet (she was only five feet and two inches tall) was surprising to her grandchildren.

Opening a December 1948 issue of This Week magazine, I was fascinated by spot drawings made by Hernando Ocampo and these led to a October 1948 issue that carried an exchange of letters between Jose Garcia Villa and Manuel Viray in the "Letters" section. Although I am not a literary historian, my association with the late Doreen Fernandez left me with a passing interest in the lives of writers. I always think that knowing the lives of writers helps us if only to understand their works. But Villa was very sharp when he wrote this from Madison Avenue in New York:

"Permit me to correct an impression made in a statement accompanying one of Mr. Viray's recent articles. It is to the effect that I am an admirer of Mr. Viray's poetry. I am afraid that this is untrue, for the simple reason that Mr. Viray has not yet written any real poetry. My frank critical opinion is that his work is not on a literate plane, i.e., his writing is not literate, however literary; therefore as literature (which is writing) it does not exist. I am sorry that I have to make a harsh statement about Mr. Viray, especially as he is, I understand, the leader of your advance movement; but I shall add that my own opinion of his writing applies as well to the other 'poets' not excluding Mr. Da Costa.

"As for Mr. Viray's critical development, I am afraid that he is no critic either. Otherwise he could not regard as poetry the contents of his anthology 'Heart of the Islands,' nor think especially of Toribia Mano's effusions as fine poetry.

"After watching Philippine 'poetry' this far, I have come to the sad conclusion that poetry in English has no prospects whatsoever in the Philippines -- i.e., ... that it cannot be written by Filipino writers. An exception or two may arise after a long period of time, but these writers will remain exceptions. The reason why Filipino writers are at a disadvantage in the writing of English poetry -- is that they have no oneness with the English language. Poetry requires a very subtilized and specialized knowledge of language required to write good prose (which in itself is difficult to attain), is not adequate enough for the writing of poetry -- one needs a oneness with the language. Lacking this, the Filipino writer will never achieve real poetry in English."

What was more revealing was that Villa in his letters, always asks for copies of the magazine. In October he even offered to write a poem in exchange for a year's subscription. The editors were kind enough to allow Manuel Viray to reply to Villa and published both letters. Viray wrote:

"Thank you for showing me Mr. Jose Garcia Villa's letter. In justice to Mr. Mallari, the reading public must know that Mallari's notes on me were based precisely on the fact that when Mr. Villa was still enthusiastic about the Philippine short story and 'poetry,' he saw it fit to give three asterisks to the group of poems which appeared in Veronica and in the Literary Apprentice. Mr. Mallari's words were these: 'His (Viray's) poems especially found favor in the eyes of such discerning critics as Jose Garcia Villa and Salvador Ponce Lopez.' The way Mr. Villa paraphrased this statement to disown his 'three asterisks' is, of course, his concern. Whether this can be blamed on the fact that man's memory is notoriously short, I have no way of knowing. I have never claimed to be a critic or the leader of any so-called advance 'movement.' Such judgment as I have included in my series of articles are born of a concern for Filipino writing. The excellence, the durability, of these judgments I leave to the readers, living or yet unborn."

Literary historians have a lot of material for their work scattered in letters in periodicals, but then one will need a great deal of patience to find a historical needle in this large haystack.

Comments are welcome at aocampo@ateneo.net