Resilience and healing in the slums of Manila: Merlinda Bobis’s The Solemn Lantern Maker

This article examines Merlinda Bobis’s novel The Solemn Lantern Maker (2008) with recourseto affect theories on terror and vulnerability. The narrative addresses harsh realities like chil-dren’s prostitution, extreme poverty, and brutal corruption, and puts these apparently Philip-pine “domestic” ma...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:World literature studies 2023-01, Vol.15 (2), p.6-18
Main Author: Martín-Lucas, Belén
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Studies of Literature
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:This article examines Merlinda Bobis’s novel The Solemn Lantern Maker (2008) with recourseto affect theories on terror and vulnerability. The narrative addresses harsh realities like chil-dren’s prostitution, extreme poverty, and brutal corruption, and puts these apparently Philip-pine “domestic” matters in direct relation to globalization and to the so-called war on terror.The analysis of the narrative pays attention to the strategies of resilience and healing developedby vulnerable civilians, taking into account the increasing degrees of risk at the intersectionof race, ethnic, class, age and gender differences. It examines how such differences are negotiatedin the text via reciprocal care among the main characters in a context of extreme violence.
ISSN:1337-9275
1337-9690
DOI:10.31577/WLS.2023.15.2.1