Context
Historical Context and Time
The Spanish colonial era of the Philippines can be traced all the way back to 1565 when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi established a permanent Spanish settlement in Cebu City (Barrows, 1914, p. 127-130). The Spanish colonial era lasted a little more than three centuries, placing Noli Me Tangere, which was published in 1887, closer toward the end of the Philippines’ Spanish colonial era. Before reading any further, it should be noted that in this exhibit, the term “Spanish authorities” is used to refer to the Spanish clergy comprised of friars of the following faiths: Augustinians, Franciscans, Jesuits, Dominicans, and Recollects; as well as state figures who were Spanish. The Spanish authorities centralized their government in by establishing an archdiocese in Manila (Boquet, 2017). Not only did this central placement of power for the Spanish authorities explicitly unite the church and state in advancing Spanish administration, it also granted them stable rulership over both the Philippines’ cultural and political affairs.
Upon the Spaniards’ arrival to the Philippines, one of their initial objectives was to convert Filipinos to Christianity. So, churches and abbeys grew to become an important space of socialization within the everyday lives of Filipinos. Not only was the Church integral to building Filipino communities, the Church also controlled the country’s printing presses, which allowed them to embed religion within the country’s literature (Boquet, 2017). Dominican friars also established educational institutions where they strictly controlled curricula and heavily emphasized religious themes (Boquet, 2017). The Spanish authorities also took on civil administration roles that concerned the nation’s finances and infrastructure building (Boquet, 2017). A provincial taxation system was built that “extorted” Filipino civilians and didn’t use the collected fees for the betterment of the Filipino people in any way, shape, or form (Lala, 1898, p. 62-63). The Spaniards also exploited Filipino labourers to build churches and other religious buildings meant to serve the friars (Boquet, 2017). The Spanish friars who were assigned to specific municipalities to serve as civil administration went on to become powerful landowners who were known to persecute their townships’ locals (Boquet, 2017). With the Filipino people being oppressed and exploited by the Spanish and Spanish-speaking elite, many lower-class Filipinos were increasingly becoming resentful of the discrimination and persecution they faced.
Place
The very idea of Noli Me Tangere was conceived by Rizal at a meeting in Madrid among other Filipino patriots. Rizal proposed that a book that detailed the Philippines’ dismal condition under Spanish authorities and had Filipino artists’ drawings would be good propaganda for their cause (Craig, 1913, p. 121). In 1885, Rizal finishes ¼ of the novel while living in Paris, France (Craig, 1913, p. 126). On February 21, 1887, Rizal finishes writing his first novel ever, the Noli, in Berlin, Germany—the same city where the novel’s eventually published (Nery, 2012, p. 33).
Purpose
Being one of the most active patriots in demanding Philippine political reform while living in Spain, Rizal grew in popularity and was viewed “as the intellect, the inspiration, and the energy behind the cause” of Filipinos fighting for independence against the Spanish authorities (DeStephano, 2015, p. 118). In letters to his friends Gregorio del Pilar, Ferdinand Blumentritt, and Mariano Ponce, Rizal further reveals that the Noli was written for his country, his fellow Filipinos, and most especially for the purpose of inspiring passion among his people (Guerrero, 2012, p. 145). He had hoped to ignite this passion by exposing the sociopolitical conditions of the Philippines under Spanish rule that have impoverished and dehumanized the Filipino people through the Noli’s satirical critique of the Spanish friars and state figures.
However, perhaps inspired by his time living in Spain as suggested by Craig (1913, p. 130), Rizal also makes known his fellow Filipinos’ general shortcomings and role in the Spanish authorities’ corrupt rule over their country by showcasing their tendency to be hypocritical and docile through specific parts of the novel (e.g. Ibarra’s father being abandoned by everyone when he’s charged with a number of accusations). Rizal reveals another purpose of the novel to his readers in its dedication section:
“Palibhasa'y nais co ang iyong cagaling̃ang siyáng cagaling̃an co rin namán, at sa aking paghanap ng̃ lalong mabuting paraang sa iyo'y paggamót, gágawin co sa iyo ang guinágawà ng̃ mg̃a tao sa úna sa canilang mg̃a may sakít: caniláng itinátanghal ang mg̃a may sakít na iyan sa mg̃a baitang ng̃ sambahan, at ng̃ bawa't manggaling sa pagtawag sa Dios ay sa canilá'y ihatol ang isáng cagamutan.” -Rizal (1886/1909, p. 20-21)
In English, this roughly translates to:
“Because I wish for your wellbeing, which is our wellbeing, and in my search for a better course of treatment for you, I will do for you what those that have come before us have done for their sick: they present their sick at the steps of the church, and with everyone’s call upon God might they be prescribed a cure.”
Here, he implores Filipinos to use the Noli to both educate themselves on the Philippines’ condition and help determine a cure for their country’s societal ailments.
More than this, however, Rizal also meant for the Noli to become a canonical text within Philippine literature and build a foundation for nationhood upon which Filipinos could finally recognize themselves as one nation rather than the scattered municipalities they’ve been separated into by Spanish authorities. Dr. Maximo Viola recalls Rizal claiming that most of the characters he included in the Noli “were his relatives and friends” (Guerrero, 2012, p. 139). Blumentritt was also told by Rizal that the Noli was meant to demonstrate Philippine society within “the last ten years” that preceded the novel’s publishing (Guerrero, 2012, p. 139). This demonstrates how Rizal purposely built his first novel upon the Filipino people and the country’s history in order for Philippine canon to authentically represent the nation that was yet to be. This alone was reason enough for Guerrero (2012, p. 139) to declare the novel “the first real Filipino novel.” Additionally, Rizal explicitly writing the novel for the Filipino people not only expressed his desire for the national community to join in on the discourse of their nation’s condition; it emphasized his purpose to build a national community in this way: a Filipino people united through patriotism.
Censorship
As soon as the novel was published, Rizal was adamant about smuggling copies of the Noli into the Philippines and disseminating it among Filipinos. This is demonstrated in Rizal’s communication with Mariano Ponce that reads, “Try to send copies of the Noli Me Tángere to the Philippines by all the means at your command. I think the book will do good there. Even if the copies are not paid for!” (Guerrero, 2012, p. 146). Rizal was well aware of the backlash that awaited him as mentioned in a letter to his friend, Ferdinand Blumentritt, “The regime and the friars will probably attack my book…” (Guerrero, 2012, p. 151). Just as Rizal had predicted, the Spanish authorities, indeed, ended up attacking the novel. On August 30, 1887, the Dominican Archbishop Pedro Payo, backed by a specially organized council at the University of Santo Tomas (UST), alerted Governor General Emilio Terrero about Rizal’s novel that was “heretical, impious and scandalous in its religious aspect, and unpatriotic, subversive of public order and harmful to the Spanish Government and its administration of these islands, in its political aspect” (Guerrero, 2012, p. 152). Terrero referred the matter to the friars and parish of the Board of Censorship, only to be followed by Friar Salvador Font who issued an official report that recommended the novel's censorship on December 29, 1887 (Guerrero, 2012, p. 152). Around the same time, Terrero had telegraphed Rizal to express his interest in both the author and the infamous novel (Craig, 1913, p. 136). Nothing officially came of the Manila censors’ report on the Noli and so Terrero, worried about Rizal’s safety, assigned the author a bodyguard named José Taviel de Andrade (Craig, 1913, p. 136-137).
The Spanish authorities turned to extrajudicial oppression following the lack of response to the official issue of censorship. For example, in Manila, Laureano Viado’s house was inspected by police officers where they discovered copies of the Noli (Guerrero, 2012, p. 152). The medical student was imprisoned without hearing along with his landlord afterwards (Guerrero, 2012, p. 152). Two months following the Manila censors’ recommendation and with Rizal leaving the country, the Noli was promptly censored in 1892 (Guerrero, 2012, p. 152). Circulation of the novel became restricted following its prohibition, but even so, it quickly became famous. The Noli’s reputation spread by word of mouth and became famous because of rumours surrounding the text—not necessarily because of the text itself (Claudio, 2018, p. 42). Rizal’s novels, Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo, were so popular that neighbourhoods would bury the censored texts in gardens (Craig, 1913, p. 185). The ruse was so elaborate that when the books were being removed from the garden to be read, a dance would be used to distract the rare few informants (Craig, 1913, p. 185). With absolutely no regard for civilians’ private property, Spanish authorities persisted in searching houses while civilians simply dealt with “a hole in the ground, the inside of a post,” repaired hollowed out walls, or even set fires in order to preserve their banned texts (Craig, 1913, p. 185).