Philippine E-Journals

The sugilanon is a Hiligaynon short story form identified with Negros Occidental and the Hiligaynon-speaking parts of Panay Island. This article studies 13 sugilanon published over a period of almost 50 years, and explores their engagement with the region's hacienda-based economic structure. In particular, the article looks into the dynamic interplay of protest and confinement, of consciousness, in texts infused with the social hierarchies spawned by the hacienda system, and shows how resistance to power is effected in the writing or reading of the sugilanon.