After months of planning, the first Regional Conference on Ethical Criticism of Mindanao Literature was successfully held on 15-16 Nov 2024 at Xavier University, participated in by academic institutions from various places in Mindanao. The Conference which was organized by the Department of English Language and Literature, and co-sponsored by XU Press and XCCA, took shape gradually through the kind guidance of Dr Maria Luisa Torres Reyes, Head of CHED Technical Panel on Literature, and President of Ethical, Literary, and Cultural Criticism Association of the Philippines. 

Prof Reyes delivered her talk “Toward the Theory and Practice of Ethical, Literary, and Cultural Criticism in the Philippines,” setting the key points of Ethical Criticism in the Philippine context and forecasting the direction and themes to unfold in the two days.

Two other renowned international scholars graced the event with their virtual participations, namely, Prof Nie Zhenzhao (Guangdong University of Foreign Studies) and Prof Syed Farid Alatas (National University of Singapore). 

Prof Zhenzhao, preeminent proponent of Ethical Literary Criticism, is the President of International Association of Ethical Literary Criticism, and Professor and Yunshan Chair of World Literature and Languages at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. In his recorded message, he expressed his compliments to fellow scholar, Dr Reyes and to XU as he recognized the relevance of ethical criticism in the examination of our literary and cultural expressions and the role of our University in balancing academic pursuits and social responsibility. 

Prof Alatas, a sociologist from National University of Singapore, is known for his books that contribute to the debate on the decolonization of knowledge. In his live talk so well received by the audience, he identified three points of colonial knowledge, namely, universality, distortion and silence, explaining a crucial thread of his argument that Europe is presented as an objective through whose lens we perceive the world but at the expense of our own viewpoints. As an example of decolonization, he cited Rizal’s critiquing or refutation of the supposed indolence of Filipinos, a trait which had been a result of the socio-historical experiences of the Filipinos under Spanish rule

Other highlights of the Conference are: Dr Ferdinand Cantular’s situational lecture that provides a glimpse into the issues of ethics and morality so deeply intertwined in the social and cultural contexts of our literary texts; and Dr Lilia Cotejar’s report on the larger curricular contextualities of literature courses from the vantagepoint of CHED, showing how literary studies are lagging far behind the academic researches.   

In the light of the goal of the Conference, which is to get a grasp of the theory and praxis of Ethical Literary Criticism and thus provide critical tools and strategies for our teachers in studying and teaching literary and cultural texts from and about Mindanao, twelve Paper Presenters who are in varying phases of their teaching and academic careers, demonstrated varied slants of deploying Ethical Criticism in reading texts, focusing (understandably) mostly on content, and less on style and other aspects of form.  The robust presentations were complemented with engaging and insightful conversations that kept the audience engaged and attentive.

In the order of presentations, these twelve presenters include:

Therese Abonales (MSU-IIT Iligan)
Khrystal Venus M Munar (ADZU)
Carthelyn C Adajar (XU)
Maria Luisa S Saministrado (XU)
Geldolin Inte (USTP)
Abigail James (XU)
Alessandro Nioda (XU)
Nelia Balgoa (MSU-IIT Iligan)
Floraime Pantaleta (Ateneo Zamboanga-Mindanao Institute, ADZU)
Adonis Hornoz (Notre Dame of Dadiangas University)
Onnah Pierre P Talle (MSU-IIT Iligan)
April Jade Ramayan (XU-SHS)

The two-day event—interspersed with powerful songs by Dr Charity Rose A Pagara, Niq Ramsis, and enthralling instrumentals by Patrick Marlowe C Oliva and Jan Rupert I Alfeche—was engagingly woven into a cohesive program by the host, Dr Hobart Savior, Director of XCCA.