Filipino Nationalist Medievalism and Orientalism in Gregorio Fernandez’s Prinsipe Teñoso

Abstract

Filipino nationalist impulses were often reflected in Filipino cinema as the rapid growth of the Filipino film industry coincided with the early stages of Philippine independence after World War II. While gritty films grounded in war and realism had taken off in popularity, costume epics, which descend from popular adapatations of European medieval texts, still continued to attract audiences. This article examines the medievalisms of the Filipino film ‘Prinsipe Teñoso’ (1954) and the film’s nationalist and orientalist tendencies, ultimately expanding upon understandings of nationalist medievalism and its operation in the non-settler colonial space.