Kerima Tariman Translates the Revolution: Guerrilla Warfare, Cultural Work, and Radical Literature

Abstract

What is the shape of Filipino revolutionary literature today? How do we read it? What is the place of translation in its practice? Looking at the body of work of the slain poet and revolutionary Kerima Tariman, I demonstrate that her poetry helps us to grasp the social and political dimensions of writing, supplying us with the political knowledge of the everyday aspects of the Philippine Revolution in real historical time. That is, Tariman translates the revolution – its ideals, realities, and processes. Translation, I argue, allows us to understand the logic and value of revolutionary literature and its intent to convey the message of revolution to wider audiences. Divided into three sections, the article describes the thematic makeup of the anthology of Tariman’s poems, discusses the critical frameworks that can be used to grasp her work, and identifies the significance of translation in understanding her poetry and the character of revolution today. Together, these interlocking ideas suggest the close link between translation and revolution, on the one hand, and literature and transformation in the Philippines, on the other hand.