The Magellan Fallacy: Globalization and the Emergence of Asian and African Literature in Spanish by Adam Lifshey (review)

Abstract

Spanish is widely recognized as a language that boasts an outstanding and diverse literary tradition, from Cervantes to Garcia Marquez, Neruda, Eltit, and Bolano, to name but a few out of a long list of illustrious writers. Yet, in academia and beyond, literature in Spanish is usually considered to be synonymous with texts produced in Spain, in Latin America, and, more recently, by Spanishspeaking authors living in North America. Adam Lifshey's study deepens our understanding of Spanish-speaking literary world by drawing our attention to oft-neglected Asian and African literatures in Spanish. The book offers not only an excellent introduction to topic for scholars unacquainted with this body of work, but also provides in-depth analyses of some key texts by authors from Philippines and Equatorial Guinea.One of guiding threads in The Magellan Fallacy is an inquiry into power relations that shape perceived notions of center and periphery. The foundational standoffbetween Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese explorer working for Spanish crown, and Lapu Lapu, chief of a small island in archipelago that came to be known as Philippines, foreshadows complex dynamics between global and local unleashed by colonialism. Magellan was killed by Lapu Lapu, who resisted European's efforts at evangelizing his island. Nevertheless, Spain's goal of circumnavigating world was achieved as surviving members of Magellan's crew managed to sail back home. This emblematic episode reveals what Lifshey calls the Magellan fallacy: that is, conviction that global powers such as Spanish empire, represented by Magellan, necessarily prevail over local influences. The book shows how empire fights (and writes) back and thus dramatically changes colonial center.The Magellan Fallacy illustrates this struggle between global and local forces through a close reading of Spanish texts produced by Asian and African writers. An example is discussion in chapter 1 of Pedro Paterno's novel Ninay, first Asian novel in Spanish and first Filipino novel ever written, published in Madrid in 1885. Lifshey points out that Ninay follows many of conventions of costumbrismo literary genre popular in Spain at time, in which fictional texts were set in faraway locations and colorfully described local customs for benefit of European readers. One of Paterno's central claims in narrative is that, despite cultural specificities, Filipinos are as Spanish and by extension as European, as colonizers themselves. Yet Lifshey undertakes a reading of Ninay against grain, whereby he shows that novel moves beyond a simple costumbrista text and in particular episodes weaves an implicit critique of Spanish domination. Paterno's text ends with deaths of male and female protagonists, representatives of Spanish-influenced Filipino elite. The fruitlessness of this social group contrasts with survival skills of a male bandit who challenges dominant orders in islands and of female anti-heroine, true foundational couple in Ninay. Even though Paterno strove to portray Filipino society as part of Spain, his novel ultimately revealed sterility of such an endeavor.The following chapters comment on literary works resulting from two very different moments in Filipino history. Chapter 2 analyzes novel El filibusterismo (Subversion, 1891) by acclaimed author Jose Rizal, a national hero and founding father of Filipino literature who was assassinated by authorities as suspected leader of a revolution to overthrow Spanish rule over archipelago. In El filibusterismo, Rizal openly condemns Spanish colonial malfeasance and lays ground for Filipino nationalism. The chapter continues with a discussion of novellas collected in Pedro Paterno's Aurora social (Social Dawn, 1910-11), which reflect social situation of a country that became independent from Spain only to be colonized by United States from 1898 onward. …