Through Indigenous Lenses: Ecotopia According to Vernacular Music Videos from Benguet, Philippines

Abstract

ABSTRACT The indigenous groups in Benguet, Philippines, have begun to produce their own music videos and other media products to express themselves and to correct ill-informed portrayals about them. Through such, they have achieved self-representation by textualizing their cultures and worldviews, including their perspectives on the natural world and its ideal state. Employing a textual analysis that is grounded on the concepts of postcolonial appropriation and Ginsburg et al.'s “screen memories,” this article discusses how two indigenous-produced music videos, which tackle the environment, represent their imaginations of an ecotopia. These, once recognized in environmental discourse, would ideally result in the formulation of more effective, cost-efficient, and socially just environmental plans and practices. As the world clamors for a sustainable and more ideal state of the planet, exploring indigenous perspectives on an ecotopia could be beneficial, as they may provide legitimate, ethical, and context-appropriate alternatives that have been neglected due to “othering.”