Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang: A Tradition of Reconfiguring the Filipino Child

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between ‘glocalisation’ and the formation of national identity in Christine S. Bellen's picturebook retellings of four Philippine fairy tales from the Mga Kwento ni Lola Basyang [Tales of Grandmother Basyang] series by Severino Reyes. ‘Glocalisation’ is an effect of globalisation and exists in the dialectic between global phenomenon and local culture, resulting in a dynamic glocal identity. The choice to explore glocal phenomenon in Bellen's picture books comes from the likelihood of these being some of the child's first experiences of glocal literature as well as the fact that the tales carry on a tradition of appropriation and re-creation. Bellen's retellings shift the fairy tales from post-colonial texts to glocal texts and, by grounding global signs on local significance, give voice to the glocal Filipino child.

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“…Moreover, the adaptation of children's literature by Hollywood, sold to audiences around the world, highlights the problematic nature of both globalization and its refinement through glocalization (Robertson 1995, p. 30). Gutierrez (2009) first introduced the concept of glocalization to children's literature scholarship in her study of picturebook retellings of Philippine fairy tales and in recognising this work I would argue children's literature is inherently global in nature as stories circulate through adaptations; then blended, translated and amalgamated with local traditions and frameworks to produce glocal iterations of the original. For Sung-Ae Lee, "a 'glocal' text .…”