Language of Piety and Sympathy: A Reading of the Culture of Spirituality in Bicol Region Through Pasion Bicol

Abstract

The profound sense of piety and religiosity in the Bicol region, southern Philippines, can be seen in the way people view the roles and functions of Catholic faith in their lives - a highly personal one. People perform rituals and devoutly show their faith by practicing penance to evoke pity and sympathy from God. This platform serves as the ground for devotion to Christ and saints. The language of sympathy/pagcaherac is embedded in the Pasion Bicol text, a Bicol language translation of Pasyon, a Philippine epic narrative of the life of Jesus Christ, focused on his Passion, Death, and Resurrection sung and recited in stanzas of five lines of eight syllables each evoking dramatic themes. This idea is transferred in their everyday conversations, or to the emotionally imbued events like the reading of the passion, or during wake and funeral.The paper presents a comparative study of the two translations of Pasyon, the Bicol language and Tagalog (major language in the Philippines found in the center or the capital city). It will will establish an argument that the concept of sympathy and piety are strongly felt in Bicol language. The people's sense of religiosity practiced through suffering and penance is articulated in the text as they are sung, read, and performed during the Lenten period in the Catholic tradition.



Author Information
Maria Sharon Mapa-Arriola, De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde, The Philippines

Paper Information
Conference: ACERP2018
Stream: Philosophy - Linguistics, Language and Philosophy

This paper is part of the ACERP2018 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon