Karagatan Tropes, Maritime Characteristics and the Oral Tradition of Romblon

Philippine regional oral literature scholarship is currently navigating against the current from the periphery to the center. While a number of works had been anthologized  and had undergone scrutiny, apparently not much exploration has been given to the factor of geography, which has allowed the transport of multiculturalism and multilingualism as it is in Romblon. The main research question is a descriptive-analytic documentation of the tradition: the questions reflect on the textual-historical analysis of the significance of karagatan; the textual and extra-textual  analysis of the people’s collective consciousness; and the overall contribution of the study to the present anthology of the Philippine National Literature. The history, geography, context of narration and culture were likewise recorded and the translation was done during fieldwork with the aid of the natives. The original vernacular text along with the transcribed and translated field texts were subjected to textual, extra-textual, historical, cultural, and geographical analyses with the researcher interpreting data from the informants’ perspectives. Interestingly, the fieldwork, translation, and literary analysis revealed several fascinating aspects of the regions’ consciousness. The maritime characteristics of Romblon archipelago served not as a barrier but a link between the islands thereby connecting the people as one region, as one community. Though the people sang their songs in three different languages – Onhan, Asi, and Romblomanon – they talked of the same sea, laughed at the same jokes, shared the same values, and in general, exhibited diverse but amalgamated attitudes and ideals.

Keywords:collection, karagatan trope, oral literature, regional, translation