Abstract
What constitutes a reflexive performance? Does reflexive performance embody cultural indigeneity in everyday life, particularly in the digital space? This chapter elaborates on what constitutes a reflexive performance from the lived experiences of the Manobo-Pulanguiyen, an Indigenous ethnolinguistic group in the province of Bukidnon, Southern Philippines. Drawing on performance anthropology and various ethnographic methods, such as in-depth interviews, photo-video documentation, participant observation, and the creative voice method, I discuss the contexts and mechanisms of what counts as reflexive performances in the everyday life of the Manobo-Pulanguiyen in the digital space. My ethnographic material reveals that Manobos, especially the youth, have engaged in social media platforms, such as Facebook and TikTok, to magnify their political voices and showcase various Indigenous traditional and cultural performances. My interlocutors perceive social media as a platform to articulate Indigenous creativity, reflexivity, and necessity as a counternarrative to the changing landscapes, socio-political and cultural ruptures, and negative stereotypes originating from colonialism, development aggression, and capitalist regimes. Overall, I argue that using social media as a space for cultural performances encapsulates the following: (a) creative resistance in everyday life and (b) cultural continuity and reflexivity in times of ecological changes and social ruptures (open moments).
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Bukidnon is a combination of the term “bukid” (mountain) and non (people) which means mountain people (NCIP 2003).
- 3.
Talaandig people are known to be dwellers of the steep places (NCIP 2003).
- 4.
Higaunons are coastal dwellers who moved to the uplands (NCIP 2003).
- 5.
Matigsalugs means people along the Salug River.
- 6.
Tigwahanon may have been derived from the Tigwa River.
- 7.
Umayamnon lives within the boundaries of Pulangui River in Bukidnon and Umayam River in Agusan del Sur.
- 8.
Ulaging is an epic cycle that is associated with relationship of the Manobos with their sacred sites and deities. This is usually performed through series of chants within the community. Today, Ulaging has been shown in the digital space as a form of Indigenous expressions focusing on their daily life.
- 9.
Ulaging is an epic cycle that is associated with relationship of the Manobos with their sacred sites and deities. This is usually performed through series of chants within the community. Today, Ulaging has been shown in the digital space as a form of Indigenous expressions focusing on their daily life.
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Acknowledgements
The author expresses profound gratitude to several individuals and organizations who have supported the research—the Manobo-Pulanguiyen Tribal Council of Elders, Bae Vivian Escoto, Datu Elmer Lilawan, Datu Andong Agdahan, and Bae Ling Agdahan, as well as the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples-Malaybalay City. The author would also like to acknowledge the University of Newcastle Research HDR for awarding a full scholarship to pursue the Ph.D. research project in Bukidnon Province, Mindanao, Philippines, and Central Mindanao University for granting the author a study leave to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Newcastle, Australia.
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Celeste, B.L. (2024). Reflexive Performance in Digital Spaces as Cultural Agency Among the Manobo-Pulanguiyen. In: Telles, J.P. (eds) Indigenous Media and Popular Culture in the Philippines. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-9101-3_6
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