Redefining Success: Exploring Filipino Ideological Expressions of Success in Local Congratulatory Bidangan and Tarpaulins
Author: Joseph P. Casibual Jr. (Western Mindanao State University, The Philippines)
Speaker: Joseph P. Casibual Jr.
Topic: Language, Community, Ethnicity
The (SCOPUS / ISI) SOAS GLOCAL CALA 2020 General Session
Abstract
Language has been a tool for expression and communication and with given use, different means have been used that corresponds and relates to the nature of its purpose. One medium and such culture of an expression is largely practiced in the Philippines specifically in the southern part of the country which it somewhat represents an organization which can be a conglomeration of individual cultural practices and not just a system of human beings acting and interacting with one another in their society. This paper is a response to the on-going social culture of Filipinos on using tarpaulins or locally called as bidangan in expressing and celebrating any occasions specially (congratulatory) as a form of giving prestige and honor. This study seeks to unravel the dominant frames used in stating and expressing success as to how success was portrayed in the given discourse looking into the pragmatic effects and the structure used in the expression. The study aimed mainly to comprehend the social effect and how success was redefined using such discourse within the Filipino context. Descriptive-qualitative design of research was used in the study since it only focuses into deconstructing underlying expression of success in the selected tarpaulins. Selection of the corpus was randomly selected looking into variations of frames but all are congratulatory in purpose and nature. The analysis was also subjected into the structure; evaluating choice of words, semantic effects and the positionings of these elements as shown and displayed in the tarpaulins. The study found out that most of the tarpaulins are contained overly-emphasized message which already is redundant on the purpose of the tarpaulins which in another way appealed to contain too much “proud” element on the message. The results of this study will serve as a basis for developing an understanding of the Filipino culture as to how and when tarpaulins should be used effectively and functionally.
Keywords: discourse analysis, streamers/tarpaulins, communication, Filipino culture, semantics