The Style Of Post-Modernism

“My aim is to put down on paper what I see and what I feel in the best and simplest way.”
-Ernest Hemingway

The statement above by Hemingway might be the words that rambled through Bob Ong’s mind when he wrote his six lauded books ABNKKBSNPLAKo?!, Bakit Baliktad Magbasa Ng Libro Ang Mga Pilipino, Paboritong Libro ni Hudas, Alamat Ng Gubat, Stainless Longganisa, and his latest book Mcarthur that received positive response from the Filipino audience.

Thus, my assumption is favored by Ong’s own statement when he said in one of his interviews through an email, “You read, you watch, you observe, you think, you feel—you can’t help it. Insight comes from all these. From all these, you write.”

He is considered as one of those post-modernist writers who diverged from the conventional writing style where there are rules and structures to follow and delved into a belief that the rules in writing would only suppress their freedom to express, moreover, controlling the “flow of ideas” that is already conceived. And thus, his liberal thinking reflects on the books he made.

Having read two of Ong’s book, his first and his fifth book, I may say that those are really different from the styles of writers like Bienvenido Lumbera or F. Sionil Jose. But I may have established a wrong comparison since both the two authors named have received a number of prestigious awards and have been acclaimed as national artists. Nevertheless, one may easily point out how Ong’s works are different from those done by other artists in form, style, and structure.

Ong’s style of writing is conversational. He directly communicates and tells stories with his readers which make the books easy to be read. They are also fashioned with humor to keep the readers interest. The tones, though absurd and ironic, capture more readers. And at the end of each book, I found some of his realizations that I think are a kind of moralizing. In fact, there are some who have read his books say that his works are inspirational.

Since Bob Ong is a pro-modernist writer, expect that not all elements found in every literature are present in his works.

In his book, ABNKKBSNPLAKo?!, is a narration of his scholarly life, from elementary to college, and the life he had after school and where all stories appeared to be true, although, the book cannot guise itself from being somewhat fictitious as some were exaggeratedly told. But if in any case the book will be proved to be fictitious, it might be considered as metafiction or a story-within-story.

The character. It has only one portrayed character – the “narrator” – and since I cannot refer the book as a fiction or a non-fiction, expect the term “narrator” is variedly used. Moreover, the narrator is not evenly included in the character list in short stories, novels, or plays. In the book, the writer or Ong himself is the narrator and since it has a conversational writing style, no other character has appeared except for names that are mentioned who has not done any action but only in regard with the writer’s narration.

The plot. It is defined as the incident that makes up the story. I say that the book has no plot or if there is, there would be many. By this time, I’m referring to the book as a compilation of essays about the stages of Ong’s life where in every stage has its own turning point – its own plot. But it is still arguable to say it has a plot or plots since the book is not really a short story and definitely not a novel.

The structure. It has no structure simply because it is an example of a post-modern literature which does not adhere to any structure.

The language. Ong wrote using the vernacular – Filipino, which can be understood by every Filipino in all classes and in all range of ages. In an interview by Inquirer through email, Ong referred to language as a tool wherein he associated English as a “saw” and the Filipino as a “knife” that his only aim is “to peel the turnip for merienda. And the second language cannot replace the first.”

Finally to quote another artist to relate the art of writing no matter what style, form or genre to use, F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “You don't write because you want to say something, you write because you've got something to say.” - NIKKI ANGULO

Photograph Source:
http://www.bobongbooks.com/