DAUG, Zsa Zsa S., 2012.

A PSYCHOANALYTIC AND SOCIO-CULTURAL STUDY

OF TEN SELECTED SHORT STORIES BY NINE FILIPINO AUTHORS:
IMPLICATIONS TO THE TEACHING OF BASIC LITERATURE COURSES.
(MAELS),212 pp.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Problem
Richard Rudgley (2000), states that the depiction of sexual acts
in literature is as old as civilization; in fact, such depictions can also be found
painted on various ancient buildings. The concept of pornography, however,
as understood today did not exist until the Victorian era. Previous to that
time, though some sex acts were regulated or stipulated in laws, looking at
objects or images depicting them was not. In some cases, specific books,
engravings or image collections were censored or outlawed, but the trend to
compose laws that restricted viewing of sexually explicit things in general
was a Victorian construct.
When large scale excavations of Pompeii were undertaken in the
1860s, much of the erotic art of the Romans came to light, shocking the
Victorians who saw themselves as the intellectual heirs of the Roman Empire.
They did not know what to do with the frank depictions of sexuality and so
endeavored to hide them away from everyone but the upper class scholars.
The moveable objects were locked away in the Secret Museum in Naples,
Italy and what could not be removed was covered and cordoned off so as not
to corrupt the sensibilities of women, children and the working class.
Soon after, the world's first law criminalizing pornography was enacted
by the Parliament of the United Kingdom in 1857 known as the Obscene
Publications Act. The Victorian attitude that pornography was for a select few
can be seen in the wording of the Hicklin test stemming from a court case in
1868 where it asks, "whether the tendency of the matter charged as
obscenity is to deprave and corrupt those whose minds are open to such
immoral influences." Despite the fact of their suppression, depictions of
erotic imagery were common throughout history.” (Richard Rudgley, The Lost
Civilizations of the Stone Age, 2000)
Psychology and even religion have noted that the individual’s
experience of sex is of key importance in shaping one’s personality. Whether
it be the loss of virginity, the acceptance of homosexuality, or the cultivation
of a fetish, erotic experience creates a window that looks upon the writer’s
mind and upon the writer’s culture. Eroticism in literature may unlock or
loosen the bonds of guilt and shame of both the writers and the readers. The
erotic experience of another may allow the individual to see that he or she is
not alone and that fantasies once thought to be perverse are in fact shared
by many.
Today, literary works with erotic elements have gained popularity. A
number of foreign contemporary authors are popular for their works with
sexy and erotic themes like Harold Robbins and Ken Follett.
 So what is eroticism in literature all about? According to Hyde (1964),
erotic literature includes fictional and factual stories and accounts which
sexually arouse the reader, whether written with that intention or not. Such
erotica takes the form of novels, short stories, poetry, true-to-life memoirs,
and sex manuals. Erotic literature, however, has often been subject to
censorship and legal restraints as regards its publication.
Erotic fiction is, also, the name given to fiction that deals with sex or
sexual themes, generally in a more literary or serious way than that of fiction
seen in pornographic magazines. They sometimes include elements of satire
or social criticism. However, such works have frequently been banned or
censored by the authorities even if It can be noted that apparently non-
fictional works dealing with sex or sexual themes may contain fictional
elements, too. For instance, calling an erotic book a ‘memoir' is a literary
device common in this genre. For reasons similar to those that make
pseudonyms both commonplace and often deviously set up, the boundary
between fiction and non-fiction is often very diffused.
Erotic fiction dramatically increases the number of vicarious
experiences made available to its readers. In most instances, the themes of
erotic writing are the familiar themes of mainstream writing, too, among
them innocence and its loss; degradation and redemption; freedom and
enslavement; desire and its consequences; and the transcendence of the
ego.
At present, sex occupies a prominent place in our cultural life, hence,
it is not outrageous to suggest that erotic writing may be the popular
literature that most accurately mirrors a large part of contemporary life, a
secret record, so to speak, of our secret lives. In any event, thinking about
sexuality has undergone such a rapid change in the past decade that its
literature has become progressively acceptable to large numbers of people,
particularly the young, who read erotic writing as much for entertainment,
for confirmation of their own beliefs and lifestyles as well as for titillation.
There are those who now see the merit and accept the insights of Freud.
Erotic literature is now gaining readership in the Philippines. Stories
and novels with erotic elements are now being published and circulated
almost everywhere in the country and are even taken up in some literature
schools and universities. Some works of Antonio Enriquez (The Night I Cry),
Manuel Arguilla (Heat and Midsummer), Nick Joaquin (Summer Solstice),
Kerima Polotan-Tuvera, and Paz Latorena (Desire), for example, exhibit some
elements of eroticism and their stories have been introduced to the college
students enrolled in Philippine Literature classes both in Capitol University
and Mindanao State University-Iligan Institute of Technology.
However, readers of this paper must not only look at the psychological
factors but must also consider the socio-cultural factors that may influence
the actions and motives of individuals. These erotic undertones in literature
are not obviously discussed in the classroom setting for several reasons.
One of these is the fact that our classrooms and teachers have remained
conservative despite the advent of technology and the fast production of
erotic materials in the different media genre. Some academic institutions
consider this topic as a taboo. They avoid the inclusion and discussion of the
erotic to prevent offending the students’ or society’s morality standards.
Furthermore, it can be assumed that this aspect in literature may not be
openly emphasized to avoid some embarrassment to Filipinos in general.
Studying eroticism by evaluating stories would mean looking into the
different literary elements, especially the characters, which the author uses
to carry out the meaning of the text. It also allows readers to examine the
psyche of the stories’ characters so that the latter’s actions and motives
become clear and unambiguous.
Hence, literary pieces with erotic undertones can then be analyzed and
discussed openly, constructively, explicitly in a scholarly manner in or
outside the classrooms by anyone of legal age.

1.2 Theoretical Framework

There are several approaches in studying and analyzing different literary
pieces. One of these approaches is the psychoanalytic approach which is a
body of ideas developed by the Austrian physician Sigmund Freud and
continued by others. It is primarily devoted to the study of human
psychological functioning and behavior, although it also can be applied to
societies, as well.
Psychoanalysis (or Freudian Psychology) has three applications (Arlow,
1964): a method of investigation of the mind; a systematized set of theories
about human behavior and a method of treating psychological or emotional
illness.
What does all of this psychological study have to do with literature and
the study of literature? Put simply, some critics believe that we can read
psychoanalytically to see which concepts are operating in the text in such a
way as to enrich our understanding of the work and to yield a meaningful,
coherent psychoanalytic interpretation. In other words, psychoanalytic
critics analyze and interpret a literary piece to give it meaning by looking
into the different elements that form and complete its rationale. It is exactly
what this study aims to achieve. As mentioned in the later part of the
introduction of this paper, “readers are allowed to reexamine the psyche of
the stories’ characters so that the latter’s actions and motive become clear
and unambiguous.”
Freud asserted that people's behavior is affected by their unconscious:
"...the notion that human beings are motivated, even driven, by desires,
fears, needs, and conflicts of which they are unaware..."(Tyson,1993). He
believed that our unconscious was influenced by childhood events. Freud
organized these events into developmental stages involving relationships
with parents and drives of desire and pleasure where children focus "...on
different parts of the body...starting with the mouth...shifting to the oral,
anal, and phallic phases..."(Richter,1015).These stages reflect base levels of
desire, but they also involve fear of loss (loss of genitals, loss of affection
from parents, loss of life) and repression: "...the expunging from
consciousness of these unhappy psychological events.”
Tyson (1993) reminds us, however, that "...repression doesn't eliminate
our painful experiences and emotions...we unconsciously behave in ways
that will allow us to 'play out'...our conflicted feelings about the painful
experiences and emotions we repress". To keep all of this conflict buried in
our unconscious, Freud argued that we develop defenses: selective
perception, selective memory, denial, displacement, projection, regression,
fear of intimacy, and fear of death, among others.
Psychoanalysis tends to focus on the borders, frontiers and fissures,
the spaces of difference where relatively well bounded areas, such as the
one hypothesised between conscious and unconscious psychic life, begin. It
is common to suppose that consciousness refers to the state in which we
have thoughts and wishes, make decisions, form intentions, etc., whilst the
unconscious remains (always necessarily) the province of the “unknown.”
But it is more accurate to say that, for Freud, thoughts, wishes and
decisions become conscious by virtue of a tension between two unconscious
agencies. The first corresponds to the simplest notion of instinct, an
essentially neurological drive, the purpose of which is to reduce what Freud
calls unlust, in English, un-pleasure. Unpleasure is caused by any form of
excitation, whether internally produced (anger or hunger) or externally (noise
or pain). The impulse to reduce this unpleasure can therefore be thought of
as the most basic instinct, simply, the drive for pleasure, or the pleasure
principle. The drive for pleasure is always a defence against stimulation and
the aim is always to reduce it to as low a level as possible, ideally,
altogether. The second agency, which Freud would come to call the reality
principle, is also a defence mechanism but this time the aim is to temper the
force of the first one. One can easily see that the desire for immediate
gratification, not tempered by any kind of caution or principle of delay, might
itself be extremely dangerous to a vulnerable organism.
In humans, of course, the desire--sometimes even in adults expressed
with something like infantile urgency--is always operative. Adult life thus
seems very often to be a series of detours, delays, or carefully constructed
secondary roads back towards an initial desire for peace and tranquillity.
Once again, the theory of these psychic forces seems grounded in a
pattern, or structure, that corresponds roughly to the traditional distinction
between the empirical (conscious awareness) and the transcendental, the
structures that give meaning to our experience, however obscure those
structures might be. So the basic idea is by no means new. It is at base
another narrative of false or deceived consciousness. The two agencies were
later in Freud’s career given the titles id (the drive for pleasure) and super-
ego (a sort of internalised moral law). Between these two powerful forces, of
course, lies the result of their engagement, that is, the ego, a kind of
compromise formation that is the core in the basic pattern of the personality.
 The second important theory used in this study is the Socio-Cultural
Approach. It is a theory that is closely related to Psychology which the
researcher also finds appropriate for this paper.
The Socio-Cultural Theory is an emerging theory in psychology that
looks at the important contributions that society makes to individual
development. This theory stresses the interaction between developing
people and the culture in which they live.
It is to be noted that the cultural and social environment are
intertwined. However, it shall be defined separately here for the purpose of
definition. The cultural environment refers to the learned ways of living, the
norms of behaviors – folkways, mores, laws, values, ideas, and patterned
ways of the group. Early in life, the individual incorporates into his or her
personality, the patterns of responses, values, and attitudes of the group.
The culture also regulates the type of behavior which is considered
appropriate to the individual of a particular age, sex, and line of work. (Isabel
S. Panopio, et al., 1994)
While the culture of any society determines the deeper level of its
members’ personality mainly through the techniques of child-rearing, its
influence does not end there. Culture goes on to shape the personality from
child rearing and throughout life. Culture serves as a guide for the individual
by providing one with models (Linton, 1945:143-144). And accordingly,
personality is shaped by culture and depends on one’s culture and
subculture, too.
Vygotsky was a contemporary of other great thinkers such
as Freud, Skinner,and Piaget.
Summarizing Vygotsky’s research on cultural mediation, Rogoff (2003)
elaborates on the situated nature of individual development within the social,
cultural and historical context. From the cultural-historical perspective, she explains,
individual development is interdependent with socio-cultural activity. In this view,
thinking involves learning to use symbolic and material tools in ways specific (i.e.,
object oriented) to their design.
In turn, cultural tools are adapted to novel purposes, allowing the
collective cultural commons to evolve and grow. In short, individual and
cultural processes are mutually constituting: People contribute to the
creation of cultural processes and cultural processes contribute to the
creation of people.

1.3 Conceptual Framework

Ten Philippine short stories deemed to have erotic undertones written
by nine Filipino authors were used as materials for analysis in this study.
Figure 1 on the next page shows that all ten of these short stories were
studied to answer the following questions: 1) How is eroticism presented in
the different stories? What are the devices used by the authors that highlight
the eroticism in the stories? 2) What motives do the characters have to
manifest eroticism in their thoughts and actions and how do their socio-
cultural background influence these motives? And, what implications can be
made as to the inclusion of stories with erotic elements in the teaching of
basic literature courses?
First, the literary devices used by the authors were identified. Then, the
psychoanalytic and socio-cultural theories were employed in the analyses
and evaluation to better understand the characters’ motives that manifest
eroticism in their thoughts and actions. Also, the socio-cultural background of
the characters were examined to see how it may have influenced each
character’s motives which in turn manifest eroticism in each story. Finally,
the implications of the inclusion of these stories with erotic elements in the
teaching of basic literature courses were also looked into.

EROTICISM
IN
TEN (10) PHILIPPINE SHORT
STORIES

LITERARY
DEVICES

PSYCHOANALYTI MOTIVES SOCIO-

C THEORY CULTURAL
THEORY
---- ----- ------

IMPLICATIONS TO TEACHING OF
BASIC LITERATURE COURSES
Figure 1. Schematic Diagram
1.4 Statement of the Problem
 Using the psychoanalytic and the socio-cultural approaches, this study
analyzes ten short stories written by nine Filipino authors whose works
exhibit some erotic elements. Hence, specific variables are selected to
justify the title of this study.
It seeks to answer the following questions:
1. How is eroticism presented in the different stories? What are the
devices used by the authors that highlight the eroticism in the stories?
2. What motives do the characters have to manifest eroticism in their
thoughts and actions and how do their socio-cultural background influence
these motives?
3. What implications can be made as to the inclusion of stories with erotic
elements in the teaching of basic literature courses?

Scope and Limitation of the Study

This study on “A Psychoanalytic and Socio-Cultural Study of Ten Short
Stories by Nine Filipino Authors: Implications to the Teaching of Basic
Literature Courses” is limited only to the following short stories, namely: The
Night I Cry by Antonio Enriquez, Suite Bergamasque by Bobby Flores
Villasis, The Other Regina by Susan Lara, The Summer Solstice by Nick
Joaquin, Heat and Midsummer by Manuel Arguilla, Ang HImas Ni Ricardo
by Babeth Lolarga, Sila, Isang Hapon by Lualhati Bautista, Fairy Tale for
the City by Estrella D. Alfon and Desire by Paz Latorena. Based on
recommendations of literature teachers and the researcher’s survey
readings, these short stories exhibit and contain some erotic undertones that
are believed useful in this study as the basis for the psychoanalytic and
socio-cultural analyses.

1.5 Significance of the Study

Doing an in-depth analysis of the erotic elements of the ten selected
Filipino short stories would hopefully yield a deeper understanding and
appreciation of each short story and can help alleviate forms of repressions
that may be sanctioned as regards taking up and discussing these stories in
the basic literature classes more intensely. Hence, the psychoanalytic and
the socio-cultural approaches of analysis were used.
The discussion of how these erotic elements are brought out by the
literary devices used can bring out the underlying rationale of each work and
would also hopefully help readers to fully appreciate the selected works
whose analyses looked into the motives of the characters that may have
manifested eroticism in their thoughts and actions. These elements of
eroticism manifested can hopefully carry out the intended meanings the
authors wish their readers to read.
Future researchers can benefit from this study by acquiring new
viewpoints in understanding eroticism in general and in studying the
elements of eroticism in literature in particular.

CHAPTER 2: Review of Related Literature

2.1 Historical Development of Erotic Fiction
History of Western Erotic Fiction
Classic erotica from the Ancient World includes the Song of Songs from
the Old Testament and the Roman Satyricon of Petronius Arbiter (later made
into a film by Fellini).
From the Medieval period we have the Decameron (1353) by the Italian
, Giovanni Boccaccio (made into a film by Pasolini) which features tales of
lechery by monks and the seduction of nuns from convents. This book was
banned in many countries. Even five centuries after publication copies were
seized and destroyed by the authorities in the USA and the UK. For instance,
between 1954 and 1958, eight orders for destruction of the book were made
by English magistrates.
From the fifteenth century is another classic of Italian erotica is the
Facetiae of Gian Francesco Poggio Bracciolini. The sixteenth century was also
notable for the Heptameron of Marguerite de Navarre (1558), inspired by
Boccaccio's Decameron.
An early pioneer of the publication of erotic works in England was
Edmund Curll (1675-1747). The rise of the novel in 18th century England
provided a new medium for erotica. One of the most famous in this new
genre was Fanny Hill by John Cleland. This book set a new standard in
literary smut and has been adapted for the cinema in the 20th century.
French writers at this time also wrote erotica. A famous example is
Thérèse Philosophe (1748) by Jean-Baptiste de Boyer, Marquis d'Argens
which describes a girl's inititation into the secrets of both philosophy and
sex. Another example is The Lifted Curtain or Laura's Education, about a
young girl's sexual initiation by her father, written by the Comte de
Mirabeau; also Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Dangerous Liaisons) by Pierre
Choderlos de Laclos, which was first published in 1782.
In the late 18th century the theme of sado-masochism was explored by
the Marquis de Sade in such works as Justine, or the Misfortunes of Virtue
and 120 Days of Sodom. The Marquis de Sade's work was very influential on
later erotica and he (together with the later writer Sacher-Masoch) lent his
name to the sexual acts which he describes in his fiction.
In the Victorian period, the quality of erotic fiction was much below that of
the previous century — it was written by 'hacks'. Some works, however,
borrowed from established literary models, such as Dickens’ female eroticism
in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It also featured a curious form of social
stratification. Even in the throes of orgasm, the social distinctions between
master and servant (including form of address) were scrupulously observed.
Significant elements of sado-masochism were present in some examples,
perhaps reflecting the influence of the English public school.

In the Victorian period, the quality of erotic fiction was much below
that of the previous century — it was written by 'hacks'. Some works,
however, borrowed from established literary models, such as Dickens’ female
eroticism in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. It also featured a curious form of
social stratification. Even in the throes of orgasm, the social distinctions
between master and servant (including form of address) were scrupulously
observed. Significant elements of sado-masochism were present in some
examples, perhaps reflecting the influence of the English public school.
These works were often anonymous, and undated, and include suctoo h titles
as The Lustful Turk (1828); The Way of a Man with a Maid; A Weekend Visit,
The Romance of Lust (1873); The Autobiography of a Flea (1887); Beatrice;
Venus in India (1889) by 'Captain Charles Devreaux'; Raped on the Railway:
A True Story of a Lady who was first ravished and then flagellated on the
Scotch Express (1894); Flossie, A Venus of Fifteen: By one who knew this
Charming Goddess and worshipped at her shrine (1897) and My Lustful
Adventures by 'Ramrod'. Clandestine erotic periodicals of this period include
The Pearl a collection of erotic tales, rhymes, songs and parodies published
in London between 1879 to1880.
In 1870 the erotic novella Venus in Furs by Austrian author Leopold von
Sacher-Masoch, brought the attention of the world to the phenomenon of
masochism, named after the author. Towards the end of the century, a more
"cultured" form of erotica began to appear written by such writers as the
poet Algernon Charles Swinburne who pursued themes of paganism,
lesbianism and sado-masochism in such works as Lesbia Brandon and in
contributions to The Whippingham Papers edited by St George Stock, author
of The Romance of Chastisement. This was associated with the Decadent
movement, in particular, with Aubrey Beardsley and the Yellow Book. But it
was also to be found in France, amongst such writers as Pierre Louys, author
of Les Chansons de Bilitis (1894) (a celebration of lesbianism and sexual
awakening).
Twentieth century erotic fiction includes such classics of the genre as:
Maudie by Anon; Sadopaideia (1907) by Anon; Trois Filles de Leur Mére
(1926) by Pierre Louys; Story of the Eye (1928) by Georges Bataille; Tropic of
Cancer (1934) by Henry Miller; The Story of O (1954) by Pauline Réage; Lolita
(1955) and Ada, or Ardor (1969) by Vladimir Nabokov; Delta of Venus (1978)
by Anaïs Nin and The Bicycle Rider (1985) by Guy Davenport.
Lolita and The Story of O were published by Olympia Press, a Paris-
based publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebadged version
of the Obelisk Press he inherited from his father Jack Kahane. It published a
mix of erotic fiction and avant-garde literary works.
All of the foreign setting information above as well as the following
paragraphs are taken from en.wikipedia.org.

2.2 Contemporary Erotic Fiction

Romantic novels are sometimes marketed as erotica — or vice versa,
as "mainstream" romance. In recent decades, they have begun to exhibit
blatant (if not poetic) descriptions of sex. Erotic Romance is a relatively new
genre of romance with an erotic theme and very explicit love scenes, but
with romance at the heart of the story. Erotic fantasy is a subgenre of fantasy
fiction and utilizes erotica in a fantasy setting. These stories can essentially
cover any of the other subgenres of fantasy, such as high fantasy,
contemporary fantasy, or even historical fantasy.
Erotic fantasy is often very similar to romantic fantasy, but is far more
graphic and goes into much more detail when describing sex scenes. Erotic
fantasy can also be found in Fan Fiction.

2.3 Erotic Memoirs and Other Accounts

Erotic memoirs include those of Casanova's Histoire de ma vie from the
eighteenth century, 'Walter's My Secret Life from the nineteenth, Frank
Harris's My Life and Loves (1922-27) from the twentieth and One Hundred
Strokes of the Brush Before Bed by Melissa P from the twenty-first. It should
be remembered, however, that the 'memoir' format recurs repeatedly in
erotic fiction. Ian Gibson, in The Erotomaniac, makes an excellent case for
My Secret Life being written by Henry Spencer Ashbee, thus casting doubt on
the veracity of the whole, highly salacious, book.

2.4 Sex Manuals

Sex Manuals, on the other hand, such as the Kama Sutra are some of
the best known works of erotic literature. The Ananga Ranga is a lesser
known one, aimed specifically at preventing the separation of a husband and
wife. Ovid's Ars Amatoria is a famous example from the classical world.

2.5 Legal Status

Originally, in England, erotic or pornographic publications were the
concern of the ecclesiastical courts. After the Reformation the jurisdiction of
these courts declined in favour of the Crown which licensed every printed
book. Prosecutions of books for their erotic content alone were rare and
works which attacked the church or state gave much more concern to the
authorities than erotica or 'obscene libel' as it was then known. For instance
the Licensing Act of 1662 was aimed generally at "heretical, seditious,
schismatical or offensive books or pamphlets" rather than just erotica per se.
Even this Licensing Act was allowed to lapse in 1695 and no attempt was
made to renew it.

2.6 Internet Erotic Fiction

Readers of erotic fiction in most of the world's liberal democracies are
now able to indulge their fantasies in the comfort and privacy of their homes,
without the social and legal restrictions of a pre-digital era. Online bookstores
now legally carry a range of professional, commercial and non-commercial
erotic writing.
Whereas once access to online erotic fiction was largely restricted to
membership or pay sites, in recent years a marked increase in the number of
community based, not-for-profit or free access websites has led to an
explosion in the level of popularity of this genre.
Increased interactivity and anonymity allows casual or hobby writers
the opportunity not only to author their own stories (sometimes based on
personal fantasies), but also to share them with a world wide audience.

2.7 Review of Related Literature in the Foreign Setting

Michael Perkins (1992) has written a book entitled THE SECRET
RECORD: Modern Erotic literature which was first published by William
Morrow in 1976. This was his groundbreaking survey. The book started
discussing the difference between an erotic literature and pornography. He
also gave importance to the reading erotic of literature.
Some analyses of foreign literary pieces with an erotic theme are
available such as of "The Erotic Beyond": Sexuality in Emily Dickinson's and
Christina Rossetti's Poetry by Erdei, Nóra. The text concentrates on the erotic
depths of Emily Dickinson's and Christina Rossetti's poetry, especially
concerning the layer of perverse and sadistic emotions. The magical world
and the supernatural context created in their poems foreshadow a particular
female poetic universe, where the female voice is transgressive and
outstanding, highly diverging from the culturally and socially accepted levels.

2.8 Review of Related Literature and Studies in the Local Setting

The Philippines has not been spared by the sexual revolution. Nudity
can be seen in advertisements, on TV, in theatres and movies and
magazines. Young people hear of pre-marital sex; actresses proclaim and
brag about being mothers without benefit of marriage; single parenthood
and the “querida system” is prevalent; “bold” stars and movies,
pornographic magazines proliferate.
Bayron (2008) studied the dominant themes of selected Philippine
novelty songs depicting erotic or sensual images and he concluded that
these challenged readers especially those who patronize novelty songs to be
more critical about things considered mainly as fun and entertainment.
J. Neil Garcia (2003) has written a summary on the procedure he
followed in teaching Philippine gay literature some time ago at The
University of the Philippines. This was included in his book Performing the
Self: Occasional Prose. In the chapter, Philippine Gay Literature, Garcia
classified his own works, the two Ladlad anthologies into nine different
classifications. A number of Filipino short story writers and poets along with
their respective works were mentioned. A short overview of each of their
works is given to justify Garcia’s idea of classifying them. One of them is the
“bathhouse.”
From the book Closet Queeries, Garcia (1997) wrote: “What Ladlad
perhaps seeks to offer is not an escape from homosexuality, but an
alternative version of it: whether gays write about their lives or not, our
society will become (as it already has) increasingly become sexually self-
conscious……” “Pleasure is what Ladlad, in the end, is all about.”
CHAPTER 3: Research Methodology
A close-reading was done for each story and the lines with erotic
elements in them were picked; the literary devices used to highlight each
erotic nuance from each story were then identified; the motives behind the
actuations of the characters that may manifest eroticism in their thoughts
and actions were also identified. Then the analyses were done by discussing
how the motives of the characters in each story may have also been
influenced socio-culturally and psychologically. Then the implications of the
inclusion of these stories with erotic elements in the teaching of basic
literature courses were then looked into.

3.1 Research Design

This is a qualitative study using the psychoanalytic approach in
analyzing and interpreting the different motives of the characters in each of
the story and in looking into how the different elements (id, ego, and
superego) that form and complete the erotic rationales were at work. Also,
the researcher used the socio-cultural approach focusing on the possible
influence or impact of cultural beliefs and attitudes on each of the
character’s motives and behavior in each of the story.
3.2 Corpus of the Study
Ten selected short stories used in this study are works written by
Filipino writers. Two of these stories are written in Filipino or Tagalog. The
researcher opted to study short stories by Filipino authors to promote better
appreciation of Philippine literature and to see if these can be included in the
teaching of literature for the basic courses.
The following are the stories used for this paper: The Night I Cry by
Antonio Enriquez, Suite Bergamasque by Bobby Flores Villasis, The Other
Regina by Susan Lara, The Summer Solstice by Nick Joaquin, Heat and
Midsummer by Manuel Arguilla, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo by Babeth Lolarga,
Sila, Isang Hapon by Lualhati Bautista, Fairy Tale For the City by Estrella
D. Alfon and Desire by Paz Latorena.

CHAPTER 4: Analyses and Discussions

4.1 How is eroticism presented in the stories? What are the

devices used by the authors that highlight eroticism in the
stories?
Seven (7) of the stories used the descriptive-narrative form in
describing erotic scenes. These stories are The Other Regina, Summer
Solstice, Heat, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo, Sila, Isang Hapon, Fairy tale for
the City and Desire. Three stories, on the other hand, employ the writing
technique of flashback namely The Night I Cry, The Other Regina, and
Ang Himas Ni Ricardo. Further, three stories have expressed eroticism thru
the use of recollection and the imagination with the effective use of imagery
and these are The Night I Cry, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo and Sila, Isang
Hapon. All of the ten stories used some form of imagery in presenting the
element of eroticism. Some employ the form of simile as in the stories The
Other Regina, Summer Solstice, and Desire.

4.2 What motives do the characters have to manifest eroticism in

their thoughts and actions and how do their socio-cultural
background influence these motives?
As a whole, Heat, Midsummer and Desire highlight more on desire
and attractions to opposite sex. The id works in general in these stories.
While, The Other Regina, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo, Sila, Isang Hapon,
and Fairy Tale For the City call for acceptance and intimacy to every
sexual involvement the characters have been with. These four short stories
have different complicated erotic presentations and rationales. All three of
Freud’s id, ego and superego have played interchangeably among the
characters. And the remaining short stories showed three different motives in
the sense of eroticism, separately. The Night I Cry highlights eroticism thru
incestuous acts. A product of curiosity from a brother to a sister. Suite
Bergamasque on the other hand, had to display eroticism to free the
character from all anguish and emotional turmoil. And lastly, Summer
Solstice brings dominance to women thru eroticism, clearly governed by the
pleasure principle.
The following is a summary of the whole analysis on how the
characters’ socio-cultural background influence the characters’ motives in
manifesting eroticism in each story. The Night I Cry highlights sexual taboo
to the Philippine culture. Suite Bergamasque: Patricia’s erotic affair with
the stranger is a product of a colonial experience and of the western-oriented
education system of her time. The Other Regina: the female character in
this story chose to adapt the modern-day Philippine culture to suit her design
and needs in life. Summer Solstice proves that the religious aspect in the
Philippines was once upon a time blended with the ancestral beliefs and
practices. Heat stresses on the male character’s deviance towards
traditional Filipino courtship. Midsummer: Filipino culture simply implies that
men were not permitted the luxury of visual delights in the olden times. Ang
HImas Ni Ricardo: The contributing factor of motivation in the erotic
recounts by Lara Sumulong is the improved culture of liberation in the
country Philippines in terms of marital status and sexual affairs. Sila, Isang
Hapon: The sexual revolution in the Philippines is relative per se to the
sexual endeavors the female character has been doing with her lover . Fairy
Tale for the City: The sexual experiences between the man and the young
girl in this story are the results of the modern city sexual deceptions. And,
the story Desire tells about the gentle disillusionment with life in the
Philippine setting.

4.3 What implications can be made as to the inclusion of stories

with erotic elements in the teaching of basic literature
courses?
 The stories Summer Solstice, Suite Bergamasque, Heat,
Midsummer and Desire would help give the students of a basic literature
class the view of life’s reality on romance, pain, joy and/or the limitations of
personal expressions. On the other hand, these pieces of literature will
influence the students’ interpretations of the different facets of life. So, if the
basic literature class in every collegiate institution would include stories like
these in the curriculum, it is assumed that these stories will better prepare
the students for maturity in the sense of eroticism.
However, there are stories like The Night I Cry, the Other Regina,
The Fairy Tale For the City, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo and Sila, Isang
Hapon which depict very graphic descriptions and narrations of the sexual
encounters of the characters. They are therefore not fit to be included in the
teaching of the basic literature courses for they may not only present
erroneous notions to the young students but may also rebound to some
moral societal upheavals. They may, however, be taken up in higher
literature courses where students may already be morally, emotionally and
intellectually ready to tackle such subject matter.
These five pieces of literature among the 10 being studied on in this
paper may be considered risky if introduced to college students enrolled in a
basic literature class. Again, the following stories are Sila, Isang Hapon,
Ang Himas Ni Ricardo, The Night I Cry, Fairy Tale For the City and
The Other Regina. The first two stories are written in Filipino. But that is
beside the point. What is really difficult with them is that eroticism in these
stories are presented too graphically to the extent that the descriptions may
already be verging on the pornographic and are thus to be censured.
Reading these stories might create confusions in the minds of our young
readers if they are offered in a basic literature class.

CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

5.1 Summary of Findings and Conclusions
Three stories have also expressed eroticism thru the use recollection
and of imagination with the use of rich imagery and these are The Night I
Cry, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo and Sila, Isang Hapon. All of the ten stories
generally employed the form of imagery in presenting eroticism. Some
employ the form of simile like the stories The Other Regina, Summer
Solstice, and Desire.
The most effective device used in these stories was with the use of
Imagery evident for the most part in all erotic scenes in each story, the
objective to create mental images for an effective sensory stimulations has
been achieved effortlessly, thus enhancing the sensations of the readers as
they read specifically the scenes with erotic elements in them.
Heat, Midsummer and Desire highlight more on desire and
attractions for opposite sex. It is the id of the characters which was generally
at work in these stories. While the stories The Other Regina, Ang Himas
Ni Ricardo, Sila, Isang Hapon, and Fairy Tale For the City echoed the
characters’ need for acceptance and intimacy in every sexual involvement
the characters had. These four short stories have different complicated erotic
presentations and rationales. All three of Freud’s id, ego and superego are
seen to have played interchangeably in the motivations of the characters.
And the remaining short stories The NIght I Cry, Suite Bergamasque, and
Summer Solstice showed three different motives of the characters
resulting in acts of eroticism. In the story The Night I Cry, the story is
brought forth through the incestuous acts between a brother and a sisiter.
Suite Bergamasque on the other hand, depicted eroticism to answer the
motivation of the character to be free from anger and emotional turmoil.
And lastly, Summer Solstice showed the motivation of the women to
dominate their men which was clearly governed by the pleasure principle of
the id which was depicted through some erotic and downright sexual actions.
In each of the stories, the characters have their own motives which
manifested the eroticism in their thoughts and actions.
Summer Solstice, Suite Bergamasque, Heat, Midsummer, and
Desire are deemed to be suitable for inclusion in the teaching of basic
literature courses while Sila, Isang Hapon, Ang Himas Ni Ricardo, The
Other Regina, Fairy Tale For the City and The Night I Cry may not be
suitable to be taken up in basic literature courses because the erotic
elements were presented too graphically which may lead young readers to
form wrong opinions. It is believed that these stories may even corrupt their
minds instead of aiding them to see the real essence of these erotic
inclusions in the stories.

5.3 Recommendations
The following recommendations offer a great opportunity for the
readers, researchers, the literature professors, and all the Philippine
literature enthusiasts to broaden their perspectives in appreciating stories
with erotic undertones in them.
1. For the future researchers who would wish to replicate this study, they
may also use the same approach for analysis but may consider different
Philippine short stories with erotic elements in them.
2. A replication of this study is recommended using a different approach
for analysis for other Philippine short stories that have erotic elements in
them as materials for analysis.
3. Researchers can also make a similar study using the same or different
type of approach but this time focusing on another genre of literature such
as poetry or novels written by Filipino authors that include erotic elements in
them.