WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES

Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

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ANALYZING FROM THE STRUCTURALIST PERSPECTIVE
JESUS C. INSILADA’S TEKNOLOHIYA SANG GUGMA VS. PHYSICAL PROXIMITY

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A Qualitative Study
Presented to
Dr. Eleonora B. Padilla

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In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Course

MEL 510: Literary Theories and Criticisms

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by

AL JEFFREY L. GONZALES

April 2019
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

Teknolohiya Sang Gugma vs. Physical Proximity

ni Dr. Jesus C. Insilada

Siling mo, Palangga, madugay na naimbento ang cellphone. Hou, taytay naton matuod ang
internet. Bangod mga mamalaybay kita, pun-on naton sang malapuyot nga mga tinaga,
alusyon, rima, metapora, kag sang mabalanion kag maalan nga mga dinalan ang aton FB wall.
Indi kita mahubsan sang marimis nga dalagmiton sang aton putli nga paghigugma. Nagaaso-
aso mo nga text message ang magapukaw sa akon sa kaagahon. Nagapabilin nga malapit ang
siyudad kag uma; may kable ang aton gugma nga nagalatay sa mahalwag nga distansya. Sa
panyaga, may love letter kita sa email nga mabasa. Sa gab-i, i-chat naton ang aton kamingaw
kag kahidlaw sa isa kag isa. Pagaduyanon ako sa pagpamati sang nagabinalaybay mo nga
tingog nga imo gin-upload sa You-Tube. Ikaw na mismo ang nagsiling: magasto sa kwarta ang
pagpanikasog ang maghigugma nga napatung-an sang distansya – load, kuryente, hulogan nga
laptop, kag kon kaisa, balayran sa internet café. Ang akon sabat: Physical proximity. Mas may
romantiko pa bala sa imo makaulomol nga presensya?

Synopsis

Dr. Jesus C. Insilada’s Teknolohiya Sang Gugma VS. Physical Proximity is a poem that
expresses a lover’s plight as he has to endure a relationship with a partner who happens to be
physically distant. However, they manage to find multitudes of means of connecting and
communicating with each other through the use of technology, gadgets and means, despite the
prices that they have to pay. In the end, however, he still prefers being near physically with this
lover of his.
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

Introduction

In Barry (2002), structuralism, in its most general and most fundamental sense, is the
assumption that certain elements cannot be fully fathomed in isolation; instead, they will have
to be seen in the context of a larger scale and structure – thus, the nomenclature of this
particular movement.
As a literary theory, structuralism will therefore take the reader away from interpreting
the text as an individual body of work but will, however, direct him to understanding the bigger
structures and systems that contain it (Barry, 2002). More specifically, it aims to determine the
underlying structural system that governs a particular literary composition; or, how a particular
literary composition demonstrates the principles of a certain structural system.
In Tyson (2006), Culler purports that the structural system that governs both the writing
and the interpretation of literary texts is the system of rules and codes, which we have
internalized whether consciously or unconsciously, that tells us how to create meaning upon
reading literature.
According to Barry (2002), literary critics who categorize themselves as structuralist do
the following: (a) analyze prose narratives and relate these texts to a larger containing
structure which can be conventions of a literary genre, a system of intertextual connections, or
a notion of a narrative as a network of recurring motifs and patterns; (b) interpret literature in
terms of a range of underlying parallels with the structures of language; and, (c) apply the
concept of systematic patterning and structuring across cultures.
In Tyson (2006), the following are the questions that are commonly answered when
analyzing literature using structuralism’s literary theory:
1. Using a specific structuralist framework, how should the text be classified in terms of
its genre?
2. Using a specific structuralist framework analyze the text’s narrative operations, what
can be speculated about the relationship between the text’s “grammar” and that of
similar texts? What can be speculated about the relationship between the text’s
grammar and the culture from which the text emerged?
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

3. Using Culler’s theory of literary competence, what rules or codes of interpretation

must be internalized in order to “make sense” of the text?
4. What are the semiotics of a given category of cultural phenomena?

Statement of the Problem

This paper scrutinized and analyzed the work of Dr. Jesus C. Insilada entitled
Teknolohiya Sang Gugma vs. Physical Proximity, using the structuralist approach.
Specifically, this analysis sought answers to the following questions, which were
patterned from and based from Tyson’s (2005) in her book Critical Theory Today:
1. Using a specific structuralist framework, how should the text be classified in terms of
its genre?
2. Given the binary opposition of this literary work, what can be construed of the culture
this work emerged from?
3. What rules or codes of interpretation must be internalized in order to “make sense” of
the text?

Analysis of the Poem

Structure and Language Features

Given its structure, a reader, at first glance, will have a difficulty determining to which
umbrella of literature Teknolohiya Sang Gugma vs. Physical Proximity falls in, whether prose or
poetry. So, in order to practically identify where it should be categorized, one has to look
closely into its features and elements.
Poetry is any form of oral or written language that is rhythmically structured and is
meant to narrate or express an idea, emotion, or state of being (Ollila & Jantas, 2006). Poetry is
used to achieve an artistic expression in several ways.
The following are some of the basic characteristics that make up the structure of poetry,
according to Lethbridge and Mildorf (2003): relatively brief; densely expressive; subjectively
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

expressive; displaying musical or songlike quality, over-structured morphologically and/or

phonologically, uses figurative language, and aesthetically self-referential. All these
aforementioned qualities do not, however, have to be present in one poem, all at once and all
the time.
Looking closely into the given literary text, the reader may wonder whether or not
Insilada’s masterpiece should be classified as poetry. However, if the concept of poetry by
Lethbridge & Mildorf (2003) is to be observed, then definitely, Teknolohiya Sang Gugma vs.
Physical Proximity is poetry.
Teknolohiya Sang Gugma vs. Physical Proximity is a free-verse poem, made up of only
twelve lines, which are not divided into stanzas. The poem narrates how technology has been a
way of bridging the gaps between two lovers who are geographically distant from each other;
each line, an elucidation as to how communication is possible and achieved in a long-distnace
affair, with different means as to how they contact each other in the various fractions of the
day. The poem ends with the persona questioning as to whether or not any of these forms of
communication can supersede or can be more romantic than physical proximity.
Being a free-verse poem, the poem is not characterized by a regular poetic foot and
meter, which is a common feature of traditional poetry. Its being a free verse, moreover, may
signify a deviation from the traditional poetry, which is only appropriate and fitting given that
much of the poem expresses concepts of modernization.
Each line, however, is an expression of the persona’s affection to a distant lover that he
only communicates with through different means and mediums of communication, particularly,
technology. Despite the absence of rhythm and rhyme, the poem has a musical quality as it is
written in Hiligaynon language, which has a sing-song intonation.
However, despite being written in Hiligaynon, there is an apparent use of English words
in majority of the lines. These English words include: cellphone, internet, FB wall, text message,
chat, upload, Youtube, load, laptop, internet café, and physical proximity. These words are also
utilized by the author figuratively, by employing these either in his imageries or figures of
speech. These words, as used in the poem, are a reference to a larger cultural phenomenon
which is the presence of technology and how it bridges physical distance between two people,
or lovers as being exemplified in the poem.
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

Language and Culture

For structuralists, the meaning of a literary work can be gleaned even without delving
deeper into the life of the author nor into his desires and repressions. To them, the author is
dead and therefore, an unimportant figure when analyzing a piece of literature. However,
structuralists are particularly interested in examining the minute details and inner working to
uncover the basic structural units or the functions that govern a text’s narrative operation
(Tyson, 2006).
Greimas, as cited in Tyson (2006), claims that human beings create meaning by
structuring the world in terms of two kinds of pairs or binary oppositions. He construes that
these binary oppositions shape our language, experiences, and the narratives which we
articulate our experience.
In the analysis of this work, several binary oppositions have been identified and
analyzed as to how these oppositions contribute to the interpretation of the poem.

Hiligaynon and English

The poem, mostly written in Hiligaynon, strangely features some words from the English
language. (It has to be noted that Hiligaynon and English are very different languages and that
they share more differences than similarities.) Most of the words used in English are objects
that Hiligaynon does not have an equivalent of; and most of these words are technological
terminologies. These words are creatively utilized as figures of speech or as imagery to convey
the idea of the couple not being intimidated by the geographical distance that sets them apart
and away from each other. Through the stylistic choice of the author, one is aware of a cultural
phenomenon and the human experience that manifests in the text, which is the presence of
technology.

Technological Communication and Physical Proximity

Another thing that structuralist critics look for is patterns and how these patterns or
shifts or changes in patterns contribute to the overall meaning of the work. Evidently, in the
literary text being analyzed, in the last line of the poem, the persona highly emphasizes the fact
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

that nothing can be more romantic than physical proximity. This is in an apparent shift in the
patterns established in the first lines and an apparent contrast as to how he has highly spoken
of the wonders and marvels technology was able to bring into his relationship with a loved one,
which are very much evident in his detailed enumeration found in the first ten lines. Needless to
say, despite his ‘romanticization’ of technology, he, by all means would prefer the tactile
sensation he would be able to feel if his loved one is near.
However, it is also worth noting that despite his preference for physical proximity, why
does he still have to suffer the distance?

Statements and a Question

If one would pay close attention to the linguistic construction of the poem, one would,
perhaps, notice that in the twelve lines that there are in the poem. Only the twelfth line is a
question, while the rest are statements. The twelfth line projects:
”Mas may romantiko pa bala sa imo makaulomol nga presensya?”
If we are to interpret this linguistically, then, we would see that this is an apparent
deviation from the established structure of the poem and attracts attention to itself. If the
author meant for this particular sentence to stand out from the rest, then, perhaps, it is
because he wants to emphasize the fact that technology has no match against physical
proximity.
However, his inaction to reach out to his lover is very much ironic to the main point that
he stresses out.

Making Sense
According to Culler in Tyson (2006), the structural system that governs both the writing
and interpretation of literary texts is the system of rules and codes, which we have consciously
or unconsciously internalized, that dictate us how to create meaning when reading literature.
Furthermore, Culler identifies five codes to create sense out of a literary work. These five are:
(a) distance and impersonality, (b) naturalization, (c) rule of significance, (d) rule of
metaphorical coherence, and (e) rule of thematic unity.
In this analysis, only the last three were used in the analysis of Teknolohiya.
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

The Rule of Significance

The rule of significance is the assumption that the literary work expresses a significant
attitude about some important problem, and so the reader pays particular attention to what it
says in ways that a reader would not do with other kinds of writing.
In the case of Insilada’s work, it can gleaned that the poem speaks of a significant
problem that is not only existing in the universe created by the poem, but in an actual universe
in which real people and lovers live and exist in. It can also be noted that despite the poem’s
fictional qualities, the events that are contained in it are a reflection of events that occur in
reality. This predicament faced by the persona is the longing for a loved one who is physically
distant.
In the poem, despite the persona’s attempts to enumerate the many ways he and his
lover express their love for each other, as evidently conveyed in Lines 1 – 10, there is still that
greater feeling of yearning for physical touch, one that could not be replaced nor replicated by
technology, no matter how advanced it may become. This can be gleaned upon reading the
Lines 11- 12 of the poem.
The reader would find these human experiences significant as the feelings of longing for
a loved one is almost, if not, universal.

The Rule of Metaphorical Coherence

This literary code, as explained in Tyson (2006) is the condition that the two
components of the metaphor – the metaphorical term and the subject to which the terms are
applied – have a consistent relationship in the context of the work.
As previously mentioned, much of the language used in the composition is Hiligaynon.
The very infrequent use of English words is only to express concepts which do not have perfect
equivalents in Hiligaynon. These words include: cellphone, internet, FB wall, text message,
kable (from the word cable), love letter, email, chat, upload, You-Tube, upload, You-Tube.
Obviously, these words signify communication. Therefore, it can be said that these words are a
metaphor for communication. These terms are interlaced throughout the poem, which
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

expresses the concept of a physically distant lover and his feelings of longing. The metaphor,
then, utilized by the author, is very much effective and coherent with the theme being
expressed in the poem.

The shift in the tenth line, however, expressed despite the use of these metaphors to
express one’s affection, there is still no better way of expressing one’s love than being spatially
proximate with a lover.

The Rule of Thematic Unity

If a body of work has metaphorical coherence, then, almost always, it also has thematic
unity. Thematic unity is the expectation that the literary work has a unified and coherent theme
or a main point.

Upon reading this work of Jesus C. Insilada, it can easily be construed what the main
point of the poem is. In fact, even without having to go deeply into the inferential or symbolic
levels of interpretation, a reader will readily manage to harvest the theme of the poem by just
reading the last two lines of the poem:

(1) Ang akon sabat: Physical proximity.

(2) Mas may romantiko pa bala sa imo makaulomol nga presensya?

By raising a question in the last line, the reader will have an answer in mind. And as
have been repeatedly expressed in the earlier passages of this, the poem’s theme is this:
Physical proximity is a more effective way of expressing one’s love compared to the multitude
of mediums technology offers.
 WEST VISAYAS STATE UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES
Graduate School
Luna St. La Paz, Iloilo City

References

Barry, P. (2002). Beginning Theory: An Introduction Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester,
United Kingdom: Manchester University Press.

Lethbridge, S., & Mildorf, J. (2003). Basics of English Studies: An introductory course for
students of literary studies in English.

Ollila, B., & Jantas, J. (2006, December 15). The Definition of Poetry. Retrieved from
joejantas.files.wordpress.com: https://joejantas.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/the-
definition-of-poetry1.pdf

Rai Technology University. (n.d.). Understanding Prose. Bangalore: Rai Technology University
Campus

Tyson, L. (2006). Critical Theory Today. In L. Tyson, Critical Theory Today (pp. 209 - 244). New
York: Routledge.