Novel) Empire of Memory by: Eric Gamalinda

Reactions On Works By Eric Gamalinda.

"A book... of imaginary beings... or beings real and imagined."

The combination of magic and realism is counterintuitive. How can one be magical
and otherworldly, yet at the same time be tangible and realistic? Empire of
Memory though fuses the two elements together to create a story filled with both the
magic of illusion and the harshness of reality.

At first, the task given to Jun and AL seems deceptively simple, to pen an epic
stretching from the shadow of prehistory all the way up to the present. The epic must
glorify Philippine history, culture, and by extension, the Marcos family itself.
Doctored sources and invented facts were placed at their disposal, "There'll be obscure
authors with obscure references." The truth was seen as a malleable object to be
passed through the fire of "historical accuracy". Thus, the planned epic was merely a
construction of more illusions to shield and beguile the reader from the reality that the
Philippines really has had no history of itself.

In numerous ways, the epic of Jun and Al is similar, yet at the same time very
different from, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Both use supernatural imagery to
chronicle the events of a certain region or country. Marquez attempts to reveal the
sorry state of affairs in Latin America. However, the "anti-history" book of Jun and Al
is designed to cloak the truth about the Philippines that "we sound like fucking Latin
America" in that it is ruled by a dictator who fears any challenge to his rule.
Furthermore, the independence of both Latin America and the Philippines have been
hard won, both lands having been colonized by foreigners. The two writers are even
given implicit instructions that, "We can say anything, but don't make it sound like
Gabriel Garcia Marquez."

"...generations leave no trace of themselves... Because of this we have no memory..."

Yet from the beginning of the novel of Jun and Al, it is acknowledged that the work is
not simply merely for the glorification of the Philippine race but rather a "search for
the Filipino identity" as well. Fittingly this is what Empire of Memory strives for as
well.

Memory, its creation, loss and recovery is a central theme found throughout
Gamalinda's work. Marcos's declaration that, "We shall weave a fabric of such
memory", signifies the creation of a new history, a new blanket of truths mingled in
with half-lies to cover up the memories of a nation, "that had never, for long periods
of its history, showed proof it was passably sane."

Yet any memory or history is preferable to no memory at all. "Memory is the last of
the graces, I think. Without it we will surely not be alive." Thus in the very first
volume of Jun and Al's epic, they touch upon the "hallmarks of an advanced
civilization" namely: war, justice, language, religion, an early start, an instinct for
pleasure, and a sense of history and destiny. Each category is contorted to fit the
distorted view of history that Marcos is aiming for. Memory is integral to the survival
of an individual or people.

The loss of memory is akin to the loss of life itself. "The firebrands of the revolution,
forgotten after five years by a people who refused the burden of memory, had
succumbed to pneumonia and tuberculosis." Each new upheaval in Philippine society
is followed by a cleaning of the slate in that as a nation we forget what has happened
before, "everything is constantly wiped out by clockwork destruction: typhoon,
tsunami, earthquake, drought." Every era of Philippine history experiences memory
loss, an amnesia that forces the new generation to fill in the gaps as best it can. Thus,
"the firebrands of the revolution", "stones and gems" from a long lost ship, the
"German studios along Calle Escolta in Manila," each is a memory consigned to the
forgotten. Yet each is a memory with value that can no longer be tapped for it is gone.
We let go of "secret memories" for they bring "back nothing at all, too little and too
late," we have forgotten who we are.

However, while memory is intrinsically linked with the past, it holds the promise of
the future as well. "It had never seemed possible that any man could exist in this
world without any memory...". While the absence or loss of the past is tragic, it is
possible to replenish memory, "Everything seemed to carve in her a vacuum into
which she could now pour new memory, new beginnings...".

In a constantly changing world there are always new lessons to be picked up;
moreover there are always lessons to be relearned. For "their minds still searching for
truth", is how Empire of Memory describes the youth, the truth being the memories
behind a nation stunted by continuous upheavals, calamities, revolutions and amnesia.
Even old men can change and again find new memories. General Zabarte, a man who
has certainly seen his share of the harshness of life, "felt he had come to the end of a
journey that had taken him all his life to walk, and all he wanted was to retrace his
steps and begin where he had left so long ago." Thus the beauty and pitfall of memory
is that it is cyclical, once lost, it can be regained; one simply has to remember.

"Now his own life could begin at last."

No other character in the novel personifies this quest for memory, the search for an
identity, more than the "Kristo of Akeldama", Sal X. Like the Philippines, Sal is a
product of the mingling of different cultures and backgrounds. He, like the country, is
a montage, a hybrid of different beliefs, race and most importantly, memories. Even
his name smacks of Western influence, the letter X often being tacked on to add
mystery and allure to any product. The challenge for Sal is the integration of these
conflicting ideas into a single identity. His own, unique identity.

Throughout the novel Sal is portrayed as a Christ figure. He is literally nailed to the
cross every year with the only reason given as "I'll keep doing it until I find my
father." His is not the messianic Christ, the Savior of all, but rather the suffering
Christ who undergoes pain and suffering in search of a greater goal. Accordingly, if
the Philippines is to regain its memory, it must accept all of its history; not merely the
times of glory depicted in Jun and Al's book, but also the times of suffering, of defeat,
of loss. Sal sees himself as "someone who takes on all the tribulations of the country,
and sacrifices himself for all the sins of the world." His internal struggle for a unique
identity separate from those of his forebears is a microcosm of the struggle of the
Philippine nation to find its own roots, and as such, find its own identity.

Eventually Sal arrives in Manila where "everybody listened" to his music, so much so
that a healing effect was attributed to listening to his tunes. This "toning" was all that
gave people hope and the "Kristo of Akeldama" has become the "Kristo of Metro
Manila." Both worlds of the Philippines, rural and urban, thirst for the same thing: a
savior to show them their identity. "People here say I'm a prophet," say Sal at one
point; certainly he is a harbinger of a new identity that manages to fuse the
heterogeneous mixture that is Philippine culture into something new, unique and
homogenous.

"God Help Us."

Empire of Memory is filled with biblical allusions: aside from Sal X as a suffering
Jesus Christ, there are references to the crucifixion, "students were holding up crowns
of thorns", Tonio Paredes as Zaccheus, the man who climbed the tree to get a better
glimpse of Jesus, Akeldama as a modern Sodom, and perhaps even the coat of John
Lennon as an allusion to the coat of Joseph the Dreamer. The titles of the chapters
themselves seem borrowed from the bible (Brothers at War, Blood and Glory,
Promised Land).

These parallelisms are important as the bible too is a book of history. It chronicles the
journey of the Jews who themselves were in search of their own identity amidst the
desert. Both Empire of Memory and the epic of Jun and Al are exhortations to
remember the past and through it, conceive the future. That Empire of Memory so
explicitly alludes to the bible is a suggestion that only through the passage of suffering
and remembrance of the past can we hope to journey towards a better future. Both the
bible andEmpire of Memory remind us that the path of a nation, of a people, is long
and arduous.

Perhaps the novel's most striking allusion to the bible is the story of two brothers;
General Jose Zabarte and communist rebel Antonio Zabarte. Each is filled with
loathing for one another yet both profess love of country, only showing it in different
ways. Just as Cain and Abel struggled to fashion an identity in the new world created
by God, so too do the Zabarte brothers strive to come to terms in a new nation
searching for its identity. Just as Abel respected the authority of the Lord while Cain
rebelled, Jose takes the path of the government while Antonio eschews authority.

Fortunately, unlike Cain and Abel, the Zabarte brothers reconcile without bloodshed.
Jose proffers the proverbial olive branch, "We have fought this war long enough... Let
there be peace at least between us." In the end we are our brother's keeper and the
quest for identity need not end in violence and death.

"They are weary from waiting... yet... they stagger out of their homes, hoping this one,
at last, will bring salvation, reprieve, more hope."

After the suffering, the loss of memory and the harshness of life, it may be thought
that the Empire of Memory is an empire of the damned, consigned to repeat the same
mistakes and pains all over again. Yet the novel ends not with loss but with hope. Sal
X finally comes to terms with himself and forges his own identity, eventually ending
up with Meg. Fittingly their child is named Siddhartha, perhaps named after
Siddhartha Gautama, more popularly known as Buddha. Gautama preached a religion
of peace and tranquility whose key was the mastery of one's self. Similarly, Sal stills
the turmoil within him. His final cathartic act was the composition of Empire of
Memory, a piece that combined the disparate parts of his past (American and
Filipino), "using strings, bamboo flutes, gamelan, drum synthesizers, percussion,
acoustic piano, winds and five voices" to establish a fusion of cultures and oneness of
identity.

Echoing Christ, suffering need not be simply suffering but rather a means towards
salvation. This is expressed in the drowning of Lolita, of whom the elders murmur,
"death; 'salvado,' redemption." It is in the suffering, the turmoil of the quest for
memory and identity, that we find redemption and the hope that, finally, after this
"last deluge" will come a time of promise and prosperity. We undergo one trial after
another, like Christ, in the hope that they culminate in redemption.
Culminating the biblical allusions is a star which "fills the sky with a purple glow, it
bursts into a thousand pulsing neutrons... and they cascade in tiny flickering
rainbows". Just as in the bible the birth of the Savior is announced by a star, so too
does the novel end with a star, in waiting and in hope.

Review:

For my money this book is a strong contender for the great Philippine novel. During
my stay in college, I got the impression that the work traditionally feted as the great
Philippine novel is A Woman with Two Navels . Don't you believe it. Empire and
Woman topically share the shame theme of identity and searching. The title alone of
Woman implies two mothers, or at least, two sources of nourishment for an infant.
Personally though I found Woman to be staid, and well, boring. (This is not to knock
Nick Joaquin, I like some of his short stories, particularly May Day Eve.) Empire on
the other hand is alive; it's opening chapter after all details how Filipinos chased the
Beatles out of the country! Pop, love, treachery, rebellion, fantasies, hip, remorse. If
for nothing else Empire captures perfectly what a crazy country the Philippines is, an
exasperating, befuddled country of forgetful romantics.

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