The Nation as Project is not another attempt at a reverential reading of Rizal’s life and works. Although written primarily with Filipino students and teachers in mind, this is an attempt at situating Rizal in the nineteenth century colonial context in the hope that this would allow readers to encounter Filipino nationalism as an artifact of the historical process. This detailed and interrogatory reading of Rizal explores how such a complex figure emerged from the fundamental changes defining the Philippines, Spain, and Europe in the nineteenth century, even as Rizal himself would play a key role in shaping the events of that period—and beyond. In the end, it is hoped that this book would help readers develop a deep appreciation of Filipino nationhood, not as a historical and cultural given with primordial roots, but as a work in progress, a political inheritance which the Filipino readers must continue to mold as they confront present-day challenges.
To help students and teachers along, each of the chapters of this book features a time line of key events, a main text, marginal notes, and end-of-chapter activities/questions designed to enrich classroom instruction and interaction. Detailed discussion of defining events in Rizal’s life and key literary, political, and scholarly works, as well as the intellectual and cultural currents that shaped them, are the focus of the chapters.