Crispin Salvador
Encyclopedia
Crispin Narciso Lupas Salvador is a fictional Filipino
writer and literary hoax created by author Miguel Syjuco
.
of author Miguel Syjuco, and featuring as a main character
in Syjuco's novel
Ilustrado
, Crispin Salvador's existence
has been believed to be real
by various readers of Ilustrado -- a book
comprising excerpted work "by" Salvador (memoirs, stories, interviews, essays, poems, jokes, etc.). This blurring between fact
and fiction
, aided by an earlier, ostensibly "factual" Wikipedia entry on Salvador, has caused intrigue and confusion
amongst readers who, wondering at Ilustrados verisimilitude
, consulted Google
and were led to this record
of Salvador's existence
. Thinking
that Salvador was a person
who really lived and wrote, they wondered about the quality of Syjuco's book, which was classified as fiction but which was written partly in a non-fiction format. Some readers, out of a yen to believe in the veracity of Wikipedia entries and what can be read on the Internet
, declared Syjuco a liar
. Other readers, perhaps out of embarrassment, dismissed the book they had just read, which had moved them sufficiently to lead them to learn more about Salvador on the Internet.
Salvador—Syjuco says—was born the youngest of three siblings (sister was Magdalena Lupas Salvador; brother was Narciso Lupas Salvador III) to Philippine politician
Narciso "Junior" Salvador, Jr., and housewife Leonora Fidelia in Bacolod
, Negros
, in the Philippines
.
novel, Lupang Pula (Red Earth), published
in the US in 1967, about a farmer
who joins the Huk Rebellion communist uprising
s of 1946 to 1954; Walang Paraiso (No Paradise), published in the Philippines in 1964; and Dahil Sa’yo (Because of You), published in 1987, a massive account of the rise and fall of the Marcos
es. Also amongst Salvador’s most significant contributions to Philippine literature are Manila Noir, the most famous of his crime novel
s concerning the detective
Antonio Astig; the Master of the Seas series
about the saga
of the Limahong and his Spanish
adversary Juan de Salcedo; the Kaputol (Siblings) trilogy
, about the adventure
s and coming-of-age
of three adolescent
boys in Martial-law-era
Quezon City
; his 1976 rock and roll
novel, The Cool Kids of Death, adapted his experiences in the late-1960s Manila
-based conceptual-art rock band
, Mga Jakoleros; and his popular Europa quartet (Jour, Night, Vida and Amore), which follows the life of a young mestizo
gadabout in 1950s Paris
, London
, Barcelona
and Florence
. Also popular in the 1970s was the recently out-of-print
travel guide, My Philippine Islands (with 80 colour plates). In 1992, Salvador published his memoir
, Autoplagiarist
, in which he attempted to use his life’s story to describe a history of the Philippines
from the advent of World War II
to the end of the millennium.
Salvador was also known for his milestone
essay
(November 1968, Philippines Free Press) “Nobody Loves a Feminist”, which elicited an uproarious reception that thrust him into the consciousness
of Philippine popular culture
. Additionally, his short story
Matador, published in The New Yorker
magazine
in 1972, confirmed him as arrived on the global
literary scene.
.
in 2002, his body found floating in the Hudson River
. Authorities declared his death a suicide, though media in the Philippines speculated on alleged foul-play connected to a controversial book project he had been working on.
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
writer and literary hoax created by author Miguel Syjuco
Miguel Syjuco
Miguel Syjuco is a Filipino writer from Manila and the Man Asian Literary Prize grand prize winner for 2008 known for his novel Ilustrado.-Personal Life and Education:...
.
Literary Character
Created as a figment of the imaginationImagination
Imagination, also called the faculty of imagining, is the ability of forming mental images, sensations and concepts, in a moment when they are not perceived through sight, hearing or other senses...
of author Miguel Syjuco, and featuring as a main character
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
in Syjuco's novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
Ilustrado
Ilustrado
The Ilustrados constituted the Filipino educated class during the Spanish colonial period in the late 19th century....
, Crispin Salvador's existence
Existence
In common usage, existence is the world we are aware of through our senses, and that persists independently without them. In academic philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning, being contrasted with essence, which specifies different forms of existence as well as different identity...
has been believed to be real
Reality
In philosophy, reality is the state of things as they actually exist, rather than as they may appear or might be imagined. In a wider definition, reality includes everything that is and has been, whether or not it is observable or comprehensible...
by various readers of Ilustrado -- a book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
comprising excerpted work "by" Salvador (memoirs, stories, interviews, essays, poems, jokes, etc.). This blurring between fact
Fact
A fact is something that has really occurred or is actually the case. The usual test for a statement of fact is verifiability, that is whether it can be shown to correspond to experience. Standard reference works are often used to check facts...
and fiction
Fiction
Fiction is the form of any narrative or informative work that deals, in part or in whole, with information or events that are not factual, but rather, imaginary—that is, invented by the author. Although fiction describes a major branch of literary work, it may also refer to theatrical,...
, aided by an earlier, ostensibly "factual" Wikipedia entry on Salvador, has caused intrigue and confusion
Mental confusion
Confusion of a pathological degree usually refers to loss of orientation sometimes accompanied by disordered consciousness and often memory Confusion (from Latin confusĭo, -ōnis, noun of action from confundere "to pour together", also "to confuse") of a pathological degree usually refers to loss...
amongst readers who, wondering at Ilustrados verisimilitude
Verisimilitude
Verisimilitude is the quality of realism in something .-Competing ideas:The problem of verisimilitude is the problem of articulating what it takes for one false theory to be closer to the truth than another false theory...
, consulted Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
and were led to this record
Recording
Recording is the process of capturing data or translating information to a recording format stored on some storage medium, which is often referred to as a record or, if an auditory medium, a recording....
of Salvador's existence
Existence
In common usage, existence is the world we are aware of through our senses, and that persists independently without them. In academic philosophy the word has a more specialized meaning, being contrasted with essence, which specifies different forms of existence as well as different identity...
. Thinking
Thought
"Thought" generally refers to any mental or intellectual activity involving an individual's subjective consciousness. It can refer either to the act of thinking or the resulting ideas or arrangements of ideas. Similar concepts include cognition, sentience, consciousness, and imagination...
that Salvador was a person
Person
A person is a human being, or an entity that has certain capacities or attributes strongly associated with being human , for example in a particular moral or legal context...
who really lived and wrote, they wondered about the quality of Syjuco's book, which was classified as fiction but which was written partly in a non-fiction format. Some readers, out of a yen to believe in the veracity of Wikipedia entries and what can be read on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, declared Syjuco a liar
Lie
For other uses, see Lie A lie is a type of deception in the form of an untruthful statement, especially with the intention to deceive others....
. Other readers, perhaps out of embarrassment, dismissed the book they had just read, which had moved them sufficiently to lead them to learn more about Salvador on the Internet.
Salvador—Syjuco says—was born the youngest of three siblings (sister was Magdalena Lupas Salvador; brother was Narciso Lupas Salvador III) to Philippine politician
Politics of the Philippines
The Politics of the Philippines takes place in an organized framework of a presidential, representative, and democratic republic whereby the president is both the head of state and the head of government within a pluriform multi-party system...
Narciso "Junior" Salvador, Jr., and housewife Leonora Fidelia in Bacolod
Bacolod City
The City of Bacolod , is a highly urbanized midsize Philippine city. It is the capital of the Negros Occidental province. Having a total of 499,497 inhabitants as of August 1, 2007, it is the most populous city in the Western Visayas Region. It is currently ranked as the 17th most populous city in...
, Negros
Negros Occidental
Negros Occidental is a province of the Philippines located in the Western Visayas region. Its capital is Bacolod City and it occupies the northwestern half of Negros Island; Negros Oriental is at the southeastern half...
, in the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
.
Novels
Salvador is known for his novels which include: His first internationalInternational
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
novel, Lupang Pula (Red Earth), published
Publishing
Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of literature or information—the activity of making information available to the general public...
in the US in 1967, about a farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
who joins the Huk Rebellion communist uprising
Insurgency
An insurgency is an armed rebellion against a constituted authority when those taking part in the rebellion are not recognized as belligerents...
s of 1946 to 1954; Walang Paraiso (No Paradise), published in the Philippines in 1964; and Dahil Sa’yo (Because of You), published in 1987, a massive account of the rise and fall of the Marcos
Ferdinand Marcos
Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos, Sr. was a Filipino leader and an authoritarian President of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He was a lawyer, member of the Philippine House of Representatives and a member of the Philippine Senate...
es. Also amongst Salvador’s most significant contributions to Philippine literature are Manila Noir, the most famous of his crime novel
Crime fiction
Crime fiction is the literary genre that fictionalizes crimes, their detection, criminals and their motives. It is usually distinguished from mainstream fiction and other genres such as science fiction or historical fiction, but boundaries can be, and indeed are, blurred...
s concerning the detective
Detective fiction
Detective fiction is a sub-genre of crime fiction and mystery fiction in which an investigator , either professional or amateur, investigates a crime, often murder.-In ancient literature:...
Antonio Astig; the Master of the Seas series
Book series
A book series is a sequence of books having certain characteristics in common that are formally identified together as a group. Book series can be organized in different ways, such as written by the same author, or marketed as a group by their publisher....
about the saga
Saga
Sagas, are stories in Old Norse about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, etc.Saga may also refer to:Business*Saga DAB radio, a British radio station*Saga Airlines, a Turkish airline*Saga Falabella, a department store chain in Peru...
of the Limahong and his Spanish
History of Spain
The history of Spain involves all the other peoples and nations within the Iberian peninsula formerly known as Hispania, and includes still today the nations of Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain...
adversary Juan de Salcedo; the Kaputol (Siblings) trilogy
Trilogy
A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...
, about the adventure
Adventure
An adventure is defined as an exciting or unusual experience; it may also be a bold, usually risky undertaking, with an uncertain outcome. The term is often used to refer to activities with some potential for physical danger, such as skydiving, mountain climbing and or participating in extreme sports...
s and coming-of-age
Coming of age
Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...
of three adolescent
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
boys in Martial-law-era
Era
An era is a commonly used word for long period of time. When used in science, for example geology, eras denote clearly defined periods of time of arbitrary but well defined length, such as for example the Mesozoic era from 252 Ma–66 Ma, delimited by a start event and an end event. When used in...
Quezon City
Quezon City
Quezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
; his 1976 rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
novel, The Cool Kids of Death, adapted his experiences in the late-1960s Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
-based conceptual-art rock band
Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players
The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players describe themselves as an "indie-vaudeville conceptual art-rock pop band", from the United States. Originally from Seattle, Washington, they are now based in New York, New York.-Overview:...
, Mga Jakoleros; and his popular Europa quartet (Jour, Night, Vida and Amore), which follows the life of a young mestizo
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
gadabout in 1950s Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
. Also popular in the 1970s was the recently out-of-print
Out of print
Out of print refers to an item, typically a book , but can include any print or visual media or sound recording, that is in the state of no longer being published....
travel guide, My Philippine Islands (with 80 colour plates). In 1992, Salvador published his memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
, Autoplagiarist
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
, in which he attempted to use his life’s story to describe a history of the Philippines
History of the Philippines
The history of the Philippines is believed to have begun with the arrival of the first humans via land bridges at least 30,000 years ago. The first recorded visit from the West is the arrival of Ferdinand Magellan, who sighted Samar on March 16, 1521 and landed on Homonhon Island southeast of Samar...
from the advent of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
to the end of the millennium.
Salvador was also known for his milestone
Milestone
A milestone is one of a series of numbered markers placed along a road or boundary at intervals of one mile or occasionally, parts of a mile. They are typically located at the side of the road or in a median. They are alternatively known as mile markers, mileposts or mile posts...
essay
Essay
An essay is a piece of writing which is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can consist of a number of elements, including: literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author. The definition...
(November 1968, Philippines Free Press) “Nobody Loves a Feminist”, which elicited an uproarious reception that thrust him into the consciousness
Consciousness
Consciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
of Philippine popular culture
Popular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
. Additionally, his short story
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
Matador, published in The New Yorker
The New Yorker
The New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons and poetry published by Condé Nast...
magazine
Magazine
Magazines, periodicals, glossies or serials are publications, generally published on a regular schedule, containing a variety of articles. They are generally financed by advertising, by a purchase price, by pre-paid magazine subscriptions, or all three...
in 1972, confirmed him as arrived on the global
Globalization
Globalization refers to the increasingly global relationships of culture, people and economic activity. Most often, it refers to economics: the global distribution of the production of goods and services, through reduction of barriers to international trade such as tariffs, export fees, and import...
literary scene.
Cincos Bravos
Salvador was part of the Cincos Bravos, the influential Manila-based art group that consisted of filmmaker Danilo de Borja, critic and filmmaker Marcel Avellaneda, the painter Paolo Jones-Matute, and poet Mutya Dimatahimik. In the 1960s Salvador flirted with communism in the Philippines and subsequently throughout his life his work reflected Left-leaning philosophies.He ceases publishing
Salvador stopped publishing following the lukewarm reception of his memoir Autoplagiarist and his mother's death in 1993. From that time until his own death in 2002 he lived in New York City and taught at Columbia UniversityColumbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Death
Salvador died under mysterious circumstances in New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
in 2002, his body found floating in the Hudson River
Hudson River
The Hudson is a river that flows from north to south through eastern New York. The highest official source is at Lake Tear of the Clouds, on the slopes of Mount Marcy in the Adirondack Mountains. The river itself officially begins in Henderson Lake in Newcomb, New York...
. Authorities declared his death a suicide, though media in the Philippines speculated on alleged foul-play connected to a controversial book project he had been working on.
Awards
In 2008 Ilustrado, though still unpublished, won the second annual Man Asian Literary Prize.External links
- Miguel Sujuco biography at Wikipilipinas