ABSTRACT

Diwà has been defined in academic circles as a body of internal rules governing the systematic ordering of ideas that the Filipino whether on a national, tribal or personal level employs for a conscious meaningful purpose. In this essay, the author proposes a re-definition of diwà as a self-determined system of aesthetic equilibrium, of the mind struggling to balance its experience of contradictions. Diwà, the author proposes, is based on the principles of buhay (life) and bisà (inherited life force) with knowledge, language and body as the parameters of equilibrium. Thus, such re-definition of diwà enables a reframing of firmly held notions of these parameters, consequently providing the basis for a critical analysis of media, technology and the creative practices.

Note: This article was written by Fatima Lasay for “PLACE: Local Knowledge and New Media Practice” (2008) published by Cambridge Scholars Press. Edited and with introduction by Danny Butt, Jon Bywater and Nova Paul. The book may be purchased thru http://www.c-s-p.org/Flyers/Place--Local-Knowledge-and-New-Media-Practic... and http://www.amazon.com/Place-Local-Knowledge-Media-Practice/dp/1847184847...
Contact Fatima Lasay thru fats@korakora.org. This document's URL is http://korakora.org/proyekto/diwa_filipino_aesthetic_abstract