Abstract
To analyze literature requires careful consideration of both the language used in the work and the contextual factors surrounding an author’s choice of language. While there has been increasing scholarly research into various aspects of Philippine literature, many regional poets including Cebuano poets such as Simeon Dumdum Jr. who write with a reflective voice and clear diction continue to be under-researched. Current studies typically focus on either thematic or formalistic approaches toward analyzing poetry with few incorporating linguistic or biographic frameworks in their interpretation of poetic meanings. Therefore, this study will examine how Dumdum’s selected poems create meaning through the relationship of his language usage and biography. This study utilized a combined pragma-semantic and biographic framework based upon Speech Act Theory and Gricean Conversational Maxims. Using a qualitative descriptive design and textual analysis of Dumdum’s poems “Justice Aspires to the Condition of Music”, “Assisi”, and “Rain in Bangkok” with additional support from author correspondence and secondary source material, this study identified speech acts and patterns of adherence to and violation of Gricean maxims. Findings indicated that Dumdum’s linguistic strategies reflect multiple layers of professional, spiritual and personal experience. Specifically, Dumdum’s legal training influenced the assertive/directive nature of the “Justice Aspires to the Condition of Music”; whereas, Dumdum’s religious upbringing was evident in the expressive/devotional qualities of “Assisi”. Additionally, his personal relationships and travel experiences were reflected in the affective quality of his language use in “Rain in Bangkok”, which included strategically violating Gricean maxims to emphasize intimacy/depth of emotion. Overall, this study demonstrated the potential value of combining pragmatic semantic and biographic approaches when interpreting poetry by showing a consistent pattern of integration between pragmatic semantic structures and biographically influenced meaning. The results also provide educators with a basis for developing practical instructional methods for teaching poetry within specific contextual settings and contribute to expanding critical perspectives on regional Philippine literature.
Keywords: pragma-semantics, English language, textual analysis, biographical criticisms, Moalboal, Cebu
https://doi.org/10.65494/pinagpalapublishing.271
