Colonial Picturesque in the Philippines

Before arriving to the Philippines, I learned about the discourses of the tropical region specifically in Southeast Asia. I studied how early Western explorers and colonizers would consistently describe the tropics as an earthly paradise that is green, beautiful and bountiful when they first arrived. They had a fascination with both the flora and fauna and essentially described it as a Garden of Eden without knowing much about the land.  In “Colonial Domesticity,” Rafael (2000) describes the colonial picturesque which women specifically would “conceive of the landscape as a picture to be seen rather than the setting of unequal social relations characterizers” (p.60) When I traveled Banaue, Batad and La Union, I saw the landscape through the lens of a traveler and noticed that I unknowingly had similar experiences of viewing the landscape as the early colonial women.

Rice Terraces in Batad

In Batad, I had the opportunity to ride on top of a jeepney to get a better view of the thousands of year old rice terraces. At the time, I was in absolute awe to see the landscape and the beauty of the terraces because it was nothing like I have ever seen. Throughout the trip, I snapped a lot of photos that showed the architecture of the terraces as well as shots that I believed were stunning images of Batad. Once I read Rafael’s “Colonial Domesticity,” I wished I had read it before I went to the sites. Rafael (2000) describes the colonial picturesque as a way of erasing the marks of native labor. The rice terraces exist as a panorama for the traveler’s gaze, dissociated from the workings of native intentions” (p. 61).  At the time, I did not think about the labor going into the rice terraces and solely of the aesthetics. As I went through my photos of my trip, I noticed that in Banaue, I took pictures of the mountains and food. In La Union, I took pictures mostly of the beach. Colonial picturesque is more than the action of taking a picture. If someone asked me how was Batad, I would probably would have described the landscape rather than the labor put into it. Although my intentions were not to erase the native labor or disregard the social relations, I was simply seeing the Philippines for its aesthetics.

As I learn more and experience more in the Philippines, I want gain perspectives with less of a traveler’s gaze.

Bridge in Banaue

Question: How can colonial picturesque contribute to the racial hierarchy of the colonized and colonizer?

Also, how has women in the colonies contributed to racial hierarchy?

References

Rafael, V. (2000). Colonial domesticity: Engendering race at the edge of empire, 1899-1912. In White love and other events in Filipino history. (pp. 52-76). Durham, NC: Duke University.