Fernando Nakpil Zialcita is a

Filipino Filipino may refer to: * Something from or related to the Philippines ** Filipino language, standardized variety of 'Tagalog', the national language and one of the official languages of the Philippines. ** Filipinos, people who are citizens of th ...

anthropologist An anthropologist is a person engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropology is the study of aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms and ...

and

cultural historian Cultural history combines the approaches of anthropology and history to examine popular cultural traditions and cultural interpretations of historical experience. It examines the records and narrative descriptions of past matter, encompassing the ...

. His areas of specialization are in heritage and identity; art and its cultural context; and interfaces between the foreign and the indigenous. Zialcita is a professor at the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

-run

Ateneo de Manila University , mottoeng = Light in the Lord , type = Private, research, non-profit, coeducational basic and higher education institution , established = December 10, 1859 , religious_affiliation = Roman Catholic (Jesuits) , academic_aff ...

and is program director of the Ateneo Social and Cultural Laboratory (ASCL). He obtained his M.A. in philosophy at the Ateneo de Manila University and an M.A. and Ph.D. in anthropology from the

University of Hawaiʻi The University of Hawaiʻi System, formally the University of Hawaiʻi and popularly known as UH, is a public college and university system that confers associate, bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees through three universities, seven com ...

. His work ''Authentic Though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity'' (2005) argues against views of

Filipino identity Filipinos ( tl, Mga Pilipino) are the people who are citizens of or native to the Philippines. The majority of Filipinos today come from various Austronesian ethnolinguistic groups, all typically speaking either Filipino, English and/or other ...

(in particular, those of the lowland Christian Filipino) as "bastardized," "corrupted," non-Asian, or too Western. Such attitudes, he claims, generally stems from the (1) "demonization of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...

influence; (2) a limited menu of binaries of interpreting culture (i.e.,

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

versus noncolonial/anticolonial and Asia versus West); (3) and

reductionist Reductionism is any of several related philosophical ideas regarding the associations between phenomena which can be described in terms of other simpler or more fundamental phenomena. It is also described as an intellectual and philosophical pos ...

ativistviews" of culture among Filipinos, including intellectuals and scholars. For Zialcita, lowland Christian Filipino culture, though not "exotic," (i.e., alluding to the preference of scholars and anthropologists for "uncontaminated" upland peoples as subjects for study) is an authentic and

syncretic Syncretism () is the practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought. Syncretism involves the merging or assimilation of several originally discrete traditions, especially in the theology and mythology of religion, thu ...

, and distinct culture, able to hold its own scholarly interest. He proposes appreciating Filipino culture as one that is ''

mestizo (; ; fem. ) is a term used for racial classification to refer to a person of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous American ancestry. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also r ...

,'' where cultural ''mestizaje'' (derived from Mexican "mixing") is viewed as a desirable process, "articulated in terms of tensions and oppositions which are accepted as part of being human" (230). The word mestizo which implies a blending of cultures carries with it more positive associations in contrast to notions of

hybridity Hybridity, in its most basic sense, refers to mixture. The term originates from biology and was subsequently employed in linguistics and in racial theory in the nineteenth century. Young, Robert. ''Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and R ...

, "mongrel," or "half-breed." Owing to a shared (syncretic or mestizo) Spanish heritage, Zialcita proposes increased interaction and comparative works between Filipino and

Latin American Latin Americans ( es, Latinoamericanos; pt, Latino-americanos; ) are the citizens of Latin American countries (or people with cultural, ancestral or national origins in Latin America). Latin American countries and their diasporas are multi-eth ...

scholars.

Personal life

Zialcita is part of the Nakpil family of Quiapo,

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

who are direct descendants of musician and composer

Julio Nakpil Julio Nakpil y García (22 May 1867 – 2 November 1960) was a Filipino musician, composer and a General during the Philippine Revolution against Spain. He was a member of the Katipunan, a secret society turned revolutionary government which was ...

and

Gregoria de Jesús Gregoria de Jesús y Álvarez (9 May 1875 – 15 March 1943), also known by her nickname Oriang, was the founder and vice-president of the women's chapter of the Katipunan of the Philippines. She was also the custodian of the documents and s ...

, founder of the

women A woman is an adult female human. Prior to adulthood, a female human is referred to as a girl (a female child or Adolescence, adolescent). The plural ''women'' is sometimes used in certain phrases such as "women's rights" to denote female hum ...

's chapter of the

Katipunan The Katipunan, officially known as the Kataastaasan, Kagalanggalangang Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan or Kataastaasan Kagalang-galang na Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan (KKK; en, Supreme and Honorable Association of the Children of the Nation ...

and widow of revolutionary leader

Andres Bonifacio Andres or Andrés may refer to: *Andres, Illinois, an unincorporated community in Will County, Illinois, US *Andres, Pas-de-Calais, a commune in Pas-de-Calais, France *Andres (name) *Hurricane Andres * "Andres" (song), a 1994 song by L7 See also ...

. He is a board member of ''The Bahay Nakpil-Bautista Foundation, Inc.'', a foundation dedicated to the preservation of the historic Nakpil-Bautista ancestral house. Zialcita is fluent in Filipino, English, and Spanish.

Published works

''Philippine Ancestral Houses,1810-1930.'' (1980). ''Notions of Justice: A Study of an Ilocos and a Bulacan Barangay.'' (1989). ''Tropical Living: Contemporary Dream Houses in the Philippines.'' (1990). (Ed. with Elizabeth V. Reyes, Paulo Alcazaren, and A. Chester Ong). ''The Soul Book: Introduction to Philippine Pagan Religion (The Philippine Reader No. 1).'' (1991). (Ed. with Francisco R. Demetrio, Gilda Cordero-Fernando, and Roberto B. Feleo). ''Filipino Style''. (1997). (Ed. with Rene Javellana, Fernando Nakpil-Zialcita, Luca Invernizzi Tettoni hotographerand Tara Sosrowardoyo hotographer and Elizabeth V. Reyes). ''Cuaresma''. (2000). (Ed. with Gilda Cordero-Fernando). ''Authentic Though Not Exotic: Essays on Filipino Identity.'' (2005). Ateneo de Manila University Press. inner, National Book Award (2006) ''Quiapo: Heart of Manila'' (2006). (Ed.). ''Endangered Splendor'' (with E. Akpedonu, V. Venida) orthcoming

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zialcita, Fernando Nakpil Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century Filipino historians 21st-century Filipino historians Filipino anthropologists Ateneo de Manila University alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Academic staff of Ateneo de Manila University