Sarita Echavez See, in this landmark book, draws interdisciplinary and intermedial connections among anthropology, museum curation, visual culture, performance, and literature. Hence, the theoretical optic, through which she views Carlos Bulosan, Stephanie Syjuco, the Carl Guthe artifacts, and the Frank Murphy Memorial Museum, is eclectic yet cohesive. Her theory and method are sound and innovative. The contemporary and cutting-edge methods pulled out from her theoretical framing enable her analysis to be historically wide-ranging, disciplinarily traversing, and politically engaging. Her approach establishes relations between diverse literary and visual texts, as well as between artifacts and exhibits.
On the strength of its methodological sharpness, depth of archival knowledge, and clarity of analysis, The Filipino Primitive promises to introduce Art History and Museum Studies scholars and practitioners to a literary figure such as Carlos Bulosan, and conversely, it will introduce Literary and Cultural Studies scholars to a contemporary artist such as Stephanie Syjuco and the history of the Frank Murphy Museum. As an interdisciplinary contact zone, The Filipino Primitive will be valuable for academics, cultural workers, and practitioners working in fields such as Art History, Art Studies, Philippine History, American History, Museum Studies, and Literary and Cultural Studies.
---from the Foreword by
VINCENZ SERRANO
Department of English, School of Humanities
Ateneo de Manila University
Published in 2018.