Waiting for Mariang Makiling : Essays in Philippine Cultural History

Waiting for Mariang Makiling is an engaging exploration of Philippine cultural history.

It is striking for the diversity of texts it takes up: the legend of a mountain goddess, Pigafetta's discovery account of the Philippines, the life of a seventeenth-century Christian convert, the foundation narrative of a Marian shrine, colonial books of conduct, memoirs of Filipino intellectuals, a Bisayan love poem, political talk on radio, a dinner in nineteenth-century Cebu.

A singleness of purpose guides the reader through a forest of texts toward an appreciation of the larger issues of cultural politics and nation formation.