Forms of Consciousness in Noli me tangere

Abstract

This article is based on a quantitative analysis of the deployment of keyracial, ethnic, and political terms, as well as of Tagalog, in lose' Rizal'sNoli me tangere. Special focus is on the peculiar distribution of the useof these terms by the novel's characters, and by the Narrator. The analysishighlights and attempts to explain: (1) the complete absence ofChinese mestizos and Manila's huge llokano servant class in thenovel; (2) why the main deployer of Tagalog is the Narrator, while thehero Elias never uses it; and (3) why the ambiguities surrounding theterm filipino can only be explained by juxtaposing diferent culturalpractices in the colony and in metropolitan Spain.