Bayaniserye
Abstract
Naval, D. (2016). BayaniSerye: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Nationalism in Ilustrado, Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication.
In October 2014, the first teleserye to tackle the life of a national hero on Philippine television was aired on GMA Telebabad. Bearing the title Ilustrado (enlightened), it was produced by GMA News and Public Affairs to enlighten both the primetime television landscape and its audience by presenting the life and nationalism of Dr. Jose Rizal in 20 episodes. Using Critical Discourse Analysis and guided by the frameworks of Narrative Theory, Political Economy, and writings on Filipino Nationalism, the researcher conducted interviews and analyzed selected episodes where nationalism is manifested. Inspired by Rizal's efforts for a social change, the researcher looked into the potential of Ilustrado to spark a change on Philippine television focusing on how discourse on nationalism and political economy affect the production process of Ilustrado and vice versa. The researcher concluded that political-economic factors played big roles in the presentation of nationalism in the series. The content was compromised due to time and financial constraints. Primetime competition also became a challenge in terms of ratings.
Despite these challenges, Ilustrado is a brilliant production that fought to break conventions and the prevailing status quo in viewing trends on primetime television. It is an attempt of UP graduates in the field of media to address the need for something to inspire people to seek for nationalistic consciousness.
Keywords: Jose Rizal, Ilustrado, nationalism, discourse, teleserye, production process, narrative, Critical Discourse Analysis