Romancing Cultural Difference

ABSTRACT Kitane, J.O.V. (2012). Romancing Cultural Difference: A Study on the Representation of Visayan Women on Philippine Television. Unpublished Undergraduate Thesis, College of Mass Communication, University of the Philippines-Diliman.

“Representation is found at the heart of mediation.” (Siapera, 2010) Yet, in the 

context of mediating cultural difference which is inherently complex and diverse, misrepresentations may occur. Hence, one must always ask—are there stereotypes in this representation? Does this portrayal contain racist or prejudiced views?

This study questioned the representation of Visayan women in Philippine 

telenovelas from 2007 to 2011, namely MariMar (Philippines), My Girl (Philippines), and Agua Bendita. The texts were examined using Critical Discourse Analysis, alongside the theories of Representation, Identity, Stereotyping and Hegemony.

Findings showed that majority of representations portrayed Visayan women as 

members of the lower economic strata, and were either unemployed or working in service-oriented positions. They were also portrayed, character-wise, as either irrational or servile, justifying the oppression and discrimination exercised by the representations. Also, in order to contain difference, the folkloric characteristics, i.e. external symbols of culture were highlighted, thus depicting the other as quaint, distant, and picturesque, and therefore not threateningly different. All these, according to Siapera, belong to certain “regimes of representation,” loosely based on Foucault’s (1997) “regimes of truth.” In a nutshell, these regimes denote the convergence of certain ideas and discourses with certain power structures and mechanisms that sustain such representations.

Keywords: Visayan, Cultural Diversity, Representation, Stereotyping, Hegemony