THE UST Research Center for Culture, Arts, and Humanities (RCCAH) featured acclaimed Thomasian writers, including the folklorist Sr. Ma. Delia Coronel, in an exhibit opened on Feb. 21 at the lobby of the UST Central Laboratory.
Coronel, a former Varsitarian editor, is known for her research and English translation of the Maranao epic “The Darangen,” which she rendered into eight volumes.
She also authored “Stories and Legends from Filipino Folklore,” which was published by the UST Publishing House in 1967.
Coronel is one of two notable Thomasian literary folklorists, the other one being the late Florentino Hornedo, a philosopher and literary critic.
The RCCAH exhibit, “Celebrating the Literary Luminaries of University of Santo Tomas,” highlighted Coronel and Hornedo as individuals who possess “passion for cultural preservation that has safeguarded the rich oral traditions, legends, and tales of diverse communities.”
“I think this kind of program is very good because it is going to make [the students] aware that this literary tradition of UST is a very long one,” Prof. Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo, director of the UST Center for Creative Writing and Literary Studies (CCWLS), told the Varsitarian.
“I hope they will remember the names they see here and that they will make the effort to find some of these works,” she added.
After Coronel became the first female religious to be captured in Mindanao in 1978, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (Unesco) proclaimed “The Darangen” as a “masterpiece of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.”
Coronel earned her undergraduate journalism degree in UST in 1949, her master’s in English in 1950, and her doctorate in literature in 1959.
In 2003, Coronel became a recipient of the Parangal Hagbong, a lifetime achievement award given to chosen Thomasian writers who had made great contributions in the field of literature.
It was awarded during the Gabi ng Parangal or awards night of the Varsitarian’s Gawad Ustetika, the longest-running campus literary derby in the country.
Top Thomasian writers featured in the exhibit included national heroes Jose Rizal, Apolinario Mabini, and Marcelo del Pilar; Jose Villa Panganiban, Nick Joaquin, F. Sionil Jose, and Bienvenido Lumbera; and Thomasian literary matriarchs Paz Latorena, Ophelia Alcantara-Dimalanta, and Cristina Pantoja-Hidalgo.
The literary exhibit ran until Feb. 28 at the UST Central Laboratory. Sofia Gabrielle G. Rosario
