With Professors Ruth Pison (adviser), Grace Concepcion, Pauline Mari Hernando, and Loujaye Sonido (panelists). As panel chair and critic, I was just too happy to endorse Francis Eduard Ang's MA Comparative Literature thesis entitled "Feeling Low Walls: Emotions and Socioeconomic Class in the Short Stories of Estrella Alfon."
Previous studies on Alfon's works have predominantly focused on feminist or formalist frameworks. However, Ang's investigation takes a new perspective by employing Sara Ahmed's theory of the sociality of emotions. Ang's study demonstrates how Alfon's narratives depict and manifest how emotions create boundaries between individuals from different social classes. Through exploring these stories, Ang highlights the points of contact that allow individuals to assess their class positions vis-à-vis others.
From Ang's vantage point, Alfon's men and women are subjects who experience emotions towards objects, thereby establishing a distinct boundary between subject and object. These emotions enable the issues to evaluate the socioeconomic class of these objects, ultimately comparing them to their social standing. Consequently, these stories (e.g., Magnificence, English, The Gentle Rain, Servant Girl, Anguish, Those who love us, Compostela, Man with a camera, Low Wall) reveal that emotions play a pivotal role in enabling individuals to differentiate themselves from those who do not share the same socioeconomic class.
Overall, Ang's thesis sheds light on the significance of emotions in exploring class distinctions within Alfon's fictional universe. By adopting a more comprehensive and nuanced approach, this study offers valuable insights into the intricate dynamics between emotions and socioeconomic class in comparative literary and cultural studies.
Congratulations 🥂