Revolutionaries are often portrayed as dour, serious political animals or as radically unstable and emotionally explosive firebrands. But Gina Apostol in her novel, The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata, shows us a revolutionary as sensitive soul, bookish and loving as he reflects back (in this novel-cum-fictionalized memoir) on his roots as a revolutionary. Apostol, one of contemporary America’s most creative and unique storytellers, frames the story with ironic prefaces and footnotes depicting the way academics and contemporary scholars battle over how to best present the legacy of an iconic figure, particularly one so associated with nationalism (Mata is loosely based on real-life Filipino revolutionary José Rizal who led the resistance to Spanish rule in Philippines). The form that Apostol adopts here plays with the way nationalistic symbols can exploited, misrepresented and emotionally resonant. Do figures like Mata show us the best of ourselves or the worst?  As she does in her novel Insurrecto (2018), Apostol offers a unique storytelling experiencing: fragmented, intelligent, bold and unlike anything else on the current literary landscape.

Gina Apostol talks with Lorina Mapa (Duran Duran, Imelda Marcos and Me) about The Revolution According to Raymundo Mata.

About this event’s guests:
Gina Apostol
Lorina Mapa

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Gina Apostol: The Revolutionary