January 29, 2008
Critiquing the critic
LINGAYEN — Is "America is in the Heart" by Carlos Bulosan an authobiography or a fiction? The book describes Bulosan's childhood as a son of a small farmer Binalonan, Pangasinam, his voyage to America and his years of hardships and despair as an itinerant laborer in the rural American West.
Cecilia Daranciang, in her book "Defending Carlos Bulosan and Providing Cultural Context" used "content analysis" to prove that America is in the Heart is indeed an authobiography as told by Bulosan himself, debunking claims of two Filipino-American writers — Greg Castilla and P.C. Morante — that "some portions of Bulosan's autobiography have been either fictionalized, exaggerated or untrue."
Daranciang is a retired teacher of the Seattle School District of Washington State who lives now in her hometown Mangatarem. Read more
