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International Journal Of Language, Literature And Culture(IJLLC)

Beyond the Western Frame: Exploring the Narrative Tradition of Subanen Short Stories

Frederick P. Grengia


International Journal of Language, Literature and Culture (IJLLC), Vol-5,Issue-4, July - August 2025, Pages 24-32, 10.22161/ijllc.5.4.3

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Article Info: Received: 02 Jun 2025, Received in revised form: 30 Jun 2025, Accepted: 05 Jul 2025, Available online: 10 Jul 2025

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This study examines ten Subanen short stories selected from Suk Tinändaan Nängak: Ang Kultura sa mga Subanën, compiled by Fr. Bertram Tiemeyer, O.F.M., focusing on their structure, themes and tone. Anchored in the context of the Philippines’ K to 12 Basic Education Curriculum—which promotes the use of mother tongue and local literature—this research employs qualitative content analysis to explore the unique narrative elements rooted in indigenous Subanen storytelling traditions.Findings reveal a blend of structural adherence and deviation from conventional Western plot forms, reflecting the oral narrative style of the Subanen people. Common settings include natural landscapes such as forests, farms, and streams, highlighting a deep connection to the environment. Characterization ranges from archetypal figures to named individuals, with all stories told from a third-person perspective.Thematically, the stories explore universal human experiences—love, heroism, survival, deception, judgment, and conflict—through a culturally specific lens. Tone analysis, supported by IBM Watson’s Tone Analyzer, identifies joy, sadness, fear, and analytical reflection as dominant emotional undercurrents. The study concludes that Subanen short stories preserve oral tradition within written form, offering a distinct Indigenous literary aesthetic that deserves greater scholarly attention and integration into language and literature education.

Content Analysis, Philippine Literature, Subanen Short stories, Tone Analyzer

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