Mga Ibong Mandaragit

Mga Ibong Mandaragit
Author(s)	Amado V. Hernandez
Country	Philippines
Language	Tagalog
Genre(s)	Fiction

Mga Ibong Mandaragit or Mga Ibong Mandaragit: Nobelang Sosyo-Politikal (literally, Birds of Prey: A Socio-Political Novel) is a novel written by the Filipino writer and social activist, Amado V. Hernandez in 1969. Mga Ibong Mandaragit was described as Hernandez's masterpiece about the neocolonial dependency and revolt in the Philippines.^[1] Also reflected in Mga Ibong Mandaragit was Hernandez's experience of being a guerrilla intelligence officer when the Philippines was under the Japanese occupiers from 1942 to 1945.^[1]

Description

Through the narrative, Hernandez yearned for change and the elevation of the status of Philippine society. The book narrated the living conditions and livelihood of the Filipino people. Upon the arrival of the middle of 1944 in the Philippines, the armed forces of the Japanese Empire was already weakening. The Japanese would soon be losing in the Second World War in Asia.^[2]

The novel had a connection with Jose Rizal's Noli Me Tangere and El filibusterismo. There was a part in the novel wherein the protagonist Mando Plaridel was tested by Tata Matyas, an old revolutionary, on his knowledge about Rizal and Rizal's novels. The pattern of Hernandez's Mga Ibong Mandaragit also had a similarity to Rizal's novel, wherein the main character looked at the Philippines from the outside by traveling to Europe then coming back.^[3] Hernandez's novel also tackled the lead character's search for Simoun's treasure, showing it as a continuation of Rizal's El Filibusterismo. It further tackled the state of the citizenry upon the onset of industrialization brought forth by the Americans in the Philippines. Mga Ibong Mandaragit had been translated into English and Russian.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Mga Ibong Mandaragit" by Amado V. Hernandez, from Amado V. Hernandez: An Introduction, Appreciating Amado V. Hernandez, Revolutionary Proletarian Artist, philcsc.wordpress.com, August 28, 2006
2. ^ ^{a b} Hernandez, Amado V. Mga Ibong Mandaragit: Nobelang Sosyo-Politikal, with a Prologue by Carlos P. Romulo and Epilogue by Epifanio San Juan, Jr., Progressive Printing Palace, Quezon City, 1969, 416 pages.
3. ^ Veric, Charlie Samuya. "Mga Ibong Mandaragit" by Amado V. Hernandez, The Fictions of Necessity, Book Review of Caroline Hau’s “Necessary Fictions”, Ateneo de Manila University, ateneo.edu

External links

• Hernandez, Amado V. Mga Ibong Mandaragit: Nobelang Sosyo-Politikal (1969), PDF copy from AseanInfoNet.org, Tagalog language, National Library, Filipiniana section (call number FIL 899.2113 H43i 1982), and International Graphic Service, Quezon City, 416 pages (book)/216 pages (PDF file) – complete novel: PDF copy, retrieved on: March 5, 2008