SAPAY KOMA
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz, who considers herself a Dabawenya, is a Palanca award-winning writer that was selected as first Philippine representative for the Tokyo International Literacy Festival. She completed, with high distinction, a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing and a Master of Arts in Language and Literature from De La Salle University, Manila. She is currently an Associate Professor of Creative Writing and Literature at the University of the Philippines Mindanao. She has taught in De La Salle University and the University of the Cordilleras before she joined University of the Philippines Mindanao.
SOCIAL AND CULTURAL CONTEXT
First, the scene when the father asks the woman if they have a VCD player at their house and what it portrays was, the father was trying to be close to her daughter-in-law because it is the very first time he spoke with her without using his son as a messenger. This scene shows that Cordillerans are not very showy towards their feelings. Though they act very unexpressive, they are still understanding like the scene when they try to make it up to the daughter-in-law because of their shortcomings.
Second, Cordillerans have a very simple and practical living. As she said, Itogon, Benguet is already a rural area for her. It is really because they live in a province and there’s no busy streets and buildings.
Thirdly, they value their culture and traditions. There were so many of them mentioned in the story. Some of these were, butchering dogs during special occasions, beating the chicken to death with a stick before cooking, beating of gongs during events like wedding, no siblings will get married at the same year, butchering of pigs for a traditional wedding feast and the custom “everything belongs to the community” and “everyone knows everyone”.
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SUMMARY
Jhoanna and her husband’s relationship was shunned by her husband’s family. But, Jhoanna was already carrying a child in her womb so they decided to get married. However, her husband’s family disapproved of this because they believe that the couple shouldn’t get married within the same year as their siblings, or else one of the marriages will fail. Despite the disapproval of her in-laws, the couple pursued their wedding at La Trinidad, Benguet. The couple began their married life full of chaos, confusion, boundary, and concealment. One time, Jhoanna brought her dog “Sapay Koma” to their house. It didn’t get along with the other dogs of the house, causing them to disturb the neighbors prompting the family to cook the dog. Jhoanna felt bad and guilty for sacrificing her friend for the sake of her marriage. There was also a time in which her husband’s relatives would come over to the house, expecting to be fed again and again. The family served Jhoanna’s bread and peanut butter which angered her. She confronted her husband about the incident and her husband told her that everything belongs to the community in Igorot’s culture. During their sixth year of marriage, the couple faced many struggles in their marriage including the treatment of her in-laws to Jhoanna. Her husband’s parents tried to explain their sides and make amends with the couple yet it was already too late. The couple had already given up on their marriage. Her husband had gotten tired of Jhoanna’s transgressions with his friends. Their marriage was already too damaged before they tried to fix it. As a result of their separation, Jhoanna decided to live separately in Davao city with her two children.
LITERARY CONVENTIONS OF THE ESSAY
- Diction: Informal, Conversational
- Style: Narrative
- Tone: Personal, Subjective, Casual
- Perspective: Dissatisfaction with her marriage life and as a married woman.
- Purpose: To describe her marriage and the adversities she encountered during the time they’ve been together with her husband and his family
OTHER FORMAL ELEMENTS
- Type of Essay: Informal
- Subject/Content: The author’s married life
- Structure: Loosely structured
- Idea: The narrative presents a strong modern woman and a personal portrayal of the author’s marriage. It reveals how the displacement of culture and society influenced her actions, personality, and identity as a woman.
- Vocabulary: Use of colloquial language (Ilocano and Kankanaey)
LITERARY CRITIQUE
The Tempest of Marriage and Cultural Differences in the Modern Woman’s Eyes
A Feminist Criticism of
Jhoanna Lynn Cruz’s Sapay Koma
Jhoanna’s struggle in her defiance against the cultural and societal norms surrounding her marriage strengthened her character and identity as a woman.
“Sometimes, love is not enough to keep a marriage”. The creative nonfiction Sapay Koma recounts Jhoanna Lynn Cruz’s own heartfelt yet painful marital experience. The story tackles issues that occur after marriage, and a woman’s plight in her confinement to traditional roles. Sapay Koma, an Ilocano expression for “sana”, is the name of Jhoanna’s pet dog she had lost due to familial circumstances, along with a few more events that cannot be dismissed as minor inconveniences that undermined her marriage. Despite all of these, the author exemplifies the exceptional qualities of an empowered woman with her ability to be the owner of her own actions and determine her own choices. Jhoanna’s struggle in her defiance against the cultural and societal norms surrounding her marriage strengthened her character and identity as a woman. This critique aims to utilize the lens of feminism to analyze Jhoanna Lynn Cruz’s Sapay Koma.
Jhoanna has always been an independent, bold, and empowered woman even before her failed marriage.
At the beginning of the story, with her allusion to Manuel Arguilla’s How My Brother Leon Brought Home a Wife, Jhoanna’s resolve to defy societal norms can be envisioned. Jhoanna has always been an independent, bold, and empowered woman even before her marriage. She was a competent teacher that actively sought excellence, and a self-proclaimed lesbian feminist who believed that it was worth fighting for the right of a woman to love another woman. Even when they were still dating, her disposition is already a bold character. This is evident in her thoughts and actions when she recalls the time when she first met her lover’s parents. In a church wedding of her partner’s eldest brother, Jhoanna confidently wore a leopard print spaghetti-strapped dress that flaunted her back tattoo in a church wedding where she is expected to follow an appropriate dress code, justifying that it holds a great significance in the Cordillera culture. Although she deviates from the social standards in doing so, Jhoanna is able to assert her own identity and thereby do what she wanted to do.
Jhoanna defied the gender roles dictated by the customs in a society.
Society considers it immoral for a woman to conceive without the vows of the church or expects women to alternatively marry once impregnated. The character is resilient in refusing to be pressured by these conventions as she chose to marry not because the society dictates her to, but because she loved the Igorot man. Jhoanna, once again, defied the gender roles dictated by the customs in a society during the wedding preparations. As taboo as it may seem, Jhoanna, a woman, spearheaded their marriage; she was the one to file the license, find a judge, buy their rings, and reserve a restaurant, virtually paying and putting in effort for everything to make it possible. Customarily, it is the man or the man’s family who takes care of wedding arrangements, but here, Jhoanna, aware of the conditions of his partner and of her being the older and mature one, took care and even paid for the costs of the wedding. Jhoanna can be seen as a role model when it comes to women’s independence since she does not let societal stereotypes influence her own decisions. She did not seek others' approval and acceptance because she knows her worth. Jhoanna does things not for anyone but herself and, by her own words, she was used to flouting norms and not needing anyone.
It is also worth noting that her mother helped her convince her in-laws by writing a demand letter, further showcasing her mother’s bold personality and provocative stance in order to protect her daughter. This defies the notion that only men protect their family. And as the story progresses, Jhoanna protects her children as well by choosing to do the right thing without taking into consideration what other people might say about her failed marriage. On top of that, even though her in-laws tried to convince her to make the marriage work, she did not feel the need to conform to the subtle pressure.
Jhoanna’s experience reveals the grim reality of how women establish their identities through their husbands and their families' approval.
When the relatives of Jhoanna’s husband came over and lavishly ate the Gardenia whole wheat bread she bought, she was not introduced to them as the wife of their son. This further showcased how difficult it was for her to be a part of his family. Moreover, through the years, her mother-in-law’s façade of enlarged and framed wedding photos of her children grew; however, Jhoanna’s family was never included in the pictorial gallery. At first, Jhoanna thought that it was because they never had a church wedding, but when a photo of the eldest sister’s family was put up on the wall, it became clear that her reasoning was incorrect. By Jhoanna’s words, It wasn’t “The Wedding Wall” anymore; it was now the “Our Children and their Acceptable Spouses”. This disheartened the character thus she made his husband stand up for her. Although Jhoanna knew her worth, how she was a perfectly good woman, and initially claimed that she never needed his parents’ approval, she needed her husband to confront his family-which she cannot do. By convincing her husband to stand up for her and explain their side, misunderstandings between their family and her in-laws were clarified and both parties finally came to terms.
Although the conflict surrounding Jhoanna and her husband’s family finally came to an end, their marriage was already hanging by a thread. By the time his parents were ready to start over and mend their relationship with Jhoanna, the couple had already given up with theirs. After their failed marriage, Jhoanna and her children moved to Davao City to start anew. Jhoanna improves to become a woman worthy of utmost respect following the events of her failed marriage. She is able to take care of her two children independently from her husband. She does not think ill of their failure as a couple, but rather sees it as a learning experience as she moves forward in life. She continued to be a strong woman not only for herself, but also for the sake of her children and the memory of Sapay Koma. As stated in the last lines of the text, each character held a secret wish to have done things differently; however, Jhoanna stood her ground as an empowered woman, of which weathering through her disheartening experiences only made her even better in that aspect.
CONNECTOR (REFLECTION)
SAPAY KOMA’S ARTWORK
REFERENCE
Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz – A Filipino contemporary artist in Mindanao. 21st CENTURY LITERATURE. (2017, January 11). Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://alyssapelayo.wordpress.com/2016/11/11/jhoanna-lynn-b-cruz-filipino-contemporary-artist-in-mindanao/
Bugaling, P. (2020, March 28). Culture criticism on "Sapay Koma" by Jhoanna Lynn B. Cruz. It's All About Positivity. Retrieved January 20, 2022, from https://leannpositivity.design.blog/2020/03/11/culture-criticism-on-sapay-koma-by-jhoanna-lynn-b-cruz/
Sapay Koma. (2008, September 14). Dagmay.Online. https://dagmay.online/2008/09/14/sapay-koma//
Dones, A. N. (n.d.). The Concepts of Intercultural Communication: A Sociological Criticism on “Sapay Koma” by Jhoanna Lynn Cruz. Scribd. https://www.scribd.com/document/530601850/The-Concepts-of-Intercultural-Communication-A-Sociological-Criticism-on-Sapay-Koma-by-Jhoanna-Lynn-Cruz
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