«Los indios bravos»: El pensamiento decolonial- poscolonial de José Rizal

Abstract

Until now, the postcolonial/decolonial thought of Jose Rizal (1861-1896), Philippine national hero, has not been studied within postcolonial/decolonial studies. Rizal, writer of two Philippine novels, polyglot, and the soul of the Philippine revolution according to the Spaniards, produced writings that could be studied and analyzed under postcolonial/decolonial optic. This article tries to point out the postcolonial/decolonial thought of Rizal, based on his written works, and place them for the first time within the postcolonial/decolonial ambit. In his essays and novels, he identified the effects of colonialism to the colonized, described colonialism as a social disease and mental pathology, marked cultural imperialism as an oppression and finally advocated education as response to colonialism. Thus, his works are contribution to postcolonial/decolonial thought that should be included in that area of studies.