Resil Mojares

Resil Buagas Mojares (born September 4, 1943) is a Filipino historian and critic of Philippine literature best known as for his books on Philippine history. He is acclaimed by various writers and critics as the Visayan Titan of Letters, due to his immense contribution to Visayan literature. He was recognized in 2018 as a National Artist of the Philippines for Literature - a conferment which represents the Philippine state's highest recognition for artists.

Early life and education Mojares was born to parents who were public school teachers on September 4, 1943, in Polanco, Zamboanga del Norte.

Mojares has a bachelor's degree in English, a master's degree in Literature and postgraduate studies all at the University of San Carlos, as well as a Ph.D. in Literature from the University of the Philippines Diliman.

Career He was one of the first Cebuanos to become a political prisoner during Martial Law, arrested on September 23, 1972, the day Marcos announced that he had placed the Philippines under Martial law.

A retired Professor at the University of San Carlos (USC) in Cebu City, he was a founding director (1975–96) of USC's Cebuano Studies Center, a pioneering local studies center in the Philippines.

Mojares has authored books on Philippine history, literature, and politics, including studies on three eminent Filipino intellectuals (Pedro Paterno, T. H. Pardo de Tavera, and Isabelo de los Reyes).

He has been a recipient of six Philippine National Book Awards. His books include The War Against the Americans: Resistance and Collaboration in Cebu Province; Aboitiz: Family & Firm in the Philippines; House of Memory: Essays; and Vicente Sotto, The Maverick Senator (Cebuano Studies Center, 1992).

Mojares has been a visiting professor at Kyoto University, the National University of Singapore, and the University of California at Los Angeles where he lectures on "The Philippine Novel" and "Topics in Philippine Cultural History".

Mojares wrote the history of Cebu Province for the Cebu Town History Project, which was published in 2014.

In 2019, Mojares was recognized as one of the Top 100 Cebuano personalities by The Freeman, Cebu's longest-running newspaper. He was recognized alongside Tomas Osmeña, Max Surban, and Rubilen Amit as part of the centennial anniversary of the local newspaper.

Personal life Mojares is married to Salvacion Ouano Go, and has four children together: Kim Carmel, Mark Soren, Ressa Gail, and Anna Leigh. He resides in Barangay Talamban in Cebu City.

Notable works Cebuano Literature: A Survey and Bio-Bibliography with Reading List (Cebu City: San Carlos Publications, 1975). Origins and Rise of the Filipino Novel: A Generic Study of the Novel Until 1940 (Quezon City, UP Press, 1983; second ed. 1998) Theater in Society, Society in Theater: Social History of a Cebuano Village, 1840-1940 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1985). The Man Who Would Be President: Serging Osmeña and Philippine Politics (Cebu City: Maria Cacao, 1986) Vicente Sotto: The Maverick Senator (Cebu City: Cebuano Studies Center, 1992; second ed. 2021). House of Memory: Essays (Mandaluying City: Anvil Publishing, 1997) The War Against the Americans: Resistance and Collaboration in Cebu, 1899-1906 (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1999) Waiting for Mariang Makiling: Essays on Philippine Cultural History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2002) Brains of the Nation: Pedro Paterno, T.H. Pardo de Tavera, Isabelo de los Reyes and the Production of Modern Knowledge (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2006) Isabelo’s Archive (Mandaluyong City: Anvil Publishing, 2013). The Feast of the Santo Niño: An Introduction to the History of a Cebuano Devotion (Cebu City: University of San Carlos Press, 2017). Interrogations in Philippine Cultural History (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2017) Enigmatic Objects: Notes Towards a History of the Museum in the Philippines (Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2023)

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