Kalinaw Ipus Hu Bangi (Peace After Conflict): Morphology of Bukidnon Epic ‘Agyu’

Abstract

Structuralism postulated that the complex human experience could be simplified into smaller components. Numerous studies focused on the breakdown of the narrative into its smaller parts and hypothesized that cultural values are embedded in the text's narrative structure. Mindanao epic narratives were less explored than a significant number of Western and Asian narratives. Therefore, the study aimed to contribute to the existing body of knowledge as it extracted Mindanao indigenous people’s cultural values using Vladimir Propp’s Narrative Structural Analysis Theory. First, the study revealed 24 morphological functions present in the epic based on Propp’s morphological functions enumerated in Morphology of the Folktale (1968). Second, the study formulated the narrative structure of the epic based on Propp’s propositions on pair, group, individual, out-of-sequence, double morphological functions; multiple interwoven, sequential villainies, and spheres of action of the dramatis personae. Third, the study presented binary oppositions such as evil-good, conflict-settlement, need- supplication, separation-reunion, and humiliation-recognition which collectively reveal the Mindanao indigenous people’s penultimate quest for achieving peace after conflict. Furthermore, the study revealed several cultural implications on the significant roles of the datu (head of the community/tribe), women, marriage, and kinship in conflict mediation and negotiation.