MAKAMISA: THIRD NOVEL OF JOSE P.RIZAL I: Introduction Jose Rizal is a person who strongly support and fight for his country. He would write novels that could make the blind caught sight. He helps to motivate his reader to fight for the freedom of the country that Filipinos may be free from the colonizers in which they are the reasons of the suffering of the Filipinos. The novel Makamisa which in English literally means “After Mass” is an unfinished novel written by Jose Rizal. It is a sequel of El Filibusterismo, he wrote it while having a trip from Marseilles to Hongkong on Melbourne ship in 1892. Rizal’s third novel seems to be the most anti-clerical among his works. The novel was written in two languages, Tagalog and Spanish. The original Tagalog manuscript of Rizal's Third novel is now preserved in the National Library of the Philippines. The medium used in writing the novel are black ink and commercial paper. It was written in one sided part of the paper, it contains deletions and corrections. Only two chapters have been written in ten pages and whose size is 34 cm by 22 cm. No specific date nor is the place indicated where it was written. Ambeth Ocampo stumbled on the Spanish drafts of the novel while he was working at the National Library. This draft found by Ocampo was hidden among a 245-page stack of writings entitled “Borrador del Noli Me Tangere.” Although the novel is still puzzle pieces, people are still wondering what does the novel conveys. This has brought the enigma of Rizal’s third, unfinished novel. Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 1 of 7 II. Discussion What moved Jose Rizal to write Makamisa? The success of the two previous novels (Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo), made the people anticipate for a third novel. Also, he was urged to write the third novel due to the opinion given by his rival, Marcelo H. Del Pilar saying that he was not impressed with the El Filibusterismo. Reasons of Rizal on writing Makamisa: His first reason was to write a novel in Tagalog Language that is definitely dedicated to Tagalog readers so that it will be easy for them to convey the message and not to please the Europeans. Another reason, to escape criticism, he decided to resolved it by writing a novel in a more “artistic and literary” manner. And to write a novel that would focus on the ethics of the Tagalog to impart virtues, defects and custom of the Tagalogs. Also, he aims to change the national language by that time which is Spanish into our very own Tagalog language. “Tagalog Nobility” vs. “Makamisa” A manuscript entitled Maligaya y Maria Sinagtala, popularly known as Tagalog Nobility is the counterpart of Makamisa as candidate for the title of Rizal’s third novel. However, Makamisa has higher possibility among the two to be referred as Rizal’s third novel because it was written in Tagalog and Spanish depicting the manner of the third novel of Rizal was written unlike Tagalog Nobility which was written in Spanish only. Also, the characters along with the fact that the work dealt with Tagalog customs proves that Makamisa is definitely what Rizal referred to in his letter to Blumentritt as the sequel of El Filibusterismo. Makamisa: Title of the Novel or Title of a Chapter? Mariano M. Ponce said that “Makamisa” is not the title of the unfinished novel but is simply the title of a single chapter of the novel. Since the third novel of Rizal, aside from being unfinished, it is also an untitled work. Researches only entitled this as “Makamisa” which in English literally means “After Mass” based from the finished chapters which represents a scenario in the church after the mass. Makamisa: Anti-clerical Novel Jose Rizal tends to use vulgar words due to the experiences that his family had during the land squabbles in Laguna. It began when he lacks faith to the church especially when his mother unjustly arrested by only writing her name as Teodora Alonso instead of Teodora Realonda. Through his writing he satirizes the church. More particularly in his Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 2 of 7 novel there are parts wherein he compared San Sebastian to a bailarin and San Miguel as shown as dancing and executing a difficult past around the head of the devil which really displays an act of secularity. Makamisa: Unfinished Novel of Rizal Rizal's forte was to write his novels with the use of the language Spanish. He was having a hard time to write in Tagalog, more specifically during that time, the dominating language is the Spanish and also, he was taking his studies in Europe. The writing style challenged Jose Rizal of representing something that did not quite exist in a form amenable for a change as a realist novel. As perhaps all writers do, he left a lot of unfinished business. Since he is every way aware of what's happening around him, and he wants to progressively do and write something quickly, considering he has a hard time writing Makamisa in Tagalog the progress is slow. He has thought that it was a novel to be written in another time and perhaps by writers other than him. He always tends to shift quickly in writing new works pertaining to his ideas even if he's still working a piece. Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 3 of 7 III. Proofs of Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose Rizal Letters of Rizal to Blumentritt found by Ambeth Ocampo: (Letter dated September 22, 1891) "I want to be witty, satirical and candid. I want to cudgel and laugh..." - This portion of the letter emphasizes Rizal's strong desire to write a novel in a new style. He wants to change his very formal and dull manner in writing which he had used in Noli Me Tangere and El Filibusterismo. This time, he wants to set aside political issues for the sake of art. (Letter dated January 31, 1892) “I write the third part of my book in Tagalog. I want to write a novel... an artistic and literary novel. The book gives me much difficulty.” - He informed Blumentritt about his third book which highlights Filipino attitudes. He is having difficulty in writing the book because he has insufficient knowledge and practice of the Tagalog language. (Letter dated April 20, 1892) "I have already given up the idea of writing the third part of the novel in Tagalog for it would not be appropriate to write a book in two languages. So, I am writing it now in Spanish." - He thought that writing the novel in Spanish would make it realistic. And it would be similar to the sermons of the friars if written in two languages. So he wrote the Spanish version of the novel after two months. Thus, Makamisa has 2 manuscripts. The search for Rizal's third novel: The Spanish portion of the Makamisa was mistaken by a certain librarian as "Borrador Del Noli me Tangere" but this was opposed by Dr. Angel Hidalgo, granddaughter of Rizal's sister, Saturnina Rizal. She insisted that the draft found by Ambeth Ocampo is the Spanish version of Rizal's third novel. But then again, she was also opposed by Leoncio Lopez Rizal who is more favored by that time for he is Rizal's nephew. However, although the Jose Rizal National Centennial Commission ignored Hidalgo's proposition, Ambeth Ocampo supported her idea when he found out that there are no characters from the Noli me Tangere after he read the unfinished novel. Thus, proved that it can't be Borrador del Noli me Tangere. Ambeth Ocampo then concluded Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 4 of 7 that it was Makamisa because it has both Tagalog and Spanish parts, which resembles the only unfinished work of Rizal written in two languages. And as stated from the letters of Rizal to Blumentritt, it depicts the third, unfinished of Rizal. Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 5 of 7 IV. Conclusion According to the evidences gathered by Ambeth Ocampo, the Makamisa is acknowledge as the third novel of Rizal and not, as what others mistaken, the unfinished work known as Tagalog Nobility. This was supported by the fact that Tagalog Nobility although an unfinished work of Rizal like Makamisa, It was written wholly in Spanish which is a factor to lessen its chance to be referred as Rizal’s third novel considering this third novel was written in two language. Makamisa outshone among all the unfinished works of Rizal because of the language used in writing it which are Spanish and Tagalog. In terms of the title of the novel, originally, the third novel of Rizal is an untitled work. Historians were the reason behind the title “Makamisa”. They have coined this title based from the first chapters of the novel describing the happenings in the church after the mass. Lastly, regarding the accountability of Rizal as the writer of the novel, a closer analyzing on how the novel was found by Ambeth Ocampo, he found the texts between the pages of a book entitled Borrador Del Noli Me Tangere or the first drafts of Rizal’s first novel. In line with this, it seems impossible that someone or Rizal himself will put someone else’s work between the pages of the said manuscript. Thus, proves Jose Rizal as the author of the unfinished novel. Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 6 of 7 V. References https://ww.scribd.com/doc/35653574/REPORT-in-Rizal www.thelifeandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/01/makamisa-rizals- third-novel-full-text.html www.thelifesandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/01/facts-about- makamisa-rizals-unfinished.html www.thelifeandworksofrizal.blogspot.com/2012/01/enigma-of-jose- rizals-third-novel.html Ocampo, Ambeth R. Rizal: Without the Overcoat. Pasig City: Anvil Publishing, Inc., 2000 Makamisa: Third Novel of Jose P. Rizal Page 7 of 7