Page 143 - Key Words in Religion Media and Culture

126 Jolyon Mitchell

amplifier works well, the central story is not simply repeated but enlarged,
isolated, clarified, or underscored. It is possible to hear or see the story more
clearly as a result of effective amplification.
How then was news of Rizal’s death amplified? And how far did the
amplification bring the narrative closer to audiences or distance them from
his death? First, within a few decades there were different kinds of material
amplifications. Several statues and other monuments were built; a plaque
marking the place he actually fell was commissioned, and stamps, banknotes,
coins, and postcards were produced, all with his figure or face being given
pride of place. Material amplification continues to this day. Just as in
Lebanon it is now possible to buy mementoes of recent local martyrs, so in
modern-day Manila you can purchase mugs, t-shirts, and posters with Rizal’s
face emblazoned on them. These material amplifications do not always
remain static and are constantly being renewed and refreshed to speak to
new generations of Filipinos. One of the objectives of such revivifications is
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to preserve and reinvigorate the memory of Rizal’s life and death. Consider,
for example, the annual Rizal Day events, which included the publication
of a Rizal Day Souvenir Programme. This was retitled in 1951 as Rizaliana,
which included tributes to Rizal, stories about Rizal, and quotations by the
man himself. Here was something concrete to buy, to read, to look at, to talk
about, and to collect.
Closely connected to material amplification is a process that I will
describe as rhetorical amplification through narratives. Many of the material
amplifications discussed above are used rhetorically, with the intention of
encouraging audiences to remember their national hero and follow Rizal’s
footsteps. In other words, Rizal’s story is used to persuade people of the
value not only of celebrating his wisdom but of acting in certain ways.
Several examples will suffice to illustrate this claim. In Rizaliana, we find
one page full of Rizal quotes celebrating the “Freedom of the Press,”
such as: “A government cannot do away with the freedom of the press by
which it can feel the beatings of a people’s pulse.” At the bottom are a few
lines that connect the sponsor with the theme of the page: “Your paper
manufacturers, in supplying the press with a vital commodity, are giving a
priceless contribution to the preservation of a very important freedom.” In
another edition, we find an advertisement where Rizal’s name and figure
are used in detailed prose to endorse the only university in the Philippines
exclusively for women. It is almost as if Rizal has been transformed into
an ideal type. This can be seen even more clearly in Rizaliana marking the
sixty-first anniversary of his death, where he is commended not only as a
patriot but as the ideal citizen. On this particular page, Rizal’s figure and
face have been replaced by a mother holding the arms of a smiling toddler
while a muscular man, presumably the father, looks on. In a brief few lines