Page 144 - Key Words in Religion Media and Culture

Narrative 127

“the Filipino people” are exhorted to recall and “seek inspiration” from his
example. Taken together, these three examples illustrate how Rizal’s words
and depictions of his face or entire body are used to encourage readers to
value a free press, a rigorous education, and commitment to the nation, while
also encouraging them to support a local university or paper manufacturer.
In ways reminiscent of how John Foxe’s Book of Martyrs (1563) was used
in England to promote different causes from the sixteenth to as recent as the
nineteenth century, so Rizal’s life and death become a rhetorical resource to
promote anything from social decorum to locally manufactured paper. Take
the page in Rizaliana where Rizal is held up as a model of good manners
“with all his dealings with the fair sex”: the “perfect gentlemen.” An artist
brings this claim to life by depicting Rizal sitting beside his “sweetheart,”
Leonor Rivera, but with at least forty centimeters safely separating them.
The commentary beneath the image goes on to claim that “our present day
youth have much to learn from Rizal in this respect.” The fact that he was
romantically involved with at least thirteen women is not mentioned.
As we have seen, Rizal’s death also became a rhetorical resource for
advertisers. It is worth reflecting on this process a little more closely. At
first sight in several editions of Rizaliana, the image and text combine to
celebrate Rizal’s heroic example. For instance, beside the flamboyantly
inscribed headline “Rizal’s Immortality” is the assertion “The immortality
of the Jose Rizal lies not alone in his death as a martyr. His greatness lies in
the sublime philosophy of his writings.” Beneath this claim is a picture of the
cover of his best known book, Noli Me Tangere, which we return to discuss
in a few moments. Looking carefully, one can see how both the story of Rizal
and stories by Rizal are used once again to promote Menzi and Co., a paper
manufacturer who “suppl[ies] the vital commodity on which are immortalised
the sublime thoughts” of the likes of Rizal. Here is one example of how the
narratives connected with Rizal were used to help to endorse a commodity.
Paper was not the only commodity associated with Rizal’s life and death.
For instance, one picture puts the Rizal memorial in the background with a
large picture of a bottle in the foreground accompanied by “For a Bigger and
Better Rizal Day celebration serve: Pepsi.”
One finds the rhetorical purpose of amplification at work even in Rizal’s
own fictional writing and its continuing reception. Rizal’s novels, first Noli
Me Tangere (1887) and subsequently El Filibusterismo (1891), are often
described as one of the main causes of his arrest, trial, and execution.
Initially they were banned and burnt, but later they would become almost
canonical. The words Noli Me Tangere are taken from John 20.17, where the
risen Christ tells Mary Magdalene “don’t touch me.” Curiously, there is no
direct reference in the novel to this incident. However, in a letter to a friend,