This document provides information about the novel "Lumbay ng Dila" by Filipino author Genevieve L. Asenjo. It won the National Book Award in 2011. The novel tells the story of Sadyah Zapanta Lopez and her search for truth about her family's involvement in a massacre. It also chronicles her romantic relationships. Key characters include Sadyah, her grandfather Marcelo Lopez who was accused of masterminding the massacre, and her parents who were guerilla fighters. The setting is mainly in Manila as Sadyah seeks to learn her family history.

1. LUMBAY
NG DILA

2. GENEVIEVE L. ASENJO
is a Filipino poet, fictionist,
novelist, translator, and literary
scholar in Kinaray-a, Hiligaynon,
and Filipino. Her first novel
Lumbay ng Dila (C&E/DLSU, 2010)
won the National Book Award in
2011 for the Juan C. Laya Prize for
Excellence in Fiction in a
Philippine Language.

3. In 2012, Asenjo is an Honorary
Writing Fellow at the
International Writing Program
(IWP) of the University of Iowa. In
2009, she enjoyed six months in
Seoul as Overseas Writing Fellow
sponsored by the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism of South
Korea.

4. CHARACTERS
-Sadyah Zapanta is an assistant
professor in De La Salle University
from Antique who currently lives in
Manila. She seeks closure with her
family about what really happened
that night during the Guinsang-an
Bridge massacre.

5. -Marcelo N. Lopez
is Sadyah’s grandfather. He was
imprisoned because he was accused
of being the mastermind of the
Guinsang-an Bridge massacre.
-Nene and Bong Bong are Sadyah's
cousins. They are the children of her
auntie Fely and Uncle Lydio. Sadyah
grew up with Nene and Bong Bong.

6. -Leandro Lopez is the father of
Sadyah and the husband of Teresa.
During his days as a commander in
the NPA, he was called Kumander
Pusa. Pusa is the Tagalog word for
cat and he was given this name
because of his ability to escape
death in many dangerous situations.
-Leandro Lopez is the father of
Sadyah and the husband of Teresa.
During his days as a commander in
the NPA, he was called Kumander
Pusa. Pusa is the Tagalog word for
cat and he was given this name
because of his ability to escape
death in many dangerous
situations.

7. -Teresa Lopez is the mother of
Sadyah and the wife of Leandro.
During her days as a commander
in the NPA, she was called
Kumander Rafflesia. Rafflesia is a
kind of parasitic flower mainly
found in southeast Asia

8. -Stephen Chua is Sadyah’s first lover in
the novel. She meets him online but
they eventually decide to meet in
person. Their relationship was more
sexual than emotional, both of them
seemingly detached from each other.

9. -Ishmael Onos is Sadyah’s second
lover in the novel. He is a Muslim and
Sadyah meets him in a Muslim –
Christian forum.
-Priya Iyer is Sadyah’s third lover in
the novel. He is an Indian corporate
professional living in the building
adjacent from Sadyah's building.

10. -Auntie Fely and Uncle Lydio are
Sadyah's aunt and uncle. Auntie Fely
is the sister of Sadyah’s father
Leandro and uncle Lydio is her
husband. They raised Sadyah after
her parents left her in their care.

11. SETTING
Manila
SETTING
City - that's the place when
Sadyah wants to find out the
truth about her family
regarding on the massacre

12. PLOT SUMMARY
The novel tells the story of Sadyah
Zapanta – Lopez, the granddaughter
of Marcelo N. Lopez and the
daughter of Leandro and Teresa
Lopez. Marcelo N. Lopez was
imprisoned after being accused as
the mastermind of the Guinsang-an
Bridge massacre.

13. Sadyah is an assistant professor in De
La Salle University and she graduated
from the University of the Philippines
– Visayas with a degree in literature.
The novel chronicles her search for
love and happiness through her
relationships with Stephen Chua,
Ishmael Onos, Priya Iyer.

14. TRIANGLE
TRIANGLE
Lumbay ng Dila tells us the story of
Sadyah Zapanta Lopez as she searches
for the truth about her roots and its
interconnections with the country’s
political history and socio-cultural
specificities of Panay
Sadyah’s grandfather is a traditional
politician aligned with the Marcos
dictatorship who was suspected to
have masterminded the death of an
opposition figure in Antique. Her
two parents are said to be armed
guerrillas based in the mountains of
Central Panay.
Sadyah is greeted by the news of
the acquittal of her grandfather, a
figure who along with her mother
she have not met since her early
childhood – a context that
conditions the trajectory of her
life. This search for the past and
identity will also frame Sadyah’s
love affairs to three men:
In Lumbay ng Dila, the ruling system and its
ills are opposed to the emancipatory
project of the underground revolutionary
movement but these two are balanced
against each other in such a way as to reject
both.
In a way, Lumbay ng Dila presents an
unconscious defense of the comfortable
academic career pursued by Sadyah and
dresses up the self-interestedness of such a
choice by highlighting the little spaces such
provides for the pursuit of so-called change.

15. CONFLICT
Sadyah gets her Priya while Teresa gets
her Noel and all ends well with them)
suggests that ultimately, all you need is
love, thus contributing to the ever-
expanding discourse of domestic closure.
The naïve myth that love conquers all
effectively glosses over the fundamental
problems of the present.

16. THEME
The novel’s message as a whole seems
to be that of a subtle warning against
an over-identification with totalizing
collective struggles for universal
emancipation in favor of small
personal contributions.

17. SYMBOLISM
the ruling system in the society-
because just like now our rules in
our country is just like the rules in
the novel Lumbay ng Dila.

18. PLOT DEVICES
Flashback - because some events
in the story happens in the past
like in Manila where Sadyah
remembers about her school life.

19. Point of View
Omniscient -Because Genevieve
knows the thoughts and feelings of all
the characters in the novel "Lumbay
ng Dila".

20. REFERENCES
Isagani Cruz. December 3, 2016. 21st century literature.
http://www.philstar.com/education-and-
home/2013/10/24/1248724/21st-century-literature
Karlo Mongaya. December 12, 2016. A critical response to Genevieve
Asenjo’s Lumbay ng Dila.
https://karlomongaya.wordpress.com/2010/06/17/a-critical-
response-to-genevieve-asenjos-lumbay-ng-dila/
Tiarra Mapoy. December 3, 2016. Lumbay ng Dila.
https://prezi.com/lb2qbuzp5ox6/lumbay-ng-dila/
Wikipedia. December 3, 2016. Genevieve L. Asenjo.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genevieve_L._Asenjo

21. SUBMITTED BY :
Lindsay Deanice B.
Victorio
Sherina Ambuyoc
Joanna Marie Glenn
Rodriguez