[Hot Off the Press] José Rizal, Nationhood, and the Anticolonial Imagination

New release from the Ateneo Press, José Rizal, Nationhood, and the Anticolonial Imagination, examines the concept of the Philippine nation

Have you ever wondered why we call the Philippines home and why we feel a bond with a hundred million strangers? A new release from the Ateneo Press, José Rizal, Nationhood, and the Anticolonial Imagination by Dr Filomeno Aguilar Jr, ponders how the concept of the Philippines as a nation came to be, all while overturning common ideas surrounding the history of this ideation process.  

Aguilar muses on the question of “how a slice of earth and sea acquired the character of a nation to which its members are emotionally attached to the point of laying down their lives for it.” He traces the roots of our nationhood to the illustrados, among whom was José Rizal, whose anticolonial books led to his execution as a traitor to Spain. The author revisits the much-studied historiography to step intently into the shoes of these illustrados and offer fresh eyes and interesting new perspectives. He delves into how these imperfect, youthful, well-off, and foreign-educated individuals were increasingly enlightened into channelling their “anticolonial anger at colonial injustice to the quest for collective dignity, which they dreamed could be achieved with the founding of one’s own nation” Their conceptualization of an independent nation is then discussed, focusing on the key issues of territory, people, history, and emotions. The book also emphasizes that the meanings we subscribe to our notion of the Filipino nation are not static; they can be transformed.  

Our beliefs about nationhood need to be questioned and problematized, as they may be disregarding complex facets of our history. This book is not only for historians and academics, for the complex truths and the underappreciated knowledge that it showcases belong to all Filipinos.

About the Author
Dr Filomeno V Aguilar Jr is a professor of history and assistant vice president for research, creative work, and innovation at Ateneo de Manila University. In 2025, he was awarded the Grant Goodman Prize by the Philippine Studies Group of the Association for Asian Studies for his contributions to Philippine historical studies.

José Rizal, Nationhood, and the Anticolonial Imagination by Dr Filomeno V Aguilar Jr is published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press. The book retails at PHP 695 and is available at the Ateneo University Press Bookshop in Bellarmine Hall, and the Press’s official Lazada and Shopee stores.

Grab your copy in paperback: Website | Shopee and Lazada