Given the title of this book and its well-known author, one can definitely be forgiven for any initial trepidation when approaching it as a serious academic publication. The Philippine babaylan (shaman) has become rather politicized recently, as the practices of Indigenous minority communities, many of whom retain some shamanic practices, have been appropriated by mainstream Filipinos seeking to “decolonize” themselves and reconnect with ancestral heritage. Especially prominent is the movement built around the babaylan as a proto-feminist icon of anticolonial resistance. This process has effectively dampened the Indigenous voice while brightening already-privileged mainstream majority voices as interlocutors of Indigenous representation. The author herself, Filipino pop singularity Grace Nono, whose esoteric musical style is inspired profoundly by Philippine native musical traditions, has long been associated with this trend.
But the academic reader can be reassured that, from beginning to end, Babaylan Sing Back explicitly and unambiguously locates the babaylan/shaman squarely...
