Body Parts of Empire: Visual Abjection, Filipino Images, and the American Archive

239 Pages·2016·17.96 MB·English

by  Nerissa S. Balce

Revised Pages
Body Parts of Empire
Revised Pages
Revised Pages
Body Parts of Empire
Visual Abjection, Filipino Images,
and the American Archive
Nerissa S. Balce
University of Michigan Press Ann Arbor
Revised Pages
Copyright © by Nerissa S. Balce 2016
All rights reserved
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including
illustrations, in any form (beyond that copying permitted by Sections
107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the
public press), without written permission from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America by the
University of Michigan Press
Manufactured in the United States of America
c Printed on acid- free paper
2019 2018 2017 2016 4 3 2 1
A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Names: Balce, Nerissa, author.
Title: Body parts of empire : visual abjection, Filipino images, and the
American archive / Nerissa Balce.
Description: Ann Arbor : University of Michigan Press, [2016] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016030542| ISBN 9780472119783 (hardback : acid-
free paper) | ISBN 9780472121755 (e- book)
Subjects: LCSH: Philippines— History— Philippine American War,
1899– 1902— Social aspects. | Philippines— History— Philippine
American War, 1899– 1902— Sources. | Philippines— Colonization—
Social aspects— History. | Imperialism— Social aspects— United
States— History. | Visual communication—P olitical aspects— United
States— History. | Human body— Political aspects— United States—
History. | Racism— Political aspects— United States— History. | Sex—
Political aspects— United States— History. | Philippines— Relations—
United States. | United States— Relations— Philippines. | BISAC:
LITERARY CRITICISM / American / General.
Classification: LCC DS682 .A155 2016 | DDC 959.9/031— dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016030542
Revised Pages
Para kay Tatay at Nanay.
For my parents, Norberto Veloso Balce and Nymia Suterio Balce.

Revised Pages
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction. Nothing but Objects:
America’s Shadow Archive 1
Chapter 1. The Abject Archive of the
Philippine- American War 21
Chapter 2. Face: Necropolitics and the
U.S. Imperial Photography Complex 45
Chapter 3. Skin: Lynching, Empire, and the
Black Press during the Philippine- American War 91
Chapter 4. The Bile of Race: White Women’s
Travel Writing on the Philippine- American War 127
Conclusion. Blood and Bones: The Romance of Counterinsurgency 159
Notes 183
Works Cited 201
Index 219
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Acknowledgments
This book took time to complete due to my migrant academic life. It was diffi-
cult to take apart what one Filipino poet described as “the wall of language” that
constructs the official narrative of the Philippine-A merican War after 1898. This
book is an attempt to piece together a different story about American empire
building by analyzing race and gender in U.S. fin de siècle popular culture. The
assistance and support of many barangays, or communities, in the Philippines
and the United States, enabled the completion of this book.
I would like to thank Aaron McCollough and Allison Peters of the Uni-
versity of Michigan Press for their kindness, professionalism, and support. I
would also like to thank the staff of the National Archives, the National Library
of Congress, the Newberry Archives in Chicago, the University of California’s
Bancroft Archives in Berkeley, and the New York Public Library. Special men-
tion must be given to two friends who helped my archival research with their
friendship and encouragement: Jody Blanco and Anna More. Salamat to Anna’s
kind parents, Livy and John More, who welcomed me into their beautiful home
in Washington, DC, while I conducted research in the National Archives. And
sincere thanks to my cousin in- law, Michael Colmenar, who drove from Phila-
delphia to DC on weekends to make sure I was eating and not spending too
much time in the archival stacks.
In graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley, I was ex-
tremely fortunate to be mentored by Oscar V. Campomanes, now at Ateneo
de Manila and the University of Santo Tomas, Manila. His pioneering work
on the U.S. empire, postcolonial studies, and the Filipino immigrant condi-
tion influenced my own research. Oscar is a generous teacher and a kind
professor who always took the time to answer questions on literary theory