Other Fiction Rizal, José: Noli me tángere. (Spanish) v.2 27-July-2010

[Jellby]

José Rizal (1861-1896) was a Filipino physician and writer, an advocate for reforms in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period. He travelled through Europe, Japan and the United States, but was always involved with his homeland politics and culture. Although he never endorsed violence, he was accused of rebellion, sedition and conspiracy, and was executed near Manila in 1896. He is today considered a national hero of Philippines, where there is even a province named after him.

"Noli me tángere" (Latin for "touch me not") was his first novel, published in Berlin in 1887. It tells the story of Juan Crisóstomo Ibarra, a young Filipino who returns to his home town in Philippines after his studies in Europe, and how he tries to improve the conditions of the people there, while fighting both the religious establishment and the more violent rebellious people. It clearly does not paint a nice picture of the Philippines society of the time, but it's also not a one-sided story against the colonial government. It is sad that most Filipinos today can't read this novel in the original Spanish.

There is a sequel: El filibusterismo.

This version is based on an annotated edition, to which I have added the notes of the English translation by Charles Derbyshire (translated into Spanish). I have also updated the spelling (mostly accents) and punctuation, and added a map of the region where the story develops.

EDIT (v2): Fixed a few typos and formatting tags.

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[HarryT]

Thank you for explaining that. When I saw "Noli me tangere (Spanish)", my immediate thought was "that's Latin, not Spanish!".

[Jellby]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Thank you for explaining that. When I saw "Noli me tangere (Spanish)", my immediate thought was "that's Latin, not Spanish!".

That's why it has an accent on "tángere"

(It's still Latin, not Spanish, but "adapted" to Spanish spelling. I kept the accent because the author himself used it in the hand-drawn cover, as can be seen in the Wikipedia article).

[HarryT]

Interesting - thanks. An entirely new work for me.

[Jellby]

Fixed just a few typos and formatting issues. Uploaded v2.