Nueva Vizcaya’s Topography: A Literary Ground for Ecocomposition

Abstract

The Philippines is rich in stunning and breathtaking terrain, and Nueva Vizcaya is one of the provinces of the country gifted with superb scenic views that enthralls nature lovers and writers alike. Their awareness of the natural milieu surrounding the towns, as well as the encounter with these forms of nature, serve as a vehicle for the inception of writing songs. This research paper analyzed and interpreted how landscape or topography of Nueva Vizcaya pertaining to land, waters, trees, and mountains was woven into the composition of municipal hymns of the province. Further, this paper helps the readers gain a better knowledge and profound appreciation of literature and nature relationship. This is a qualitative research employing ecocomposition as an approach to writing by Sidney Dobrin and Christian Weisser, which is used in treating the topography of the province along topographical features, classifications, and the topographical encounter of the writers to show how location and other forms of nature participate as premises and sources of writing. This study will further utilize the qualitative approach particularly a phenomenological quality research to determine what topographical features and utilization inspire the writers to write their municipal hymns. Specifically, this study will adopt Merriam and Tisdell’s basic qualitative design (2016). The basic qualitative study design is appropriate for this study because it allows for a broad discovery and take on the sources of inspiration of writers along hymn composition. Findings reveal that Nueva Vizcaya’s topography became the composers’ ecopoetic source of inspiration in writing the municipal hymns. They were able to link the topography in their composition as a way of igniting the love and appreciation of nature. This study will provide a take-off point for environmentally inspired writers to conduct similar studies as a baseline reference for the provincial and local government units of the province to exacerbate the need to consistently design and implement environmental programs or measures to conserve, restore, and further cultivate Nueva Vizcaya's prairies, valleys, mountains, forests, and waterbodies for even more productive human use.