Tsismis as Decolonizing Epistemology

• In Event: Pakikipag-Kapwa: Filipino Indigenous Ways of Knowing for Decolonial Studies in Filipino-American Educational Research

Abstract

Purpose. This study explores a specific kind of storytelling–tsismis (gossip) –as a culturally sustaining epistemological practice. Situated within Jessica Hagedorn’s novel, Dogeaters, this analysis aims to show how tsismis operates as a decolonial discourse, resisting colonial, patriarchal, and hierarchical modes of knowledge. The research question that guided this study is “How does tsismis in Hagedorn’s Dogeaters function as a decolonizing epistemology that challenges Western knowledge hierarchies?”

Theoretical Perspectives. Tsismis is operationally defined as a Filipino communicative practice characterized by informal storytelling and the exchange of evaluative information about absent third parties, encompassing both truthful and fabricated elements (Ambion, 2024; Suing et al., 2022). Tsismis aligns closely with the Kapwa Framework (Enriquez, 1994), operating within relational categories of Ibang Tao (outsider) and Hindi Ibang Tao (insider), and thus informs degrees of belonging and trust inherent in gossip exchanges.

Methods. I engaged in critical discourse analysis (CDA; Fairclough, 2013) that examines how language use both shapes and is shaped by social power relations and processes of social change. In this study, I use CDA to investigate how language practices (i.e., tsismis) contribute to constructing social structures and power dynamics in society.
Data Sources and Analysis. Dogeaters (Hagedorn, 1990) is a novel set in late-1950s Manila, Philippines that follows a host of characters as their lives collide on the verge of a dictatorship. My unit of analysis was based on scenes, coded for moments when characters engage in tsismis, blending factual details with speculation, moral judgments, or social commentary. Each coded scene was then examined through Fairclough’s (2013) three dimensions: text, discursive practice, and social practice. Insights from these three dimensions were synthesized to form thematic categories, which were then refined into four themes. See Appendix A for coding excerpt.

Findings. Four themes emerged characterizing tsismis (gossip) in the novel: dialogic; interpersonal; embodied and affective; and critical.

The dialogic structure of tsismis—exemplified in the opening ("HOY, BRUJA! KUMUSTA? ANO ba—long time no hear! What's the latest balita?") establishes a relational rather than authoritative discourse, challenging Western traditions of singular, expert-driven knowledge production (Lakshmanan, 2009).

Tsismis elevates the interpersonal—"My mother Dolores spends hours at SPORTEX... My cousin Pucha and I get our weekly manicure"—disrupting colonial hierarchies that privilege public, masculine knowledge over private, feminine understanding.

Tsismis unfolds as an embodied, affective knowledge system where understanding emerges through laughter and intimacy rather than through detached rationality. For instance, the passage "Bruja, will you stop laughing?” highlights emotional engagement and sensory experience that challenge Western epistemologies obsessed with disembodied objectivism.
The "critical” aspects of tsismis are also displayed through the exposition of corruption and questioning of authority, which create counter-narratives that reveal hidden truths about those in power. This critical dimension distinguishes productive tsismis from harmful gossip by positioning it as a tool for collective empowerment and social critique.

Scholarly Significance. This study repositions tsismis—long marginalized through colonial and patriarchal histories—as a discourse that can shape more inclusive and imaginative futures for teaching, learning, and research.

Author

• Elizabeth Isidro, Western Michigan University