Stefanie Matabang is a PhD Candidate in the Department of Comparative Literature at UCLA. She is a Cota-Robles Fellow and has also been the recipient of the FLAS Fellowship, Hiroshi Wagatsuma Fellowship, Komar-Shideler Fellowship, and the Graduate Council Diversity Fellowship. She is a current Fulbright-Hays Fellow and will be conducting research in the libraries and archives of UP Diliman, the National Library, the University of Santo Tomas and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Her dissertation discusses what she refers to as Filipino medievalism, its development through the Spanish, American, and Japanese colonial periods in the Philippines, and its relationship to the development of Filipino nationalism and identity. In addition to her research, Stefanie is passionate about mentorship and service work that expands opportunities for BIPOC students. She has served as a mentor through the Filipinx Mentorship Program, advising Filipinx students interested in graduate school. She has also served as an officer of UCLA’s Comparative Literature Graduate Student Association, President of the Pilipino American Graduate Student Association, and is a currently serving on the Board of UCLA’s Medieval and Early Modern Graduate Student Association.

Education

  • C. Phil. Comparative Literature (UCLA)
  • M.A. Comparative Literature (UCLA)
  • B.A. Double Major in Celtic Studies and English (UC Berkeley)

 

Research

  • Ideas of the Middle Ages in the Philippines, Southeast Asia and the Pacific
  • Philippine metrical romances within the context of world literature
  • Postcolonial and decolonial theory in Southeast Asia and the Pacific
  • Comparative medievalisms in the global south

Publications

Articles

  • “Nationalist Medievalism and Orientalism in Gregorio Fernandez’ Prinsipe Teñoso”. The Asian and Pacific ‘Middle Ages’, ed. Louise D’Arcens. Parergon. ANZAMEMS, Inc. July/August 2022. (forthcoming)

Field of Interest

Medievalism Studies, Global Medievalism, Postcolonial Medievalism, Colonial and Postcolonial Philippine Literature, World Literature, Philippine and Filipino Studies, Decolonial and Postcolonial Theory, the Global Middle Ages, National Identity and Nationalism, Textual Transmission and Reception

Languages

Modern Tagalog, Old and Modern Spanish, Old and Modern French, Middle and Modern Welsh, Old Occitan, Middle and Modern English, Modern Pangasinan

Teaching

  • Spring 2020: Teaching Associate, Comparative Literature 2BW – Middle Ages to the 17th century
  • Winter 2020: Teaching Associate, Comparative Literature 2DW – Great Books from the World at Large
  • Fall 2019: Teaching Associate, Comparative Literature 2CW – Enlightenment, 20th Century
  • Spring 2018: Seminar Instructor, UCLA Cluster Program – Medievalism and Mythology in the Postcolonial World
  • Winter 2018: Teaching Assistant, UCLA Cluster Program – Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Myth
  • Fall 2017: Teaching Assistant. UCLA Cluster Program – Multidisciplinary Perspectives on Myth
  • Spring 2017: Teaching Assistant, Comparative Literature 2BW – Middle Ages to the 17th century

Conference Presentations (Selected)

  • “The Medievalism of Botong Francisco and the Harsh Outlines of Siete Infantes de Lara”. Modern Iberian (Neo)medievalisms in Postcolonial Contexts and Diaspora. International Congress of Medieval Studies. virtual. May 2022
  • “Chivalry Beneath the Mountain: The Many Forms of the Philippine Bernardo Carpio”. Medievalism Through and Within Asian Popular Cultures. round table. International Congress of Medieval Studies. virtual. May 2022
  • “Born in a Hood: The Political Ascent of Actor Robin Padilla”. Global Outlaws: The Biennial Conference of the International Association for Robin Hood Studies. virtual. December 2021
  • “Filipino Medieval Fantasies Under Colonialism: Manuel Conde and Gregorio Fernandez’ Film, Prinsipe Teñoso, as Necessary Play”. International Society for the Study of Medievalism Conference. Old Dominion University. Norfolk, VA. virtual. November 2020
  • “Duterte’s Medieval Komedya Performance as President of the Philippines”. International Society for the Study of Medievalism Conference. Old Dominion University. Norfolk, VA. virtual. November 2020
  • “Worlding Filipino Medievalism: Nationalism and the European Middle Ages in a Postcolonial Philippines.” Center for Philippine Studies Conference: Emerging Voices in Philippine and Filipino Studies. UH Manoa. Honolulu, HI. November 2019.
  • “Dreaming the Postcolonial Philippine ‘Middle Ages’. Association of Asian Studies of the Pacific Conference. St. Mary’s College. Moraga, CA. June 2019
  • “Medievalism, Orientalism and the Philippine Shawoman in the Metrical Romance, Buhay ni Doncella Teodora.” SEASGRAD Conference: Southeast Asia and the Diaspora: Gender, Labor and Performance. UC Riverside. Riverside, CA. May 2019
  • “Cân Rolant and Medieval Postcolonial Wales.” Celtic Studies Association of North America. Harvard University. Cambridge, MA. April 2019.
  • “From Warrior to Knight-Errant: Contextualizing the Disappearance of the Native Epic and the Rise of the Philippine Metrical Romance During the Philippine Spanish Colonial Period.” Southwest English Symposium: Borders and Cross-Cultural Encounters. Arizona State University. Tempe, AZ. March 2019.
  • “The Sword in the Sand: Philippine Medievalism in Ang Panday Under Martial Law.” International Graduate Student Conference on Asia and Pacific Region. University of Hawaii, Manoa. Honolulu, HI. February 2019.