General exhibition of the Philippine Islands: Gramatical and lexicographical samples

Abstract

The General Exhibition of the Philippine Islands, held in Madrid in 1887, was presented to the public as the best showcase so that the exotic and unknown overseas colony, with serious deficiencies in infrastructures and communication routes, organic cultural limitations and a lethargic educational system, could show the positive side of its scientific, technical, pedagogical and artistic achievements, the richness and diversity of its physical environment and its cultural and ethnographic specificities. Grammatical and lexicographical studies were also given a place in the Eighth Section and in the Collection of Álvarez Guerra, where they were presented to the visitor as a sign of educational progress and as evangelical and patriotic bastions in the domain of indigenous cultures. In this article, taking as our main bibliographical sources the official Catalogue and Guide to the Exposition (1887) and the Bibliografía de la lingüística misionera española (Esparza Torres and Niederehe 2023), we will find out what these works were, to whom they are attributed and how they fit into the bibliographical trajectory of their authors. A historiographical approach will be adopted for this purpose, appropriate to the nature of the production context and the relevance of this event in the presentation of philippine missionary linguistics to society.