When the United States entered World War II, the popular image of Filipinos in the country took a turn. With the Philippines holding the line against Japan in the Pacific, Filipinos were suddenly cast as allies in the war effort. Hostility towards the Left also lessened somewhat, with the Soviet Union as an ally against fascism, and the U.S. Communist Party adopting new policies friendly to U.S. patriotism. Carlos Bulosan found himself working under new global conditions. As he titled a 1942 poem, he was writing “Portraits with Cities Falling.”
The wartime atmosphere occasioned new opportunities for Bulosan, with the 1940s proving to be his most successful decade in terms of publication. He published numerous articles and short stories in national publications, including The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, The Saturday Review of Literature, The New Republic, and Mademoiselle. Most widely read of all was a March 6, 1943 piece in The Saturday Evening Post called “Freedom from Want,” based on U.S. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms.” The essay is a lyrical testament to the struggles of American laborers. It was accompanied by a seemingly incongruous painting by Norman Rockwell of a white American family on Thanksgiving. Bulosan’s author profile in the Evening Post tells of how he nearly lost the manuscript in a Tacoma bar.
Bulosan also published a series of books in the 1940s. Two volumes of his poetry appeared in 1942, Chorus for America and Letter from America, followed by a poetic celebration of the US/Philippine war effort, The Voice of Bataan, in 1943. He then hit the national bestseller lists in 1944 with the publication of The Laughter of My Father, a collection of satirical short stories based on folktales from the Philippines. Lastly, Bulosan published his semi-autobiographical novel America is in the Heart in 1946, recounting the experiences of himself and other Filipinos along the West Coast during the Great Depression.
 Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets. |
 Letter from America |
 The Voice of Bataan |
 The Laughter of My Father |
Nang pumasok ang Estados Unidos sa Ikalawang Digmaang Pandaigdig, binago ang pangkaraniwang pansin ng mga Pinoy na nasa U.S. Dahil sa pagsisikap ng mga hukbong Pilipino laban sa Hapon sa Pasipiko, biglang naging magkapanalig ang U.S. sa Pilipinas. At saka binawasan ang kapootan laban sa mga maka-kaliwa, dahil naging kapanalig din laban sa Pasismo ang Soviet Union, at humiram ang Lapiang Komunista ng U.S. ng bagong patakaran ukol sa pagkamakabayan ng mga Amerikano. Na tamo ni Bulosan ang pagbabago ng kapaligirang politiko. Nang sinulat niya ang tula noong 1942, "Mga Larawan na May Nasisirang Lungsod" ["Portraits with Cities Falling"].
Dahil sa panahong pandigmaan, nagkaroon ng bagong pagkakataon si Carlos Bulosan, kaya napakatagumpay siya noong dekadang 1940. Pinaglagyan ng maraming mga artikulo at maikling kuwento ang paglalathalang pambansa, katulad ng The New Yorker, Harper’s Bazaar, Town & Country, The Saturday Review of Literature, The New Republic, and Mademoiselle. Ang pinakabinasa ng mga artikulong ito ay ang tinatawag na "Freedom from Want" noong 1943, binase sa "Four Freedoms" ni Pangulo ng U.S. si Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Noong dekadang 1940, naglathala si Bulosan ng mga hanay na aklat. Ilinitaw ang dalawang tomo ng kaniyang mga tula noong 1942, "Chorus for America" at "Letter from America." Noong 1943, ang sumunod dito'y ang pagdiriwang ng mag-pagsisikap pangdigmaan ng U.S. at ng Pilipinas, "The Voice of Bataan." Naging miyembro siya ng pinakamataas sa mga nabibiling aklat dahil sa kaniyang paglalathala ng The Laughter of My Father noong 1944, ang paglilikom ng mga satirikal na maikling kuwento base sa mga alamat galing sa Pilipinas. Sa katapusan, ilinathala niya ang kaniyang mala-kathambuhay, America is in the Heart, noong 1946. Ang paksang ito’y ang mga pangyayari ni Bulosan at ng mga ibang tao, sa Kanlurang Baybayin noong Great Depression.
Chorus for America: Six Philippine Poets. |
Letter from America |
The Voice of Bataan |
The Laughter of My Father |
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