This paper analyzes three Philippine cultural texts that depict highland-lowland romantic relationships with the aim of discovering how romantic discourse is appropriated to investigate the conflict and negotiation of culture. The texts examined are the short story “The Girl from Bauko” (Ablang 1988), the TV series Forevermore aired in 2014-2015 by a local Philippine TV station, and the 2006 film Don’t Give Up on Us. All three texts depict the blossoming romance between an Igorot, who is a member from an indigenous minority group, and a lowlander, whose collective ethnic identity is culturally dominant. To address these issues, this paper employs the concept of the “contact zone,” which is conceptualized here as a space where confrontation, exchange or kinship occurs or is developed. This paper argues that highland-lowland romantic relationships as depicted in the three narratives implicate and engage a range of issues such as the metropolis/periphery dichotomy, the romanticization of the highlander, and the prevalent socio-economic and ethnic divides.

中文翻译：

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作为交往地带的爱：三种菲律宾文化文本中的高地-低地冲突与谈判

本文分析了三种描绘高地-低地浪漫关系的菲律宾文化文本，旨在发现如何运用浪漫主义话语来调查文化的冲突和协商。所检查的文字包括短篇小说《包科的女孩》（阿布郎，1988年），电视连续剧《永不停止》（Forevermore），2014-2015年由菲律宾当地一家电视台播出，以及2006年的电影《不要放弃我们》。这三段文字都描绘了伊戈罗特（Igorot）与土著人民之间的朵朵浪漫。为了解决这些问题，本文采用“接触区”的概念，这里将其概念化为发生或发展对抗，交换或亲缘关系的空间。