Early Puerto Rican Cinema and Identity Formation (1897-1940)
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View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship Repository STATELESS NATION BUILDING: EARLY PUERTO RICAN CINEMA AND IDENTITY FORMATION (1897-1940) BY NAIDA GARCÍA-CRESPO DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in English with a minor in Cinema Studies in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2015 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Ramona Curry, Chair Associate Professor Anustup Basu Assistant Professor Manisha Basu Associate Professor Dara E. Goldman ii ABSTRACT This dissertation centers on the processes of Puerto Rican national identity formation as seen through the historical development of cinema on the island between 1897 and 1940. Anchored in archival sources in film technology, economy, and education, I argue that Puerto Rico’s position as a stateless nation allows for a fresh understanding of national cinema based on perceptions of productive cultural contributions rather than on citizenship or state structures. As I show, the development and circulation of cinema in Puerto Rico illustrate how the “national” is built from transnational connections. With the aim of elucidating such social-political linkages, the first chapter provides a historical contextualization of the period 1897-1952. I argue that this historical period (the transition from a Spanish Colony to a U.S. commonwealth) was marked by highly pronounced political ambiguity for Puerto Rico’s status as a nation, which encouraged the creation of a collective identity that paradoxically both appropriated and rejected attributes from both colonizers. The second chapter turns to the period of 1897-1908 to argue for a transnational approach to the archives to clarify long-standing historiographic absences about the introduction of film to the island. In this chapter I contend that early traveling film exhibitors as well as productions made in relation to the Spanish-American War helped to mold international and local conceptions of Puerto Ricans as inadequate citizens. The third chapter employs a transnational approach to cinema-related discourses of national belonging, by approaching the early career of filmmaker Rafael Colorado, a Spanish citizen until his death, as a case study of how Puerto Rican cinema history appropriated transnational figures to strengthen national cultural identity. iii The fourth chapter considers the role of intellectual elites in the production of both popular culture and discourses about its social function. Here I argue that popular conceptions of the role of cinema in the construction and creation of the nation are based on the works of intellectual elites of the 1910s. I focus entirely on one company, Tropical Film (1916-1917), led by writers Luis Lloréns Torres and Nemesio Canales, to show how their conception of cinema as equal parts education, culture, and business has virtually remained unchanged for nearly a century. The fifth chapter looks beyond the Puerto Rican border and argues that U.S. productions made in and explicitly about Puerto Rico have formed an important part of the conception of Puerto Rican identity. In this chapter I contend that American films made the island both visible and invisible by creating a homogenizing stereotype that does not accurately represent Puerto Rico’s diverse history and culture. The sixth and final chapter centers on issues related to the transition to sound, popular appeal and marketability to argue that these concerns force us to rethink traditional intellectual conceptions of nation building through cinema. Here I focus on the careers of filmmaker Juan Viguié Cajas and producer Rafael Ramos Cobián during the 1930s and the local involvements in coproductions with American companies, to argue for the development of alternative approaches to film production in Puerto Rico. Overall, this dissertation presents early Puerto Rican cinema as a case study for how cultural productions can structure and maintain national identity even in the absence of a state. I argue that the constant flow and adoption of outside products and ideas is a defining element of the colonial condition, and colonial formations of the national. That is, I contend that stateless nations often appropriate transnational discourses and subjects as the foundation for national identities. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work could not have been possible without the help and support of many people. Although I cannot mention everybody in this brief space I hope you all know that I greatly appreciate you and all that you have given me. First, I would like to recognize Dr. Ramona Curry, my advisor throughout this long and complicated process. Without Dr. Curry’s unconditional support, careful feedback, and meticulous proofreading this dissertation, and my overall doctoral experience, would not have been the wonderful journey that it came to be. Ramona, you made me a better scholar and person, and for that you have my eternal gratitude. I also want to acknowledge Dr. Anustup Basu, Dr. Manisha Basu and Dr. Dara E. Goldman, the brilliant members of my dissertation committee. Thank you for asking challenging questions and offering guidance that led to the betterment of this dissertation and my research in general. I want to give special recognition to Joaquín “Kino” García and Rose Marie Bernier for enthusiastically sharing their wonderful work with me. We are all fortunate to have such great film scholars working in Puerto Rico. I also thank the University of Illinois, especially its Graduate College and English Department, for providing important financial support and a welcoming working environment. In particular I want to express my gratitude to Stephanie Shockey for always having the right answers and being eager to share them, and to Dr. José B. Capino for his willingness to work with me on the independent study that started this project. I thank my colleagues and friends in Urbana-Champaign and Puerto Rico for their emotional and intellectual support. I am especially grateful to Marcos Cerdeira for being v my partner in crime, an amazing shoulder to lean on, and my greatest love. Marcos, you keep me sane! Finally, I thank my family, who taught me the great value of an education. To my parents, you are the inspiration for everything I do; and to my sister, you are the person I wish I were. Thank you! vi TABLE OF CONTENT INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………… 1 Established Frames and Images of Puerto Rican Cinema …………………………. 4 Conceptions of the Puerto Rican Nation………………………………………….... 8 An Alternative Approach to the Study of Puerto Rican National Cinema………… 12 Methodological Problems………………………………………………………….. 15 Chapters and Themes………………………………………………………………. 18 CHAPTER ONE- Contexts for a National Cinema: Cultural, Political, and Economic Movements in Puerto Rico 1860-1952 ………………………………… 23 Late Spanish Colonialism through 1898…………………………………………… 24 Circumstances and Consequences of the U.S. Invasion…………………………… 30 Initial U.S. Congressional Rule and the Formation of Puerto Rican Identity……… 38 Puerto Rican Conceptions of the Nation from 1930 Onwards…………………….. 43 CHAPTER TWO- Cinema Comes to Puerto Rico: Historical Uncertainties and Ambiguous Identities (1897-1909)………………………………………………... 55 Film Exhibition in Turn-of-the-Century Puerto Rico……………………………… 59 Filming in and about Turn-of-the-Century Puerto Rico: Rumors of War Footage... 70 Filming in and about Turn-of-the-Century Puerto Rico: Representing U.S. Colonial Puerto Rico……………………………………………………………….. 76 CHAPTER THREE- Stateless Nationhood, Transnationalism and the Difficulties of Assigning Nationality: Rafael Colorado in Puerto Rican Historiography (1912-1916)……………………………………………………….. 90 Rafael Colorado, Film Exhibition, and Cultural Subjects’ Transnational Circulation………………………………………………………………………….. 95 Rafael Colorado as Cinematic Producer: Negotiating the Local and the Global….. 100 Citizenship in a Stateless Nation: Constructing the Puerto Rican Subject………… 118 CHAPTER FOUR- The Company of Contradictions: The Rhetoric and Practices of (and about) The Tropical Film Company (1916-1917)…………………………. 123 Inconsistencies in the Received Histories of the Tropical Film Company………… 127 The Educational/Cultural Project of The Tropical Film Company………………... 131 vii The Tropical Film Company’s Commercial Aims…………………………………. 142 The End of the Beginning: The Tropical Film Company’s Demise and Legacy…... 157 CHAPTER FIVE- Perilous Paradise: American Assignment and Appropriation of “Puerto Ricanness” (1917-1925)………………………………………………... 162 From Big Stick to Good Neighbor: Puerto Rico as Test Site for American Foreign Policy……………………………………………………………………………….. 165 Fictional Puerto Rico and Colonial Angst…………………………………………. 169 Puerto Rico’s New Production Model……………………………………………... 178 U.S. Cinema Falls in Love with the Tropics……………………………………….. 187 The MacManus/Pathé Productions………………………………………………… 195 Famous Player-Lasky/Paramount Comes to the Island……………………………. 208 Beyond Fiction: Other Aspects of the Puerto Rican Film Industry in the 1920s…... 215 CHAPTER SIX- Making the Nation Profitable: Industry-Centered Puerto Rican Transnational Approaches to Filmmaking (1923-1940)…………………………… 219 The Film Enthusiast: The Career of Juan E. Viguié Cajas………………………… 222 Romance tropical: Re-making the Dream………………………………………….. 230 The Film Impresario: The Career of Rafael Ramos Cobián……………………….. 244 Mis