Download Date 27/09/2021 16:16:49

Total Page:16

File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb

Download Date 27/09/2021 16:16:49 Seeing the Future through the Eyes of the Child: Representations of Youth in Post-Soviet Cuba Item Type text; Electronic Thesis Authors Mahar, Kaelyn Rae Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 27/09/2021 16:16:49 Item License http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/579287 Mahar 1 Abstract The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 brought with it significant changes within Cuban institutions and the country’s outlook on the future. The period following the collapse of Cuba’s primary trading partner was euphemistically called the “Special Period in times of peace,” as this period was characterized by the negative effects it had on social programs and people’s livelihoods. As a result the Cuban government began to allow for more capitalistic practices, which brought about many new challenges including an increase in inequality. A literary boom that took place during the “Special Period” has offered a critique of the government for the way in which it has failed to follow through on its promises. A common trope that has emerged out of this literature is the abandonment of the child through lack of support from Cuba’s main institutions, especially education as well as growing inequalities that threaten the child’s future. This portrayal of the abandonment of Cuba’s children has appeared alongside a growth in inequality within Cuba that feeds into the further separation of the youngest generation from the pre-Soviet way of life. Through analysis of texts produced in the post-Soviet period: Conducta (2014) by directed Ernesto Daranas, Todos se van (2007) written by Wendy Guerra, Suitehabana (2003) directed by Fernando Pérez and Habanastation (2011) directed by Ian Padrón, which function as case studies of a broader trend, it is shown how the abandonment of children in the post-Soviet period represent anxiety for the future of Cuba. Introduction The dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 had a disastrous impact on Cuba’s economy and institutions, leading to the economic crisis of the 1990s that has been euphemistically called “The Special Period in Times of Peace.” In the midst of this Special Period a boom in literary and cultural production emerged within Cuba. This literary production was termed el nuevo Mahar 2 boom cubano [new Cuban boom] and referred to a rapid production of fictional work by Cuban authors in contrast with earlier years (Boughton 10). El nuevo boom cubano made way for critics to analyze why this writing had come about in such a quick fashion and what significance it held in the post-Soviet experience. These works have been scrutinized for their meaning and investigated by many authors. Critics of post-Soviet Cuban literature have highlighted the ways in which authors have demonstrated a disillusionment with Cuban institutions since the break-up of the Soviet Union. The disillusionment of the Cuban population with the government is a general theme seen throughout many of the texts produced during this period (Loss). Other critics have touched on this same disillusionment in respect to the institutions of Cuba and emphasized the lack of direction taken by the government and it’s institutions in compensating for the economic downturn (Birkenmaier and Whitfield). In addition, critics have analyzed the anxieties worked out in the literature as a representation of fear for the future (Casamayor). I aim to further add to this analysis while viewing the representation of the child in post-Soviet literature as a representation of the future welfare of the island as a whole. I argue that post-Soviet literature and film often addresses the destabilization of the Revolution’s institutions as well as anxieties about the future of the nation through the figure of the child. This is explored through representations of the child’s abandonment and early maturation due to lack of community, family and institutional support in the post-Soviet context. These representations of loss express disillusionment with the Castro government following the capitalist reforms of the last fifteen years and the government’s perceived failure to address issues of inequality and poverty. The unease represented through the eyes of the child provides a reflective view of the aging population of Cuba due to the abandonment of youth, who generally Mahar 3 flee Cuba in search of a more supportive infrastructure. These representations of youth are coupled with an emphasis on a stagnant elderly population, thus further communicating anxieties that the future is bleak. While many of these texts present a bleak future for the child protagonists, thus leaving the reader/viewers with a sense of hopelessness for Cuba’s future, the texts that do attempt to present an alternative vision of hope call for a return to the Revolution’s ideals but do not address contemporary issues facing the country, such as inequality. I will examine a combination of critically acclaimed films and a literary text that have been apart of el nuevo boom cubano as case studies for my larger argument. These films and literary text have gained the attention of the international community for their critical view of Cuban institutions. In the film Habanastation (2011) directed by Ian Padrón, inequality and the abandonment of the child are the primary themes. The film depicts two boys from vastly different backgrounds created by the growing inequality on the island who come together to learn from each other while demonstrating the institutional breakdown. Conducta (2014) directed by Ernesto Daranas, presents a young boy struggling against the early maturation that is forced upon him as he is not supported by any of his surrounding institutions. Chala the main character of the film lacks support from his family and receives no help at school where he is punished for his behavior. The film Suitehabana (2003) directed by Fernando Pérez, especially highlights the anxieties for the future due to the extreme lack of representation of children throughout the film and the high percentage of elderly Cubans. Finally, in Todos se Van (2007) written by Wendy Guerra, the abandonment is expressed through a young girl, Nieve, who is forced to stay in Cuba even as all the people surrounding her leave. Soviet and Post-Soviet Context Mahar 4 In order to understand the post-Soviet Cuban context to which these texts respond, we must first look back at the history of Cuba during the Soviet period. During the decades that Cuba and the Soviet Union held a strong bond Cuba became very dependent on the Soviet Union as a trading partner. This relationship fluctuated and eventually fell apart with the break-up of the Soviet Union. Relations date back to the 1959 Cuban Revolution led by Fidel Castro. Prior to this revolution a dictatorial regime led by Fulgencio Batista had been in place. Under Batista, Cuba had support from the United States and traded almost exclusively with the United States. The revolutionary forces had support from the Soviet government while the U.S. supported the Batista government. In the immediate wake of the revolutionary forces’ victory in 1959 the Soviet Union had little change in their policies towards Cuba. However as U.S.-Cuban relations continually deteriorated the Soviet Union backed the new government increasingly. The economic benefits for Cuba began in 1959 when the Soviet Bloc began to buy Cuban sugar and in early 1960 a trade agreement was signed between the two governments in which the Soviet Union promised to buy Cuban sugar and to provide them with inexpensive loans and technical assistance into the future. As Cuba-U.S. relations broke down it was a crucial move for Cuba to establish close relations with the Soviet Union. In 1970 a historic task was assigned to Cuba, to have a harvest that yielded ten million tons of sugar. However, the country fell short of its goal and the subsequent forgiveness of the failure to meet the trade demand from the Soviet Union only strengthened the ties between the two countries. As the newly established government fought hard to end American imperialism on the island the Soviet Union picked up quickly where they left off in terms of dependency and pseudo-colonialism. Immediate cultural, technological, economic and military transfer took place; many young Cubans were sent to the Soviet Union t train militarily. Thousands of students traveled to Mahar 5 the Soviet Union each year to study and professionals flocked there to master their studies. This type of cultural exchange created a generation that felt at home in the Soviet Union and who would have a special nostalgia for it once the break-up occurred. They also lived in a reality painted by what would be coined “Socialist Utopia.” This “Socialist Utopia” represented the progress that Cuba was making in terms of bringing housing to the rural areas, sending youth away to school in the Soviet Union, increased access to economic funds for the government and on many other visible fronts. However, it was a false utopia because the false sense of security came predominantly from favored trade with the Soviet Union and not from the Revolution itself. The Soviet Union invested millions of dollars in building oil refineries on the island in order to further bolster their economy and make the valuable trade asset, making it hard to deny the dependent nature of the relationship with them on any grounds.
Recommended publications
  • Slum Clearance in Havana in an Age of Revolution, 1930-65
    SLEEPING ON THE ASHES: SLUM CLEARANCE IN HAVANA IN AN AGE OF REVOLUTION, 1930-65 by Jesse Lewis Horst Bachelor of Arts, St. Olaf College, 2006 Master of Arts, University of Pittsburgh, 2012 Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of The Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of Pittsburgh 2016 UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH DIETRICH SCHOOL OF ARTS & SCIENCES This dissertation was presented by Jesse Horst It was defended on July 28, 2016 and approved by Scott Morgenstern, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science Edward Muller, Professor, Department of History Lara Putnam, Professor and Chair, Department of History Co-Chair: George Reid Andrews, Distinguished Professor, Department of History Co-Chair: Alejandro de la Fuente, Robert Woods Bliss Professor of Latin American History and Economics, Department of History, Harvard University ii Copyright © by Jesse Horst 2016 iii SLEEPING ON THE ASHES: SLUM CLEARANCE IN HAVANA IN AN AGE OF REVOLUTION, 1930-65 Jesse Horst, M.A., PhD University of Pittsburgh, 2016 This dissertation examines the relationship between poor, informally housed communities and the state in Havana, Cuba, from 1930 to 1965, before and after the first socialist revolution in the Western Hemisphere. It challenges the notion of a “great divide” between Republic and Revolution by tracing contentious interactions between technocrats, politicians, and financial elites on one hand, and mobilized, mostly-Afro-descended tenants and shantytown residents on the other hand. The dynamics of housing inequality in Havana not only reflected existing socio- racial hierarchies but also produced and reconfigured them in ways that have not been systematically researched.
    [Show full text]
  • El Puerto De La Habana. Un Recorrido Por Su Historia Militar Hasta 1898
    EL PUERTO DE LA HABANA. UN RECORRIDO POR SU HISTORIA MILITAR HASTA 1898 HAVANA PORT. A RUN THROUGH OF IT’S MILITARY HISTORY UNTIL 1898 Gustavo Placer Cervera RESUMEN ABSTRACT La historia de La Habana está indisolu- The history of Havana is undeniably blemente ligada a la de su hermosa ba- linked to its beautiful history, magnifi- hía, magnífico puerto natural, a su acti- cent natural port, its economic activity vidad económica y a su historia militar. and its military history. Trade, war and Comercio, guerra y navegación: la his- navigation: the history of port-villa, toria de la villa-puerto, poco a poco little by little changed into capital city, transformada en capital girará durante will live for centuries in accordance siglos alrededor de estos factores deter- with these factors that will shape its minando su fisonomía y destino hasta appearance and destiny up until the end th finales del siglo XIX. El contenido de la of the 19 century. The following is ponencia es sobre los inicios. Los pri- contained in the paper: meros ataques de piratas y su respuesta. The beginnings. The first pirate attacks El primer sistema defensivo. La cons- and the response. The first system of trucción naval. La toma de La Habana defense. The naval construction. The por los ingleses en 1762. La construc- takeover of Havana by the English in ción del segundo sistema defensivo. La 1762. The construction of the second Habana, base de la recuperación de Las system of defense. Havana, base of the Floridas y Bahamas. El siglo XIX. El recovering of Florida and the Bahamas.
    [Show full text]
  • Book Proposal ORIENTE: CUBA's WILD EAST Peter Hulme in Line with the Rationale for the American Tropics Series, This Book Focu
    Book proposal ORIENTE: CUBA’S WILD EAST Peter Hulme In line with the rationale for the American Tropics series, this book focuses on the particular region that is Oriente, roughly the eastern third of the island of Cuba. Oriente: Cuba’s Wild East recounts a literary history of modern Cuba that has four distinctive and interrelated characteristics. Oriented to the east of the island, it looks aslant at a Cuban national literature that has sometimes been indistinguishable from a history of Havana. Given the insurgent and revolutionary history of that eastern region, it recounts stories of rebellion, heroism, and sacrifice. Intimately related to places and sites which now belong to a national pantheon, its corpus—while including fiction and poetry—is frequently written as memoir and testimony. As a region of encounter, that corpus is itself resolutely mixed, featuring a significant proportion of writings by US journalists and novelists as well as by Cuban writers. Word count: c. 100,000 Contents and synopsis If you want to know another country without going abroad, then try going to Oriente. [El que quiera conocer otro país, sin ir al extranjero, que se vaya a Oriente] (Pablo de la Torriente Brau) Oriente, if only I could sing your song the way I want to. [Oriente, si yo pudiera cantarle como deseo] (Cheo Marquetti) ____________________________________________________________ Series Preface Contents List of illustrations Introduction Containing a brief account of Oriente and of its characteristics as a region; an outline of the book’s approach; and an introduction to its themes and writers. [Draft of Introduction is attached] 1.
    [Show full text]
  • Da Costa Meyer Project Description
    Project: The Havana Lessons: City, Architecture and Society ART 466 /ARC 466 /URB 466 /PLAS 466 Esther da Costa Meyer (Department of Art and Archaeology) Eduardo Luis Rodriguez (PLAS) Trip to Havana (March 18-March 26, 2017) This seminar on the urban history of Havana will be team-taught with the Cuban architectural historian Eduardo Luis Rodriguez – a visiting fellow at PLAS – who is the island’s top specialist on the subject. The seminar covers architecture in Havana from the arrival of the Spanish, through centuries of colonization, the years of the Republic, the Cuban Revolution, and the Soviet Years. It concludes by studying Havana’s Master Plans for the future in light of its current predicament as a magnet for international tourism. The US embargo, imposed on Cuba since 1958, has had an unusual effect on the city. As building materials are scarce, nothing has been destroyed by design, though hundreds of buildings have crumbled due to the difficulties of finding materials for preservation. Havana thus shows an unbroken architectural tradition stretching over the past four centuries. It is the best anthology of Latin American architecture in existence, though a great part of these structures are in ruins. Despite the embargo, the island has never been cut off from recent developments. Cuba – and Havana in particular – has always been a major cultural and ethnic crossroads, and it is this global perspective – operative long before the word acquired its current meaning – that we want to capture by studying the urban and architectural traces left behind by the Spaniards, the British, the Chinese, the Americans, the Soviets – not to mention Christian, Jewish, Muslim and African religions.
    [Show full text]
  • Jorge Perez-Lopez
    MAPPING CUBA’S TWENTIETH-CENTURY ARCHITECTURE Josef Asteinza1 A place without a past has no future. TWENTIETH-CENTURY ARCHITECTURE IN CUBA That Cuba is frozen in time is a commonplace that The greatest expansion of Cuban cities, Havana in the casual visitor often expresses. Of course, what we particular, occurred in the early 20th century, during observe and respond to is not stillness but the differ- a period of intense experimentation in the arts that ence in movement—the vector and velocity of also occurred in architecture. From the mid 1920s change—between worlds separated for a half centu- through the mid 1960s, this search, attuned to inter- ry. Everything changes, even Cuba, and whatever il- national movements and drawing from the essential lusion of frozenness there may have been is already elements of Cuban architecture, resulted in highly melting away with the recent thaw in US-Cuban re- original buildings. Eduardo Luis Rodríguez, in the lations. introduction to his architectural guide to this period, writes, “For the first time in its history, Cuba’s na- The functioning relics that predate the Cold War tional architecture was viewed in terms of richness embargo, like the automobiles and appliances, readi- and quality as good as or better to that being prac- ly capture the visitor’s attention, but the greatest ticed in other, more developed countries.”2 A few of source of this seemingly timeless panorama is Cuba’s the architectural leaders include Eugenio Batista, extraordinary architecture, five centuries of building Mario Romañach, Aquiles Capablanca, Max Borges, that constitute some of the earliest post-Columbian Emilio del Junco, Manuel Gutiérrez, Ricardo Porro, settlements in the Americas as well as an exceptional Frank Martínez, and Nicolás Quintana.
    [Show full text]
  • Cuban Routes of Avant-Garde Theatre: Havana, New York, Miami, 1965-1991
    Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Doctoral Dissertations Graduate School 2016 Cuban Routes of Avant-Garde Theatre: Havana, New York, Miami, 1965-1991. Eric Mayer-Garcia Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations Part of the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Mayer-Garcia, Eric, "Cuban Routes of Avant-Garde Theatre: Havana, New York, Miami, 1965-1991." (2016). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 36. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/36 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Doctoral Dissertations by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please [email protected]. CUBAN ROUTES OF AVANT-GARDE THEATRE: HAVANA, NEW YORK, MIAMI, 1965-1991 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The School of Theatre by Eric Mayer-García B.A., University of Washington, 2005 May 2016 © 2016 Eric Mayer-García All rights reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to begin my acknowledgments by recognizing the intellectual rigor and inspiration of Solimar Otero, who has guided me in the study of culture, both professionally and through rich ongoing exchanges in our lives together. Without Dr. Otero’s radical influence, which has ignited a flame in me for cultural criticism and helped me to recognize that flame as my own, I would never have undertaken or completed the writing of this dissertation.
    [Show full text]
  • 8Th Havana International Charrette: Cuba, March 15-21, 2015
    8th Havana International Charrette: Cuba, March 15-21, 2015 INTBAU Cuba and INTBAU Scandinavia in partnership with C.E.U. Norway And C.E.U. Cuba invite you to the 2015 Havana Urban Design Charrette. The 2015 Havana International Charrette On Urban Design will build on our previous work from 2007-2014. International architects, planners, artists and people in general are invited to join cuban experts and local communities for a one-week Charrette from March 15-21, 2015 to develop proposals for the regeneration and development of the waterfront area of MIRAMAR. The Charrette will fit both educational and professional purposes and will give participants an introduction to the history of Havana’s cultural heritage through close contact with its traditions, architecture and urbanism. The Charrette seeks the participation of individuals who share a respectful attitude to new interventions in historical contexts, and who value the creation of places humans can live in, work in and enjoy. Project Objectives · Elaborate ideas for the development of the waterfront sectors of the district of Miramar. · Promote an integrated vision between the natural condition and the built environment. · Promote and highlight the importance of Miramar for the new image of Havana and for social and cultural integration. · Evaluate the benefits of the transformation of the district of Miramar for the future of Havana in economical and urban terms. · Improve the quality of life of the inhabitants of the district of Miramar, preserving its image and getting advantage of its privilege site. · Propose the increase of urban open space, housing and commerce in the area and its impact at city level.
    [Show full text]
  • Prostitution in Havana
    chapter 16 Prostitution in Havana Amalia L. Cabezas The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries For more than 200 years, from 1566–1790 Havana, Cuba was central to the Span- ish flota, or fleet system, a convoy designed to avoid and repel attacks by other European pirates and privateers. By 1592, the Spanish crown granted Havana the title of “city” due to its large population. Its strategic importance as a ship- ping port and its location facilitated the conquest of new lands throughout the Americas. As historian Alejandro de la Fuente explains, “With the organiza- tion of the great viceroyalties of Mexico and, later, Peru, the crown’s emphasis shifted from Cuba’s settlements on the southern coast to the Cuban northwest, particularly the Bay of Havana.”1 Ships returning treasure and goods from the ports of Veracruz, Portobelo, and Cartagena congregated at Havana harbour in order to return together to Spain. For several weeks, sometimes months, Havana was a city filled with sailors, soldiers, merchants, adventurers, and trav- ellers passing the time until the ships were ready to sail back to Spain. Scholar Antonio Benítez-Rojo notes, “In 1594 the people of Havana had to provide lodg- ing, food, drink, and entertainment with song and dance for seven months to the 5,000 people who visited […] many of whom had sufficient means for the enjoyment of the pleasures that the city then offered.”2 The city of Havana is located approximately 170 kilometres from Key West, Florida at the junction of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Its clos- est neighbours are the United States, Mexico, Jamaica and Haiti.
    [Show full text]
  • 2018 USER CONFERENCE October 15 – 19, 2018 Join Us for an Exciting Experience As We Set Sail to Havana Cuba!
    2018 USER CONFERENCE October 15 – 19, 2018 Join us for an exciting experience as we set sail to Havana Cuba! Ship Name: NORWEGIAN SKY Sailing Date: October 15, 2018 Itinerary: CUBA/BAHAMAS Group ID: A767956 Deposit Required Per Guest: $125.00 Final Payment Date: July 17, 2018 Reservation Group Specialist: Marcy Gager 954-514-4333 All reservations must be booked directly with Marcy to be included in the group. Reservations made through third parties or outside of group cannot be included in group rates or amenities. Voyage Fare Per Guest Before Taxes Rates held for the PayPlus group are highlighted below. Other cabins are available but subject to availability and rate change. If you prefer these early rates, please call now to book your cabin. All rates are based on double occupancy. Category Description Rate per guest (1st & 2nd Guest) IA Inside Cabin $689.00 + tax $167.06 IB Inside Cabin $679.00 + tax $167.06 IC Inside Cabin $669.00 + tax $167.06 Travel Insurance (Norwegian Cruise Line highly recommends) starts at $99.00 per person Group Amenities Included with each cabin in our group are the following FREE amenities*: Ultimate Beverage Package (no gratuities required) – Included- Open Bar Specialty Dining Package (no gratuities required) Pre-Paid Service Charges 250 Minute Wi-Fi Package (per cabin) *Unless noted otherwise, amenities apply to 1st and 2nd guest. Excludes all SAILAWAY RATES, MX (Mini-Suite), BX (Balcony), OX (Ocean view) and IX (Interior). Important Notes: Deposits are risk free until final payment date. Rates are held for a maximum of 30 days or if the rooms sell out, whichever comes first.
    [Show full text]
  • Portrayed in the Works of Countless Artists and Writers, Havana Is
    Havana 500 www.worldcommercereview.com Portrayed in the works of countless artists and writers, Havana is celebrating the 500th anniversary of its founding he city of Havana was the seventh village to be founded in Cuba by the Spanish conquerors in the early XVI century, and the third and definitive capital of the island. The city, originally called San Cristobal de La Habana, was founded on November 16th, 1519 under the ceiba tree that still grows now near the El TTemplete church on Plaza de Armas, and this year it will celebrate its 500th anniversary. Over the course of a half a millennium since its foundation Havana has undergone significant changes, witnessed countless historical and cultural events of great importance, and was recently named Wonder City of the World. Now, in order to provide the city with the best possible celebration for its 500th anniversary the government and the people are all working on transforming the city and making it even more beautiful than it is now. The campaign for the city’s restoration dedicated to the 500th anniversary of Havana started back in 2017 and was claimed to consist of three phases. The first stage extended up to the 499th anniversary of the city on November 16th, 2018. This stage focused on solving the problems that there were in the city, thus changing the city not only aesthetically, but also improving its infrastructure. Every single citizen has had a chance to participate in this part of the preparations for the anniversary, as the tasks that have been carried out started with such small things as cleaning the city, taking care of public parks and installation of LED street lighting.
    [Show full text]
  • The Country and the City in the Cuban Revolution Colombia Internacional, Núm
    Colombia Internacional ISSN: 0121-5612 [email protected] Universidad de Los Andes Colombia Chase, Michelle The Country and the City in the Cuban Revolution Colombia Internacional, núm. 73, enero-junio, 2011, pp. 121-142 Universidad de Los Andes Bogotá, D.C., Colombia Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=81220069006 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative Colombia Internacional 73, enero a junio de 2011: 121-142 The Country and the City in the Cuban Revolution Michelle Chase New York University Abstract This article examines the interplay between city and country in the earliest years of the Cuban Revolution of 1959. It argues that the mass movement of Cubans, especially youths, between urban and rural areas was a major factor in contributing to the radical conscious- ness of the 1960s. At the same time, these early initiatives also contributed to the growing disaffection with the Cuban revolution. The article, thus, lends insight into the excitement and polarization of Cuba’s “revolutionary moment.” Keywords Cuba • revolution • socialism • cities • 1960 • the Left El campo y la ciudad en la Revolución Cubana Resumen El artículo examina la interacción entre ciudad y campo en los primero años de la Revolución Cubana de 1959. Se sostiene que el movimiento masivo de cubanos, espe- cialmente jóvenes, entre las ciudades y las zonas rurales fue un factor importante para contribuir a la toma de conciencia radical de los años sesenta.
    [Show full text]
  • The Cuban Diaspora and the Question of Nostalgia in Template
    The Cuban Diaspora and the Question of Nostalgia by Virginia Camila Tuma Graduate Program in Literature Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Michael Hardt, Supervisor ___________________________ Grant Farred ___________________________ RanJana Khanna ___________________________ Antonio Viego Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program in Literature in the Graduate School of Duke University 2017 i v ABSTRACT The Cuban Diaspora and the Question of Nostalgia by Virginia Camila Tuma Graduate Program in Literature Duke University Date:_______________________ Approved: ___________________________ Michael Hardt, Supervisor ___________________________ Grant Farred ___________________________ RanJana Khanna ___________________________ Antonio Viego An abstract of a dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate Program in Literature in the Graduate School of Duke University 2017 Copyright by Virginia Camila Tuma 2017 Abstract The Cuban Diaspora and the Question of Nostalgia explores the dominant nostalgic politics of memory prevalent in post-Revolutionary Cuban-American cultural production. Since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, the question of longing has Weighed heavily on the hearts and minds of Cuban and Cuban-American exiles and immigrants living in the United States. DraWing on theories of nostalgia, literary criticism, and
    [Show full text]