REEL DEMOCRACY: THE POLITICS OF CINEMA IN CUBA By AUDREY SUE FLEMMING A DISSERTATION PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2016 © 2016 Audrey Sue Flemming To my parents: Robert and Susan Flemming ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would first like to thank my advisor, Dr. Leslie Anderson, who has encouraged, supported, and helped me develop as an academic since my first class with her at The University of Florida. Throughout my studies and dissertation work, she pushed me to explore, encouraged me to let my research experiences guide me, challenged me with critical questions, supported my ideas, and created an environment which fostered creativity. She has been a role model for me, illustrating in her scholarship the idea that research questions should guide method selection and that plurality in approaches garnishes the most complete picture of reality. Most importantly, as an advisor, while she shared her knowledge, training, and experience with me, she allowed me to develop as the scholar I wanted to be, and for that, I am most grateful. In my years of teaching ahead, I hope to do as wonderful a job of helping students to become the scholars they envision, as she has done for me. I also thank the rest of my committee members for their contributions to this project and for helping me grow as an academic during my graduate school career. Dr. Lawrence Dodd inspired me with his love for knowledge, his commitment to his students (supporting us all both emotionally and intellectually), and with his encouragement every step of the way. From the moment he shared “Ithaca” in the Scope and Epistemology course I took with him my first semester, to supporting the beginning stages of my research in our Empirical Theories course, he has made my educational journey indeed a marvelous one, and it is only just beginning. Never has so much knowledge been shared so humbly and so authentically as it has by this truly great scholar and professor. 4 While I love my first field of study, comparative politics, I am grateful that I was able to pursue a study of another passion of mine, political theory, through the tutelage of Dr. Daniel O’Neill. He encouraged my study of political theory, helped me become a scholarly detective by teaching me approaches to analyzing historical political thought, and helped me understand, for the first time, both feminism and Marxism—two theories that have served as invaluable lenses for me in and outside of my research. I thank him for sharing his passion for, and knowledge of, political theory with me. Normative concerns are at the heart of my research and this dissertation, and that is in no small part due to Dr. O’Neill’s impact on me. I am most thankful for his guidance both as a professor and member of my committee. I am also grateful to Dr. Marcus Hendershot who pushed and challenged me to think outside of my usual frameworks. The fact that his methodological approaches and subfield diverged from my own, helped me to constantly re-think how I was conducting and analyzing my research. I am also grateful that Dr. Hendershot took an interest in my graduate school career, despite the fact that I was never in one of his courses. He invested time and effort into helping me to develop as a scholar even when there was no direct incentive to do so. Such dedication to helping students develop, even ones that were not his own, speaks volumes about his commitment to his academic profession. I am thankful for all of the advice, encouragement, and conversations he shared with me. And I could not have made it through the early mornings, long days, and late nights of work that made up my graduate school existence, without the alternative rock country music to which he introduced me. Even comprehensive exams do not seem so daunting when one has the Bottlerockets playing in the background. 5 I am tremendously fortunate to have had Dr. Gerald Murray as my outside committee member. I am so thankful he agreed to be on my committee, even as he was retiring, and am honored that my committee was the last one of which he was a member. He introduced me to new ways of analyzing and researching, and his passion for his scholarly studies paired with his desire to apply that knowledge to improve the realities he is a part of, inspires and challenges me to try to do meaningful studies. Throughout my research, he was a constant source of positive encouragement, and the framework for understanding the Caribbean he provided me with guided me as I began my field work in Cuba. Most significantly, the passion he maintained for his work in the final years of his career, confirm for me the unparalleled joys and opportunities that this profession affords. I am so thankful for his dedication to, and love of, the craft. I hope to do half as well by it as he has. I would also like to thank Sue Lawless–Yanchisin for all of her help throughout the entirety of my time in graduate school. I would not have been able to navigate the process without her. Even when I was out-of-state, I could always rely on her support and assistance with whatever I needed. She has been there for me from the start-to- finish of graduate school, and I cannot think of a better companion to have through that process. The graduate program would not function and graduate students would not succeed without her. My thanks further extend to those who helped at earlier stages of my education, including teachers who helped inspire intellectual curiosity (Mr. Robert Raboin), who encouraged creativity (Mrs. Lori Fulmer), who gave me the first opportunity to assist in research while in my undergraduate studies (Dr. Lynda Barrow), who helped my with 6 my first thesis (Dr. Susan Dobrian ), who introduced me to the politics of Latin American film and poetry (Dr. Nicholas Mason-Browne), and who made me want to become an academic (Dr. Edmund Burke). These, and countless other teachers and professors, helped me to develop as both a student and an educator. I would also like to thank the entire communities at both Coe College and Austin College who offered me the opportunity to teach while I was working on my dissertation. I especially want to thank the political science department at Coe College (Dr. Bruce Nesmith, Dr. Lynda Barrow, and Dr. Kimberly Lanegran), and the political science department at Austin College (Dr. Nathan Bigelow, Dr. Donald Rogers, Dr. Frank Rohmer) and the social science dean, Dr. David Griffith. I went to graduate school because I wanted to be a professor at a liberal arts college, and both of these schools gave me the chance to realize that goal while I was working on my dissertation. I thank them for their patience, support, advice, help, and encouragement as I balanced being a new professor with finishing my doctoral work. I am particularly grateful to Dr. Nathan Bigelow, who helped me not only to learn the ropes of my job and integrate into the Austin College community, but also provided help and support to me with the final stages of my dissertation. Outside of the field of education, I have many people whom I am indebted to for their love, support, and friendship, without which, I could not have finished my dissertation. First, I am thankful to my Cuban family who welcomed me into their house and their lives. I am grateful to my Cuban sister for our conversations on the porch, for introducing me to Cuban art, and for encouraging me to become liberated like the 7 women riding bicycles in that photograph we both loved. I also thank my Cuban host dad for all of his wonderfully fantastical stories and for the best pan con timbas. To my hermanito, I am thankful for his smile and optimism, to my abuela I am thankful for her helping me enter the Universidad de Habana, and to my bisabuela I am thankful for the delicious café con leche and all the amazing meals she prepared with love. This entire family made each trip to Cuba a homecoming for me. I also extend my thanks to my Cuban friends. I am thankful to Luis, Muke, Victor, Alejandro, El Mojo, Bard, and Danay for sharing their friendship, their happiness, and their Habana, Santa Clara, and Cienfuegos with me. From chats in parks, to superhero meetups, to rompeolas sunsets, to late night bicycle rides, I enjoyed my moments spent in such wonderful company. I only hope I will have the same opportunity to welcome them into my life the way they have so generously welcomed me into theirs. For my dear friends here—new and old—I am also appreciative. Andrea Everson, Becca Halsey, David Becerra, Natalie Price Barnum, Christopher Harwood, and William Ford have all been tremendous supports to me—making life lovely, even when I was in the darkest depths of dissertation despair. They kept my life balanced and gave me the encouragement I needed to finish my work. Andrea is a source of light to all she meets, and I am so thankful for her uplifting presence in my life. Becca has brought so much joy and fun to my new Texan life, sharing Laverne and Shirley adventures and her generous friendship and support with me. David has been constantly encouraging and motivating me to finish this dissertation, and I appreciate his pushing me on to completion.