Negrometraje, Literature and Race in Revolutionary Cuba Open Access

Cort, Aisha Zakiya (2010)

Permanent URL: https://etd.library.emory.edu/concern/etds/8w32r589w?locale=en
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Abstract

Abstract
Negrometraje, Literature and Race in Revolutionary Cuba
By Aisha Z. Cort

Negrometraje, Literature and Race in Revolutionary Cuba, explores the expression of Afro-Cuban identity and its illustration by Afro-Cuban writers and filmmakers within the context of the Cuban Revolution. It answers two questions. First, how does Afro-Cuban artistic expression of Afro-Cuban reality change from the 1970s to the 1990s? and second, how can we reread works from Afro-Cuban writers and filmmakers within the context of the Cuban Revolution in light of the ideological disconnects between Revolution, racial discourse, and artistic expression? To answer these questions I looked to a diverse group of Afro-Cuban artists who produced groundbreaking works during the 1970s and 1990s.

Beginning with Nancy Morejón as an example of a well-known literary figure in Afro-Cuban arts, the dissertation delves deeper into the evolution of Afro-Cuban aesthetics with the cinematic works of Nicolas Guillen Landrian in the 1960s, Sara Gómez and Sergio Giral in the 1970s and finally Gloria Rolando in the 1990s. These are all artists whose work has previously never been considered in concert, but together, their works engage in an interesting dialogue and provide a collective answer to the research questions on which this project is based.

In the 50 years of the history of the Cuban Revolution, few dissertations have considered such a broad range of works of Afro-Cuban narrative. This project deliberately moves chronologically from the early years of the revolution into the 1970s and finally into the 1990s; providing a unique perspective on the trajectory of Afro-Cuban cultural production and the development and varied manifestations of an Afro-Cuban aesthetic. The extensive focus on film aids in the expansion of the literary imagination, as well as broadens the idea of what constitutes narrative, as I am arguing via its use that film is an extension of literature. An expansion of the concepts of literary imagination and narrative not only influence the way we think about literature, but how we talk about it. The theoretical expansion of these concepts is crucial to the continued growth and development of literary discourse as consideration of alternative narratives provides a unique lens through which to examine seemingly disconnected discourses.

Negrometraje, Literature and Race in Revolutionary Cuba
By
Aisha Z. Cort
B.A., Yale University, 2005
M.A., Emory University, 2009
Advisor: Jose Quiroga, Ph.D.
A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of the
James T. Laney School of Graduate Studies of Emory University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
in Spanish
2010

Table of Contents

Introduction...1
Identity Politics and Revolutionary Ideals in Nancy Morejón's "Mujer Negra"...13
Harmonic Dissonance: Cuban Points and Afro-Cuban Counterpoints...45
Rethinking Caliban: Sergio Giral, Negrometraje and Afro-Cuban Consciousness...93
(Re)Defining Memory and Difference: Notions of (Afro)Cubanía in the Special Period...139
Conclusion...177
Bibliography...184
References...200

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