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Offers a detailed picture of the lives of Cuban Americans through interviews with artists, writers, and philosophers.
This fascinating volume contains interviews with nineteen prominent Cuban-American artists, writers, and philosophers who tell their stories and share what they consider important for understanding their work. Struggling with issues of Cuban-American identity in particular and social identity in general, they explore such questions as how they see themselves, how they have dealt with the diaspora and their memories, what they have done to find a proper place in their adopted country, and how their work has been influenced by the experience. Their answers reveal different perspectives on art, literature, and philosophy, and the different challenges encountered personally and professionally. The interviews are gathered into three groups: nine artists, six writers, and four philosophers. An introductory essay for each group is included, and the interviews are accompanied by brief biographical notes, along with samples of the work of those interviewed.
"In a pleasing innovation, each interview is paired with a sample of the subject's work: stories and poems from the writers, essays from the philosophers, and a section of colour plates for the artists. The issues they discuss—language, the notion of home, the burdens of history and the freedoms of being in a new place—are resonant within the evolving concept of a transnational Caribbean." — Caribbean Review of Books
"Testifying to the idea that Cuba is a traveling nation, and a long tradition of Cuban art, literature, and philosophical thought is flourishing outside the island, Identity, Memory, and Diaspora provides evidence that refutes the essentialist claim that this nation and its culture are confined within its geographical boundaries." — Andrea O'Reilly Herrera, editor of Cuba: Idea of a Nation Displaced
"This impressive book provides a solid, insightful, and provocative approach to Cuban-American intellectual and artistic production. It highlights the transnational status of Cuba in a way that no other text of its kind has done." — Raúl Rubio, Wellesley College
Preface
Jorge J. E. Gracia
The Cuban Diaspora: A Brief Chronology
Part I. The Artists
Lynette M. F. Bosch
Identities
Baruj Salinas
A Sense of Place
Humberto Calzada
Art on Art
Emilio Falero
The Juggler
María Brito
If Quebec Were in the Tropics
Mario Bencomo
The Human Condition
Arturo Rodríguez
For the Children
Demi
A Search for Unity
Juan Carlos Llera
Landscapes of the Mind
Alberto Rey
The Artists' WorkFlow Up
Fuji-San
Baruj SalinasIsland in Crisis
Humberto CalzadaAcross
Emilio FaleroSelf-portrait as a Swan
María BritoIf Quebec Were in the Tropics II
Mario BencomoUntitled
Arturo RodríguezAn Artist's First Painting
DemiFear of Flight
Juan Carlos LleraBrown Trout—Hosmer Creek
Alberto Rey
Part II. The Writers
Isabel Alvarez Borland
Thinking in Images
Carlos Eire
What Sounds Good Also Rings True
Gustavo Pérez Firmat
A Baratan Experience
Pablo Medina
Writing Without Masks
Virgil Suárez
Escaping the Humors
Roberto Fernández
Crossing the Crest of Forgetting
Ana Menéndez
The Writers' WorkTreinta y Cinco
Carlos EireFire in May
Tristeza de mamá
Gustavo Pérez FirmatDriving Home
Rites of Spring
Russian Doll
Mirage
The Poet as an Old Man
Pablo MedinaThe Seed Collector
The Trouble with Frogs
Virgil SuárezNellie
Roberto FernándezTravelling Fools
Ana Menéndez
Part III. The Philosophers
Jorge J. E. Gracia
Cuban, Hispanic, and Latina?
Ofelia Schutte
The Search for Identity Outside Miami
Jorge J. E. Gracia
Cuban American or Latin American?
Oscar Martí
Universalism or Particularism?
Ernesto Sosa
The Philosophers' WorkIdentities in Tension
Ofelia Schutte
Ethnic Identity
Jorge J. E. GraciaBreaking with the Past
Oscar MartíPhilosophy, the History of Philosophy, and Science
Ernesto Sosa
Bibliography
About the Editors
Index