Africania Y Revolucion En La Obra De Excilia Saldana

Resumen del Libro

The complex racial dynamics in Cuba have been a recurrent topic in its literature. In the 19th Century, authors such as Cirilo Villaverde include in their work the African presence in the island. However, their discourses reflect mainly their interest to integrate this element to the Cuban society in a non conflictive way. Mestizaje or racial and cultural mixing is conceived as a way of assimilation into the mainstream white Cuban society. This homogenizing discourse has an important impact on the works of Jose Marti and Nicolas Guillen. The Negrista poetry consolidates the view of cubanness as a harmonic racial and cultural encounter. After the Revolution of 1959, this discourse continues to mark the works of Cuban writers. This dissertation analyzes the work of Excilia Saldana and the way in which she incorporates and contests the concept of mulatez or afrohispanic mestizaje. The study of her childrens books shows how Saldana inherits the idea of the perfect mixture of Spanish and African races and cultures. Also, her work becomes part of her commitment to the Revolution. She supports the creation of the new man not only with her literature but also with her activism and participation in the revolutionary process. In her latter and more intimate poetry, Saldana unfolds her personal experience and transforms the passive view of the Afro-Cuban woman, fragmenting the static image created by her antecessors. Her feminist poetry is her biggest contribution to the creation and consolidation of a tradition of Afro-Hispanic women writers and artists.