This study looks at the broader transformations in Cuban history through the case study of a single, yet symbolic, man, and proposes a new paradigm for understanding the dynamics of Cuban society and culture. It also examines the implications for Cuba’s aspiring national identity at the turn of the twentieth century, by detailing the interplay between fact and fiction in the story of Alberto Yarini: elite born; well-educated; politically and socially well-connected; powerful; and celebrated Cuban racketeer and chulo (pimp). Yarini was described as vibrant and triumphant at a time when other nation-building forces in Cuba were weak and ambivalent. A century after his dramatic death, Yarini became the quintessential public man in Cuban lore who symbolized a cubanidad (Cuban national identity) not defined in terms of the ideological hegemony of class, race, or gender, and who through his actions dispelled the ambivalence that plagued Cuban nationalism. Using archival documents, contemporary newspaper accounts, court records, memoirs, and published works, this study analyzes the confluence of national events and individual action in the formation of Cuban national identity. It contends that for Cuba, the failure of nation-building experiments resulted in an ambivalent national identity based on failed philosophical and political ideals of equality and prosperity. These ideals played out within the context of the realities of racial discrimination, political dissonance, and class and gender barriers. Instead of a cohesive sense of national character, for Cubans the result was a competing set of identities including a populist version that was defined through identification with antitypes and pseudo-heroes such as Alberto Yarini y Ponce de León (1882-1910), a rising politician and celebrated chulo of the early republic. The telling and retelling of his story has given rise to what has been termed the island nation’s first national myth – one that continues to evolve and grow in the twenty-first century. For many Cubans, the Yarini antitype provided an idealized national identity which in many ways was—and many argue continues to be— the expression of an elusive and ambivalent cubanidad.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-03T12:20:44Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Kenia Ortiz Garcia.pdf: 845437 bytes, checksum: 50ced1c6d3d099e8bf9f9ffb54063400 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-09-09 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / This work analyses a ritual practiced in a Cuban religion, known as Santería, as space of creation and sustentation of the religious group. The investigation points out several arguments demonstrating the significance of the Santería as a religious system that helps people to deal with the profound social changes occurred and that are occurring in Cuba along its different historical periods. This, because in this religion the ritual works as a dynamic space that allows people to experience individual, collective, social and religious relationships. It is a space in which those who are involved find assumptions to face their daily life problems and challenges. The research focuses on: aspects related to a ritual named Wemilere or Tambor the Santo, relationships among those who are involved in it, their motivations and the liturgical spaces in which the celebration takes place. The topics here highlighted do not constitute an ultimate thought, but an attempt of studying a religious system which is very significant in the contemporary Cuban socio-cultural context.(AU) / Neste trabalho busca se estudar o ritual, na Santería ou Regla de Ocha, como espaço de criação e sustentação do grupo religioso. Aqui são demonstrados e interpretados argumentos que evidenciam a pertinência da Santería como sistema religioso que ajuda as pessoas a lidarem com as profundas mudanças sociais que aconteceram e continuam a acontecer na sociedade cubana nos diferentes períodos históricos. Isto, devido a que o ritual na Santería é um espaço dinâmico onde se experimentam as relações individuais e coletivas, sociais e religiosas, e onde se fornece pressupostos indispensáveis para as pessoas enfrentarem com os desafios que o cotidiano lhes reserva. A pesquisa destaca aspectos internos do ritual conhecido como o Wemilere ou Tambor de Santo; bem como a relação entre os sujeitos que participam no ritual, as suas motivações e os espaços litúrgicos onde a celebração acontece. Os aspectos abordados no trabalho não constituem uma apreciação definitiva sobre o ritual, mas uma aproximação a um sistema religioso de grande importância no contexto sócio-cultural cubano. (AU)

À partir des années 90, parmi les transformations qu’entraine l’effondrement de l’Union soviétique à Cuba et au milieu des redéfinitions de la cubanité, apparaissent des œuvres narratives contre-discursives et actualisées sur la négritude, la race et le racisme. La représentation du Noir dans les romans de cette période prend toute sa signification du fait que se configure alors un champ de discussion dans lequel convergent différentes modalités et perceptions. Notre recherche explore le terrain discursif entourant les définitions de la cubanité et la négritude qui circulent à cette période à Cuba, pour ensuite voir de quelle manière elles se répercutent sur les auteurs et textes littéraires. À travers l’analyse des oeuvres des écrivains Eliseo Altuanga et Marta Rojas, cette thèse reconstruit leurs dialogues avec l’historiographie littéraire cubaine, l’Histoire de l’Ile et les discours plus actualisés quant au débat ethno-racial. Au moyen de visualisations opposées par rapport à l’histoire de Cuba, Altuanga et Rojas élaborent des œuvres et des personnages avec des différences idéoesthétiques marquées. Ainsi, le premier focalisera sur la recherche d’une rupture épistémologique quant à la conception du Noir dans l’imaginaire cubain, soulignant les événements de l’histoire nationale qui considèrent le Noir comme protagoniste, ce qui renforce l’idée d’une continuité dans son état de subalternisation. En ce qui concerne les protagonistes de Rojas, elle fait appel à des mulâtresses pour raconter le processus de transculturation par lequel, à son point de vue, s’est consolidée l’identité culturelle actuelle des Cubains. Suspendue dans un espace d’énonciation intermédiaire entre les premières décennies de la Révolution et la Période spéciale en Temps de Paix, Rojas construit une trilogie romanesque qui s’efforce à signaler la coupure entre les périodes pré- et postrévolutionnaires quant au traitement du Noir. / The collapse and disappearance of the Soviet Union implied many transformations in the Cuban society, which altered the traditional construction of identity within the frame of the nation-state. It is in that context where alternative new discourses on “race”, racism and negritude emerged. The representation of the afro-descendent in the novels of the 1990’s and 2000’s poses enormous interest since the literary text has been one of the spaces where identity markers have been renegotiated. This dissertation explores how social discourses on cubanidad and negritude have an effect on the writers Eliseo Altunaga and Marta Rojas and their literary production. Analyzing the works of Eliseo Altunaga y Marta Rojas, this thesis reconstructs their dialogues with Cuban literary historiography, the history of the island, and the discourses circulating around current ethno-racial debates. Altuanga and Rojas have opposed visualizations of Cuban history, and elaborate works and characters with marked ideo-aesthetic differences. Altuanga focuses on the search for an epistemological rupture in the conception of the Negro in the Cuban imaginary, emphasizing national historic events with black progratonists to reinforce the impression of continuity in their condition of subalternity. Rojas, on the other hand, turns to black and mulata protagonists to narrate the process of transculturation that has contributed, in her view, to the consolidation of contemporary Cuban cultural identity. From an intermediate space of enunciation between the first decades of the Revolution and the Special Period in Times of Peace, Rojas constructs a novelistic trilogy that signals the border separating pre- and post-revolutionary periods with respect to the treatment of the Negro. / A partir de los ’90, entre las transformaciones que se producen en Cuba por el colapso de la Unión Soviética, en medio de redefiniciones de la cubanidad, asoman renovadas y contradiscursivas narrativas sobre la negritud, las razas y el racismo. La representación del negro en las novelas de este período adquiere significancia en la medida en que se configura un campo de discusión en el que convergen diferentes modalidades y percepciones. Nuestra investigación explora el suelo discursivo en torno a las definiciones de cubanidad y negritud que se mueven en este período en Cuba, para luego ver de qué manera refractan en los autores y los textos literarios. A través del análisis de las obras de los escritores Eliseo Altunaga y Marta Rojas, la tesis reconstruye sus diálogos con la historiografía literaria cubana, con la Historia de la Isla y con los discursos más actualizados en cuanto al debate etno-racial. Por medio de opuestas visualizaciones en relación con la historia cubana, Altuanga y Rojas elaboran obras y personajes con marcadas diferencias ideoestéticas. Así, el primero se focalizará en la búsqueda de una ruptura epistemológica en cuanto a la concepción del negro en el imaginario cubano, destacando aquellos acontecimientos de la historia nacional que tuvo al negro como protagonista, con lo cual refuerza la idea de una continuidad en su estado de subalternización. Por su parte, Rojas recurrirá a la figuras protagónicas de mujeres negras y mulatas para narrar el proceso de transculturación por el cual, desde su perspectiva, se fue consolidando la actual identidad cultural cubana. Parada en un espacio de enunciación intermedio entre las primeras décadas de la Revolución y el Período Especial en Tiempos de Paz, Rojas construye una trilogía novelesca que se esfuerza en señalar la frontera que se establece entre los períodos pre y postrevolucionarios con respecto al tratamiento del negro.

My dissertation on Cuban tourism links political, economic, social, and cultural history to show how the development of tourism on the island between 1945 and 2007 has been crucial in helping to cultivate identities for Cuba and the Cuban people on multiple levels. I focus on three distinct periods - 1945 to 1958, 1959 to 1979, and 1980 to 2007. While significant shifts occurred within each of these three phases, this periodization best illuminates the relationship between tourism development and identity. The fall of the Soviet Union, for example, certainly altered the pace of the industry's growth. Arrivals soared beginning in the 1990s, yet much of the institutional framework for conditioning the relationships between touristic actors had been established years earlier. Cuban planners had begun to target a range of specific markets by 1980, over a decade before the economic strife of the 'Special Period' in the early 1990s virtually forced them to move in this direction. For the entire period between 1945 and 2007, tourism and Cuban identity were linked in two very important ways. Tourism provided a lens for foreign visitors to view the island, its people, and its culture; to know what it meant to be Cuban. As well, the industry offered a framework for powerful interests to control the behaviors of Cuban citizens; to instruct them on how to be Cuban.

À partir des années 90, parmi les transformations qu’entraine l’effondrement de l’Union soviétique à Cuba et au milieu des redéfinitions de la cubanité, apparaissent des œuvres narratives contre-discursives et actualisées sur la négritude, la race et le racisme. La représentation du Noir dans les romans de cette période prend toute sa signification du fait que se configure alors un champ de discussion dans lequel convergent différentes modalités et perceptions. Notre recherche explore le terrain discursif entourant les définitions de la cubanité et la négritude qui circulent à cette période à Cuba, pour ensuite voir de quelle manière elles se répercutent sur les auteurs et textes littéraires. À travers l’analyse des oeuvres des écrivains Eliseo Altuanga et Marta Rojas, cette thèse reconstruit leurs dialogues avec l’historiographie littéraire cubaine, l’Histoire de l’Ile et les discours plus actualisés quant au débat ethno-racial. Au moyen de visualisations opposées par rapport à l’histoire de Cuba, Altuanga et Rojas élaborent des œuvres et des personnages avec des différences idéoesthétiques marquées. Ainsi, le premier focalisera sur la recherche d’une rupture épistémologique quant à la conception du Noir dans l’imaginaire cubain, soulignant les événements de l’histoire nationale qui considèrent le Noir comme protagoniste, ce qui renforce l’idée d’une continuité dans son état de subalternisation. En ce qui concerne les protagonistes de Rojas, elle fait appel à des mulâtresses pour raconter le processus de transculturation par lequel, à son point de vue, s’est consolidée l’identité culturelle actuelle des Cubains. Suspendue dans un espace d’énonciation intermédiaire entre les premières décennies de la Révolution et la Période spéciale en Temps de Paix, Rojas construit une trilogie romanesque qui s’efforce à signaler la coupure entre les périodes pré- et postrévolutionnaires quant au traitement du Noir. / The collapse and disappearance of the Soviet Union implied many transformations in the Cuban society, which altered the traditional construction of identity within the frame of the nation-state. It is in that context where alternative new discourses on “race”, racism and negritude emerged. The representation of the afro-descendent in the novels of the 1990’s and 2000’s poses enormous interest since the literary text has been one of the spaces where identity markers have been renegotiated. This dissertation explores how social discourses on cubanidad and negritude have an effect on the writers Eliseo Altunaga and Marta Rojas and their literary production. Analyzing the works of Eliseo Altunaga y Marta Rojas, this thesis reconstructs their dialogues with Cuban literary historiography, the history of the island, and the discourses circulating around current ethno-racial debates. Altuanga and Rojas have opposed visualizations of Cuban history, and elaborate works and characters with marked ideo-aesthetic differences. Altuanga focuses on the search for an epistemological rupture in the conception of the Negro in the Cuban imaginary, emphasizing national historic events with black progratonists to reinforce the impression of continuity in their condition of subalternity. Rojas, on the other hand, turns to black and mulata protagonists to narrate the process of transculturation that has contributed, in her view, to the consolidation of contemporary Cuban cultural identity. From an intermediate space of enunciation between the first decades of the Revolution and the Special Period in Times of Peace, Rojas constructs a novelistic trilogy that signals the border separating pre- and post-revolutionary periods with respect to the treatment of the Negro. / A partir de los ’90, entre las transformaciones que se producen en Cuba por el colapso de la Unión Soviética, en medio de redefiniciones de la cubanidad, asoman renovadas y contradiscursivas narrativas sobre la negritud, las razas y el racismo. La representación del negro en las novelas de este período adquiere significancia en la medida en que se configura un campo de discusión en el que convergen diferentes modalidades y percepciones. Nuestra investigación explora el suelo discursivo en torno a las definiciones de cubanidad y negritud que se mueven en este período en Cuba, para luego ver de qué manera refractan en los autores y los textos literarios. A través del análisis de las obras de los escritores Eliseo Altunaga y Marta Rojas, la tesis reconstruye sus diálogos con la historiografía literaria cubana, con la Historia de la Isla y con los discursos más actualizados en cuanto al debate etno-racial. Por medio de opuestas visualizaciones en relación con la historia cubana, Altuanga y Rojas elaboran obras y personajes con marcadas diferencias ideoestéticas. Así, el primero se focalizará en la búsqueda de una ruptura epistemológica en cuanto a la concepción del negro en el imaginario cubano, destacando aquellos acontecimientos de la historia nacional que tuvo al negro como protagonista, con lo cual refuerza la idea de una continuidad en su estado de subalternización. Por su parte, Rojas recurrirá a la figuras protagónicas de mujeres negras y mulatas para narrar el proceso de transculturación por el cual, desde su perspectiva, se fue consolidando la actual identidad cultural cubana. Parada en un espacio de enunciación intermedio entre las primeras décadas de la Revolución y el Período Especial en Tiempos de Paz, Rojas construye una trilogía novelesca que se esfuerza en señalar la frontera que se establece entre los períodos pre y postrevolucionarios con respecto al tratamiento del negro.