The most influential factor, which has formed the Cuban culture, was Cuba’s racial diversity. All the course texts are about Cuban races and the question of gender and race equality in Cuba. Some texts, such as “Sugar’s Secret”, “Our Rightful Share” and “Marriage, Class and Color in Nineteenth Century Cuba” describe some specific spheres of Cuban culture and life. Nevertheless, they all highlight the importance of the multi-rational factor in the development of modern Cuban society. Texts “Nationalizing Cuba” and “Cuban Color in Tourism” give more information about Cuban culture even though they are all devoted to a specific topic. These topics, however, are those, which most of all influenced the process of the formation of Cuban nationalism. All texts were useful to create an amalgamate image of Cuban culture and somehow understand different sides of Cuban life itself.
NATIONALIZING BLACKNESS, ROBIN MOORE
In Chapter one (Afro-Cubans and National Culture) of the Robin’s Moore book, “Nationalizing Blackness”, the author gives important background information about Cuban ‘racial struggle’ and its development through years. Robin Moore considers that almost all controversial issues connected to the processes in Cuban society appeared because of the historical changes and were definitely necessary, when talking it in the context of historical flow (Moore 16). The author compares the roles of different racial groups of the Cuban nation and their influence on the development of modern Cuban society. The most interesting fact, described by Robin Moore is the huge variety of words existing in Cubans’ lexicon, which are to name different racial groups and their features. Moreover, this variety is much bigger, than in any other country, as it includes the differentiation wider than only ‘negro’, ‘mulato’ and ‘blanco’ (Moore 14).
The style of the text is light even though the phenomena, described by it, is of vital importance. This styling is very important as it lets the ordinary reader understand all the problems. The information of the text is valuable, as it describes one of the most important fields of Cuban life, which is definitely racial diversity. The flow of the arguments is proper so that the text lives no gaps or any other questions.
OUR RIGHTFUL SHARE: THE AFRO-CUBAN STRUGGLE FOR EQUALITY, 1816-1912, ALINE HELG
This work was quite useful if talking about the backgrounds of Cuban nationalism, which was of no means built on the base of racial diversity of Cuban citizens. Aline Helg analyzes most important events and does conclusions, which are to answer the question, ‘why is the struggle so long and grueling’? This text gives an understanding of specifics of Cuban racial diversity; still, it leaves some gaps. For example, the lack of leadership of Afro-Cubans Aline Helg describes as the feature of mentality; the question is that can this lack of leadership be the result of the long-time confrontation or other, even earlier, events of the Afro-Cubans life. Even though the text is historical, the background seem improper to me.
SUGAR’S SECRETS: RACE AND THE EROTHICS OF CUBAN NATIONALISM, VERA KUTZINSKI
The book “Sugar’s Secrets” by Vera Kutzinski is by all means one of the best works, representing Cuban culture and its specific areas. The center of the whole research is the analysis of the examples of Cuban literature of the period between the beginning of the nineteenth century and the end of twentieth century. By comparing those writings to the Cuban situation of those times, Vera Kutzinski makes conclusions in the fields of Cuban culture, which seem to be not investigated. The main points of “Sugar’s Secrets” can be already driven from the title. The main phenomena in Cuban life of both nineteenth and twenties century were sugar and tobacco industries. Both of them somehow controlled the whole country, influencing on the most important processes, including the formation of Cuban nationalism. At the time of analyzing texts from literature in the context of Cuban culture (especially, sugar and tobacco cultures), Vera Kutzinski pays a lot of attention to some ‘female’ problems. In the text she researches the role of female Cuban citizens and their image in the Cuban society. Two important terms, mulata and mestizaje are highlighted in the text (Kutzinski 72).
MARRIAGE, CLASS AND COLOR IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY CUBA, VERENA MARTINEZ-ALIER
This text is by no means a deep and critical analysis of Cuban inner life, the connections in the society and in the families. However, the most interesting is that Verena Martinez-Alier describes an ordinary life with it average situations and results. The main point of the text is to describe the deviations, which included parents’ refusal to marry their children, for example (Martinez-Alier 1). The text is about Cuba’s inner life and its influence on the life of a whole country and visa verse. All the important processes as well as the increase of population in the borders of multi-rational Cuba are described in the context (and from the standpoint) of Cuban people’s relationships (Martinez-Alier.3).
The most interesting about the text and at the same time the most colossal is that deviations are examined. Deviations are of no means proper indicators of influential factors. However, there are still some gaps, which need to be fulfilled. The most important gap is that the author does not give any properly described examples of Cuban ordinary families so that readers are not able to judge the level of deviation themselves.
CUBAN COLOR IN TOURISM AND LA LUCHA, L. KAIFA ROLAND
The Chapter 1 of L. Kaifa’s Roland book “Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha” is definitely the most useful material when talking about how to understand Cuban culture. L. Kaifa Roland talks about Cuba and some specific spheres of its life openly, which definitely means a close contact with Cuban modern society. The problems, described in the text, are of vital importance. By considering some important facts and regularities of Cuban history, L. Kaifa Roland draws a parallel between the past and the present, between the times of the Soviet Union collapse and the United States growing influence on the country of Cuba. Even though there are many vitally important topics, described in the text, tourism, its Cuban (or better to be said ‘exterior’) backgrounds and its place in the development of modern Cuban life (Roland 17).
I find this text the most useful as it connects a brilliant form of presentation and a deep meaning of the text. The language of the book is close to colloquial Cuban, which creates the impression of the close connection to Cuban real life. The information, presented in the text, is not only useful to become acquainted with Cuban culture. It gives enough arguments to find out the background of important processes, which formed Cuban modern life.
Works Cited
Moore, R. Nationalizing Blackness. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press. 1997.
Helg, A. Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886- 1912. Chapel Hill: UNC Press. 1995.
Kutzinski, V. Sugar's Secrets: Race and the Erotics of Cuban Nationalism. Charlottesville and London: University of Virginia Press. 1993.
Martínez-Alier, V. Marriage, Class and Color in Nineteenth Century Cuba. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. 1974.
Roland, L.K. Cuban Color in Tourism and La Lucha. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2011.
