Cuban American And Cuban Writers 1

Running head: CUBAN AMERICAN AND CUBAN WRITERS

Cuban American and Cuban Writers

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April 17, 2011.

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The term Cuban American Writers is in itself contradictory as American literature couldnt yet
include the literature of Hispanics especially which is written in Spanish (Cortina). But the
number of Cuban exiled writers living in America is so big that to deal them as a different type is
not difficult. (Cortina) The Political instability in Cuba started from the days of Colonization
when Spain ruled Cuba for years and years. After the independence, there was a continuous
struggle to achieve the freedom completely but in the dictatorship of Batista it was impossible.
(Cortina) That was the time when many novelists, poets, journalists and authors left Cuba for
America and other countries. They took their cultural values with them along with the dejection
about their motherland. The forced exiles filled them with so much pain and agony that is seen
overtly in their pieces of literature. When the dictatorship ended, the Communist reign started
which was even worse for the Cuban writers. (Cortina) The revolution of 1959 in Cuba was
worse for many Cubans. (Borland) It contributed in the anarchy and disturbance that led towards
the migration of almost 700000 Cubans to United States. (Borland) It is also known as the
Cuban Diaspora. (Borland) It wrote a new history for the literature.
Cuban Communism is the most prominent part of the history of this country. When PCC
party came into rule in Cuba and Fidel Castro declared his party as a socialist party, communism
took over the country in 1960 and ever since it (the communism) penetrated in to the deep
systems of Cuba. (Communism in Cuba) Nothing could remain without the intervention of the
implications of Communism. Good or bad is a separate debate but communism became an
integral part of Cuba. (Communism in Cuba) Fidel Castro earlier hid his intentions but later
revealed to the whole world that he by the heart and spirit is a pure communist. (Communism in
Cuba) He was a follower of Marx-Lenin philosophy and by no action deviated from their path.
(Communism in Cuba) Communism in Cuba has cast its impacts on the economy and life of the

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people. This system was far better for the black Africans who under the cruel dictatorship of
Batista had suffered a lot in 1930s. (Communism in Cuba)It brought a ray of hope for the people
in the country side. The better days in the future seemed to be coming. In the beginning it
created a positive response in the country. Things began to change and the quality of life
stepped up highlighting the future prosperity due to communism. (Communism in Cuba)The
popularity of the communist party rose at a great level and everybody in the country began to
thank the establishment. (Communism in Cuba)
But the days of happiness do not last forever. Gradually the communists intentions began
to unfold to the population of Cuba. They knew that for the price of the short spanned prosperity
they had to pay something but this price could be so cumbersome that they would lie beneath it
forever was never expected by the Cubans. (Communism in Cuba) They never hoped that the
communism would snub their rights to speak their hearts. They never knew that this government
will take away all their happiness. The sense of being disowned from their own homeland and a
strict eye on them from the police became too difficult for them to carry. (Communism in Cuba)
And a kind of internal revolt started to begin in Cuba. The people of Cuba had suffered a lot
from the dominance of Spain and Russia. They wanted complete freedom. The spark of freedom
was ignited from this system was ignited in the society and the revolt against it became evident.
(Communism in Cuba)
As described earlier that nothing couldnt remain unaffected by the Communism. Ever
the literature and the literary figures were influenced by this system. The censorship for the
writers in Cuba was too strict and narrow and the writers needed an air of liberty, freedom and
limitlessness. Literature reflects the society and if the restrictions are bound on this reflection, the
purpose of literature dies. Many Cuban writers wrote against the system and against the violation

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of human rights. Many strong figures stood against the establishment and raised their voices.
Many writers had to bear the brunt of their bold contradiction of the government. They were
either exiled or by their own choice chose to leave Cuba so that their literary proliferation could
thrive. (Communism in Cuba)
The exile literature aims to deal with all the aspects of the culture of those people who are
forced to live outside their country. (Brown and Botero) Their writings are of different genre as
they contain strange kind of nostalgic and excruciating experiences. (Brown and Botero)
Although it is an idiosyncratic process yet there are a few commonalities which are seen in the
whole community. The Cuban Exile has influenced differently on different writers and poets.
Forty years of this experience has passed and different outcomes have come from different
individuals. Exile is the only one of the factors that shape the literature of these people along
with the essential and primary factors of age, economic status, power and authority, ethnicity,
temperament, individual psychology and family values. (Brown and Botero) The intensity of
exile torment is greater in the first generation after 1960. The following generations had this
effect but not as intense as of their preceding generation as those were the direct victims. (Brown
and Botero) The greater the number of Cubans getting settled in America; the greater are the
opportunities for these Cubans. The generation, which was Cuban-American generation, was
much better than their fathers.
Among the many writers who were exiled due to their contradiction and opposition to the
establishment, Jose Marti is a prominent name. (Ripoll) Born in Havana in 1853, he was exiled
from his country due to his opposition to the government. (Ripoll) He was merely seventeen
when he wrote a pamphlet against the devastation of the government in Cuba. (Ripoll)He was
graduated from the University of Saragossa, and went to get settled in Mexico where his literary

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career started. From there he was sent to Guatemala. (Ripoll) In 1978, he went back to Cuba
under the general amnesty but he was soon sent to Spain on the charge of conspiring against the
establishment. From there he went to United States and from there to Venezuela where he
decided to settle but on a row with the dictator he couldnt settle there as well. (Ripoll) From
1881-1895 he remained in America. In the same year he went to Cuba and enlisted himself in the
war and died there. (Ripoll) He was bitterly against the communism and at one occasion said
The socialist solutions, born of the evil Europeans have nothing to cure in the Amazon Jungle.
(Diaz-Perera)
He was against the socialism and his beliefs related to the socialism have made him a
hero in the eyes of the Cuban people. (Ripoll) There was a colonial revolution in 1895 in Cuba
and Jose Marti is considered to be the most prominent literary figure contributing in bringing this
revolution. Hope was always by his side and he always looked at the brighter future for the
Cuba, in one of his poems he wrote
I cultivate a white rose
In July as in January
For the sincere friend
Who gives me his hand frankly
And for the cruel person who tears
Out the heart with which I live,
I cultivate neither nettles nor thorns:
I cultivate a white rose (Marti)
The communism was not accepted and in any case brighter future after the revolution was
expected. (Ripoll) On another occasion he writes
A thinker, Herbert Spencer, says the risk that some modern people are falling into a
degrading socialism. (Diaz-Perera)

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Thus socialism and communism was the most abhorred concept for the earlier Cuban
writers. It will remain detestable concept for the generations of the writers that followed Marti.
As Marti was a strong figure, Castro utilized him for his own purposes. He interpreted his works
and declared him as a friend of Communist government. But later critics proved him wrong and
cleared the ideology of Jose Marti. (Ripoll 45)
Guillermo Cabrera Infante was a Cuban writer who went to UK after the exile.
(Guillermo Cabrera Infante) He once used to be a Castros supporter but very soon he realized
his intentions and parted ways with him. He was a freedom fighter and his point of view related
to the communist government was the same as that of the other Cuban exiled writers. His love
for his language remained as it is. (Guillermo Cabrera Infante) He said
I left my country because I was forced to, and I do not think that I am going to lose my
language because I live in England. (Guillermo Cabrera Infante Quotes)
Born in 1929 this Cuban writer abhorred communism as much as the other writers did.
(Guillermo Cabrera Infante) He was the head of the literary magazine which was a complement
to some communist magazine. He was open in his approach but in 1961, his magazine was
banned by Fidel Castro. (Guillermo Cabrera Infante) He gradually turned against the Castros
establishment. He went to Madrid as an Exile and later shifted to London. He said
I first came out against Castro in June 1968, fifteen months after my book had been
published, and you cannot imagine how quickly a void was created around me. (Guillermo
Cabrera Infante Quotes)
Salvador Diaz-Verson is another Cuban journalist and Author who had to leave the Cuba
in the days of revolution and communism. (CUBAN INFORMATION ARCHIVES) In 1933, he

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had to seek the political asylum due to his literary activities. (CUBAN INFORMATION
ARCHIVES) Born in 1905, he had fought against the communism all his life. Earlier he served
in the Army but after Batistas regime, he had to quit his job. All his life he couldnt say anything
good about the communist government, as a result of which he had to suffer a lot. (CUBAN
INFORMATION ARCHIVES)
Elas Miguel Muoz is a Cuban American writer who had to seek an exile to Spain at the
age of fifteen. (Elas Miguel Muoz Biography) His novel Crazy Love describes a strange kind
of relationship between two human beings based on the concept of Cuban patriarchy. (Elas
Miguel Muoz Biography) Apparently dealing with the difficulty of sexuality and other issues,
this novel seems to be a reaction against the Cuban communism. The Castros establishment in
the early youth of Munoz has created a bad image in his mind. Even spending a lot of time out of
his mother land, earlier in Spain and then in United States of America, his early impressions of
Cuba couldnt get out of his mind. (Elas Miguel Muoz Biography)
Carlos Alberto Montaner is another exiled Cuban writer who remained much bold in his conduct
against Fidel Castro as a repercussion of which he had to leave Cuba. (Carlos Alberto Montaner)
He was born in 1943 in Havana. He had to leave Cuba in 1970 after which he started living in
Madrid, Spain. (Carlos Alberto Montaner) He was charged to be working with CIA against
Castro. In the revolution of 1959, he was accused to work against the communist party. He was
imprisoned but he escaped jail and went to live in Spain where he started his literary career. His
columns are published in American, Latin American and Spanish journals daily. From 2004, he
writes weekly editorials in Miami Herald. (Carlos Alberto Montaner) In 1980s his book Fidel
Castro y la revolucin cubana earned him much fame. In the same decade his other two books
became equally famous. (Carlos Alberto Montaner) His Bestselling book was published in 1996

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named as Manual del Perfecto Idiota Latinoamericano. (Carlos Alberto Montaner) He wrote
prolifically on his opinion about Cuban establishment. His truthful and honest style has earned
him much in the world of Cuban American Literature. (Carlos Alberto Montaner)
The list of Cuban American writers is so long especially those who are directly and indirectly
affected by the Castros communism in Cuba. (Cortina) Especially Reinaldo Arenas whose basic
subject is the Castros communism. Oscar Hijuelo belongs to another group of twentieth century
whose family migrated to United States much earlier before the revolution. (Cortina) Then there
is Jose Yglesias who wrote in 1960s about the memories of early twenty century. His novels
include A wake in Ybor city and an orderly life and in 1973 he wrote the truth about them.
(Cortina) Similarly many poets like Carlos Dobal, Luis Angel Casas, Maria Josefa Ramirez,
Adolfo Suarez and Angel N. Pou and most important was Haberto Padilla who was imprisoned
in Castros establishment. (Cortina) He was born in 1932 and played a very important role in the
anticommunist movement. His poem In loves Place depicts a true picture of his motherland.
Always, over your shoulder, I see the world.
It gives off sparks in storms.
It is a piece of rotten wood, an old lantern
that someone waves as though against the wind,
the world that our bodies
(our solitude) cannot blot out,
an age of sappers and frogmen
under your pillow,
in the place where your shoulders
turn cooler, more fragile.
Always, over your shoulder
(something that now we can never avoid),
there is a list of missing persons,
a village destroyed,
a child trembling. (Padilla)

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The Cuban Exiled and Cuban American Writers were severly affected by the Cuban Revolution
and Communism. None of the writers had shown any positive response about the Fidel Castros
regime in Cuba.

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References
Borland, Isabel Alvarez. Cuban-American Literature of Exile: From Person to Persona. 2003. 17
April 2011 <http://www.upress.virginia.edu/books/alvarez_borland.html>.
Brown, William E. and Cecilia E. Botero. Cuban Exile Newspapers at the University of Miami.
1997. 17 April 2011 <http://dloc.com/exhibits/cubanexilenewspapers>.
Carlos Alberto Montaner. 2011. 17 April 2011
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Alberto_Montaner>.
Communism in Cuba. 2005-2011. 17 April 2011 <http://www.havana-guide.com/communism-incuba.html>.
Cortina, Rodolfo J. "History and Development of Cuban American Literature." Kanellos,
Nicolas. Handbook of the Hispanic Cultures in the United States. Arte Publico Press,
1994. 40-61.
CUBAN INFORMATION ARCHIVES. 1998-2006. 17 April 2011 <http://cubanexile.com/doc_326-350/doc0345.html>.
Diaz-Perera, Hilda Luisa. Jos Mart's thoughts . 1998. 17 April 2011
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%25C3%25A9%2BMart%25C3%25AD%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DG%26biw
%3D1396%26bih%3D885%26rlz%3D1W1ADFA_en%26prmd
%3Divnsbo&rurl=translate.google.com.pk&sl=es&u=http://jose-marti.org/jose_marti>.
Elas Miguel Muoz Biography. 2011. 17 April 2011
<http://www.jrank.org/cultures/pages/4221/El%C3%ADas-Miguel-Mu
%C3%B1oz.html>.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante. 2010. 17 April 2011
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillermo_Cabrera_Infante>.
Guillermo Cabrera Infante Quotes. 2001-1011. 17 April 2011
<http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/g/guillermo_cabrera_infante.html>.
Mart, Jos, Manuel A.Tellechea Versos Sencillos. U of Houston: Arte Pblico Press, 1997
Padilla, Herberto. Poem: Heberto Padilla. 2009. 17 April 2011
<http://jstheater.blogspot.com/2009/04/poem-heberto-padilla.html>.
Ripoll, Carlos. Jose Marti and the United States, and the Marxist interpretation of Cuban History.
New Jersey: Transaction Inc. 1984.

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Ripoll, Carlos. Jose Marti. n.d. 17 April 2011 <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?

q=cache:jERyRwee5p8J:www2.fiu.edu/~fcf/jmarti.html+Jos%C3%A9+Mart
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