| Popis: |
Chapter Four continues the discussion of how Cuban poets craft alternate spaces of identities for themselves and their readers through an analysis of the blog “Del Palenque … y para …” [“From the Runaway Slave Settlement … for/toward …”], active from 2007 to 2014. In this blog, the Afro-Cuban poets associated with the “Palenque” group craft a space that supersedes racial categorizations at the same time that it underscores their existence. The difficulties of navigating race and identity in Cuba are highlighted not only in the blog, but also in the controversy that resulted from the publication of Palenque poet Roberto Zurbano’s polemic 2013 New York Times op-ed, “For Blacks in Cuba, the Revolution Has Not Yet Begun.” The chapter juxtaposes the blog alongside the firestorm that followed Zurbano’s op-ed to signal the depths of the troubled waters that surround race in a nation that has long maintained its color-blindness; and traces the ties between the virtual Palenque and physical spaces such as book fairs and parties, where poets gather in Havana to celebrate their birthdays. |
