User:Chris train/sandbox

Article Evaluation

I chose to improve the wikipedia article for the entry, Afrocubanismo. In looking how to improve my article, I took a look at the page for Négritude, which is similar to my article in that they are both political/social movements that dealt with Black identity. I think that the Négritude article does a good job of staying relevant to the topic. It is rife with information about the movement's origins, some of Négritude's key figures, and it closes by reactions and reception towards the movement throughout scholarly/literary history. I think that the article entry for the Harlem Renaissance is the ideal template for how I should think about structuring my article. I want to organize my Afrocubanismo page in a way that makes sense to the reader, but also follows the chronology of the events of the movement.

Afrocubanismo

Afrocubanismo was an artistic and social movement in black-themed Cuban culture with origins in the 1920s, as in works by the cultural anthropologist Fernando Ortiz. The movement developed in the interwar period when white intellectuals in Cuba acknowledged openly the significance of African culture in Cuba, which had been unvalued by the mainstream population. During its inception, the movement notably exhibited racist portrayals of black culture influenced by Cuba's White nationalist ideology. Eventually, a newfound appreciation of African art and symbols allowed Afro-Cubans to establish the legitimacy of black identity in Cuban society, culture, and art. Since its inception, Afro-Cuban Humanities has emerged as a major area of collegiate studies, and Afrocubanismo's influences can be seen in Cuban literature, painting, music, theater, and sculpture. [Afrocubanismo played an important role in the way race is discussed in Cuba today and the formation of identity/self for black Cubans today.]

Background

Racial dynamics in Cuba had been tense for decades before the movement’s inception during the early 20^th century. Slavery in Cuba was abolished in October 1886. Prior to the movement, the Afro-Cuban population struggled with fragmentation and an unbalanced social hierarchy. Before the abolition of slavery, the Afro-Cuban community consisted of working slaves, freed slaves, and a small number of black middle-class elites and intellectuals. The disparities within the black community were exacerbated by the unequal treatment and racist policies inflicted upon them by White Cubans.

In the 1912 Race War (guerrita del doce), civil war erupted between Afro-Cuban farmers and protesters versus Cuban armed forces and White militias. Conflict broke out after Afro-Cuban protesters attempted to stage uprisings out of frustration due to failed protests to stop a law prohibiting black political parties. The end result was the death of an estimated 2,000 to 6,000 Afro-Cuban farmers and workers.

Even after abolition, Afro-Cubans were barred from higher education, white-collar professions, government positions, bars, restaurants, clubs, and given restricted access to public spaces like parks and recreation areas. Afro-Cuban frustration was further worsened by the fact that many had anticipated inclusion and progressive change after Cuba’s War of Independence against Spain, where the majority of Cuba’s armed forces consisted of black and mixed-race soldiers, many of whom were slaves and former slaves.

In spite of their efforts in the War of Independence, Afro-Cubans were outraged at the failure of Cuban legislature to enact policies that would benefit the black population. It wasn’t until the establishment of universal male suffrage that White Cubans had to acknowledge the value of the Afro-Cuban citizen, since the black population now made up 30 percent of Cuba’s total voting population. 

In addition to the political and economic hostilities between the two racial groups, White Cuban attitudes towards Black and African culture were bitter and hostile. Many White Cuban authors held contempt for African customs and traditions. Fernando Ortiz, the founder and advocate of Afro-Cuban studies, described African art and cultural practices in his earlier writings as “infantile,” “barbaric,” “primitive,” “savage,” and “repugnant.” White Cuban nationalists described African expression as an infection that was invading Cuban culture.

Origin of Afrocubanismo

Although thought of mainly as a black phenomenon, the roots of Afrocubanismo originated from White Cuban interests. Afrocubanismo as an art form was first developed by formally trained White Cuban elites, not Afro-Cubans. White Afrocubanista art typically depicted black subjects using highly stylized forms. White Cubans appropriated certain aesthetics of African art and interpreted them using Euro-centric techniques and philosophies of aesthetic beauty. White Afrocubanista artists were not concerned with accurately portraying Afro-Cuban life or customs. Rather, White Afrocubanistas sought to create an art form that would make traditional elements of African art more palatable for mainstream Cuban society. In an essay entitled "Uniting Blacks in a faceless nation," author Arnedo-Gomez describes this cultural appropriation by White Cubans explaining, “…the movement accommodated and folklorised Afro-Cuban... forms in order to make them acceptable within the dominant European-derived tradition...”

“While progressive in many respects, the movement was characterized by fundamental contradictions. Most exponents of Afrocubanismo tended to be middle-class Euro-Cubans who drew inspiration from black working-class culture but created highly stylized representations of it, depictions that at times bordered on being racist.” (Afrocubanismo)

“Formally trained (and primarily white) middle-class artists created representations of black culture that had a tremendous impact on national consciousness.” (Afrocubanismo)

“While progressive in many respects, the movement was characterized by fundamental contradictions. Most exponents of Afrocubanismo tended to be middle-class Euro-Cubans who drew inspiration from black working-class culture but created highly stylized representations of it, depictions that at times bordered on being racist.” (Afrocubanismo)

Afro-Cuban responses to White Afrocubanista art were complex and varied. Many members of the black middle class found white portrayals of black identity and culture to be racist and derogatory. Some groups of Afro-Cubans found that the Euro-centric interpretations improved the overall quality of Afro-centric art (These Afro-Cubans were likely influenced by the desire to accept the nationalistic ideologies dominant in White Cuban culture, and didn't want to "rock the boat.") Still other Afro-Cubans found that Afrocubanista art, in spite of racist depictions, opened opportunities for Black Cuban art forms to become part of the Cuban cultural sphere. All of these factors contributed to what Arnedo-Gomez calls the “reformulation” of Afrocubanismo. According to Gomez, Afro-Cubans repurposed Afrocubanista art to move away from the stereotypical portrayals that White Afrocubanista artists depicted. Black middle class and working class Afro-Cubans contributed their own influences.

“Afro-Cubans ‘were not just passive objects of representation. They were active participants in the contested formulation of an ideological and cultural product that was neither stable nor coherent.’”

“Afrocubanismo was intimately linked to the ideological impulses and nationalist interests of white Cuban intellectuals, but the present article demonstrates that from a wider perspective that also takes into account 1930s black Cuban intellectual prose writings, Afrocubanismo appears as “an ideological and cultural product that was neither stable, nor coherent” and, like Martı’s vision of Cuba’s republic, open to divergent interpretations.”

(Arnedo-Gomez “Uniting blacks in a raceless nation: Afro-Cuban reformulations of Afrocubanismo and mestizaje in 1930s Cuba”)

Major Themes

While rooted in White ideologies and problematic conceptualizations of African culture, the Afro-Cuban perspective on the themes of the movement were more concerned with social justice, equality, and questioning of the status quo. The purposes behind Afrocubanismo’s various expressions were different. For some White Cubans, the significance of Afro-Cubanismo was the revalorization of African art as an expression of Cuban identity. Some scholars, like Fernando Ortiz, argued that Afrocubanismo and African derived art forms were important for the anthropological pursuit of acknowledging the history behind Cuban identity in all forms. These White Afrocubanistas idealized the concept of a "raceless" Cuba where all its citizens shared a single national identity. The problem for Afro-Cubans with this idealized view of Afrocubanismo and race was that it trivialized the experiences of blacks in Cuba and ignored the serious systemic racial issues underpinning Cuban interracial relations. “…Ortiz can be cited from the mid-1930s onwards referring to Afrocuban arts as "an abandoned [cultural] treasure," something of value to be carefully studied and protected, and is in vocal in his support of the analysis of all forms of Afrocuban music and literature.” Even in his notably racist earlier works that attack African customs, Ortiz inadvertently captured the depth, complexity, and richness of African cultural practices and expression. “…Ortiz even in this earliest study provide[d] detailed descriptions of African-derived deities, their personalities, their iconic representations, the altars and shrines devoted to them, the religious ritual associated with their worship, and the songs and dances incorporated into such worship. Indeed, the majority of Ortiz's study mutely testifies to the complexity and poetic cohesiveness of the religious beliefs which he condemns as savage and dangerous.”

Black Afrocubanistas were less focused on describing and idealizing African art and more concerned with capturing the reality of African life. The poetry of Nicholas Guillen, an Afro-Cuban poet, celebrates black street culture and music. Afro-Cuban literature of the 1930's was often political and served as a form of protest and criticism of the dominant White nationalism of Cuba. Afro-Cuban visual arts too served as a statement against the homogeneity of White Cuban culture. Many black Afrocubanista artists used their art to counter the ideals of equality and the perceived unity among blacks and whites that White Cubans claimed existed. Afro-cuban art served to question the ideologies of White Cubans. "…Guillen’s poetry celebrated black street culture and Arozarena and Pedroso ‘chant to workers and the dispossessed and criticise what Arozarena described as the bourgeois conception of Afro-Cuban culture’.

Some Afro-Cuban poets and artists actually rejected the term “Afro-Cuban” and its use as a classifying term for African-derived art. Nicholas Guillen and Arredondo, two black Afrocubanismo authors, rejected the term because it felt constructed, it separated/distinguished between categories of black Cuban and white Cuban, and it made the goal of a single unified mulatto Cuban identity impossible. In this sense, themes of Afrocubanismo also include this type of anti-Afro-Cuban perspectives held by black intellectual*Afro-Cuban literature expressing criticism over the existing systemic racism and glossing over of issues of racial inequality. An example of themes of Afrocubanismo?

Major Artists

Fernando Ortiz: A White Cuban author and advocate of Afrocuban studies.

Nicholas Guillen: an Afro-Cuban poet

Alberto Pena: Afrocuban painter

Teodoro Ramos Blanco: Afro-Cuban sculptor

Andres Alvarez Naranjo: Afro-Cuban sculptor

Angel Pinto: Afro-Cuban author and critic

Afrocubanismo Sources

1. Arnedo-Gómez, M. (2012). Uniting blacks in a raceless nation: Afro-Cuban reformulations of Afrocubanismo and mestizaje in 1930s Cuba. Journal Of Iberian & Latin American Studies, 18(1), 33-59. doi:10.1080/14701847.2012.716644

http://jpllnet.sfsu.edu/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cookie,url,uid&db=a9h&AN=82248349&site=ehost-live

This article provides a good deal of background on the political climate preceding the birth of the Afrocubanismo movement. It is helpful in describing the role of other figures during the movement, like Gerardo Machado, the dictator-like president during the early 20th century who led a racially toxic and politically divisive administration.

2. Moore, Robin D. Representations of Afrocuban Expressive Culture in the Writings of Fernando Ortiz. Latin American Music Review/Revista de Musica Latinoamericana, 1994 Spring-Summer, Vol.15(1), pp.32-54. This source is helpful because it analyzes the works of Fernando Ortiz, who wasn't an Afro-Cuban, but was known for popularizing Afro-Cuban studies. His works will show how Afro-cubanism was perceived by both Whites and minorities during its inception in the early 20th century.

3. Helg, Aline. Our Rightful Share: The Afro-Cuban Struggle for Equality, 1886-1912 . 1953. The University of North Carolina Press. 

This book describes the racial tensions arising between Cuban whites and Afro-cubans and looks at the relationship between the groups starting from the abolition of slavery in Cuba in the 1880's to the mounting unrest after the Cuban war for Independence.

4. Edwards ; R. "Afrocubanismo." 2005. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition.

A reference entry for Afrocubanismo. It describes the movement in dictionary-like terms, and gives a brief overview of the background and present state of the movement. Is important in defining the movement as a construction of Black/Latino identity.

5. Edwards ; R. "Nicolás Guillén" 2005. Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African and African American Experience, Second Edition.

Another reference entry, this is a overview of Afro-cuban poet Nicolas Guillen, who is one of the most noteworthy Afrocuban literary figures. The source describes a meeting between Langston Hughes and Guillen. It could be helpful in drawing parallels between Afrocubanismo and other major Black-centric ideological/artistic movements.