Project MUSE - A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution (review)

Project MUSE - <i>A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution</i> (review)

A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution (review)
Antoni Kapcia
The Bulletin of Hispanic Studies
Liverpool University Press
Volume 87, Number 1, 2010
pp. 118-119
10.1353/bhs.0.0125
REVIEW
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Reviewed by:

Antoni Kapcia
Philip Brenner, Marguerite Rose Jiménez, John M. Kirk and William M. Leo Grande (eds.), A Contemporary Cuba Reader: Reinventing the Revolution. Lanham, Boulder, New York, Toronto, Plymouth UK: Rowman and Littlefield Publishers Inc. ISBN 0-7425-5506-8 (hb); 0-7425-5507-0 (pb).


The key to compiling a good reader lies in its balance, commentary, comprehensiveness and scope. Here we are well served by a collection of 48 separate texts, most of which (40) are already published and many of which are complete, offering different political perspectives (mostly by non-Cubans) across a wide range of topics. Five of the six sections (politics, economics, foreign policy, society and culture) are introduced by a summarizing essay, although the excellent introduction to Culture is an essay in its own right and the overall introduction offers an excellent overview of the historical background. The sixth section of only two pieces (on Fidel) opens the book; while one might question the wisdom of this (to avoid stereotypical readings of a complex process), it includes one of book's highlights, a specially written [End Page 118] piece by Nelson Valdés discussing charisma, Raúl and the Grupo de Apoyo.

Inevitably the collection is uneven. Its strengths are those published texts by the most respected academic commentators. These especially include Julia Sweig's challenge to US assumptions about Cuba's future, Joaquín Roy's analysis of the breakdown of EU-Cuban relations, Susan Eckstein and Lorena Barberia's study of a pluralist Cuban American 'community', Minor Sinclair and Martha Thompson's study of rural Cuba, Alejandro de la Fuente's analysis of racism (going beyond stereotypes), Margaret Crahan's classic discussion of religion and a 'nascent' civil society, Miren Uriarte's discussion of the social impact of the Special Period, and Leonardo Padura Fuentes' overview of the travails of culture in the 1970–1990s period.

The weaknesses lie mostly in the reliance on commentaries by journalists (especially true of the 'Culture' section, which therefore disappoints); these not only compare badly with the more reasoned analyses but also carry many preconceptions and generalizations. The exception is Ted Padgett's study of Osvaldo Payá which, although exaggerating his importance, recounts his political formation. There are also a few disappointments, notably in the brevity of some offerings (e.g. by Pedro Monreal or by Lavinia Gasperini on education – although Margo Kirk's following essay on early childhood education policies makes up for it) and in some pieces that say little, such as Saul Landau's rather rambling reflection on Fidel.

In between are the many solid texts, which succeed in giving us the thoughtful and informative assessment which is such a collection's purpose. One, Hal Klepak's distillation of his recent work on the FAR, is written for the collection; others are already published. These come from William LeoGrande (on the Party), Damian Fernández (civil society), John Kirk and Peter McKenna (Canada's special relationship with Cuba), Jorge Domínguez (Cuba's search for a new world place), and Mike Erisman (ideology and pragmatism in foreign relations). There are also some welcome, highly focussed, analyses on specific aspects (especially in the 'Economics' section), such as Philip Peters (the downsizing of sugar), Marguerite Rose Jiménez (the challenges and opportunities of tourism), Ted Hencken (paladares), and Susan Eckstein ('dollarization'), While one can quibble with some of these perspectives – LeoGrande's conventional dichotomy between 'reformers' and 'hardliners' or Fernández's assumptions about an essentially anti-state emerging civil society – they do provide a good picture of both the literature on, and the reality of, contemporary Cuba.

The Cuban perspective (disappointingly slight) is mixed. While some reflect the general Cuban view – such as Soraya Castro's explanation of US policy (driven by the Cuban-American lobby) or María Isabel Domínguez on youth, there are perceptive essays by Rafael Hernández (on a Cuban democratic culture) and Haroldo Dilla and Gerardo González (a 1995 study of local politics in Havana).

The rest of the collection is a mixture of the committed (from both sides) – especially besetting the Society section, where sober analysis...