
Democracy and Time in Cuban Thought
The Elusive Present
Maria de los Angeles Torres(Author)
University Press of Florida
Published on 31. January 2024
Book
Hardback
228 pages
978-1-68340-402-6 (ISBN)
Description
In this fascinating analysis of political discourse in Cuban culture, Maria de los Angeles Torres focuses on how the concept of time has been employed by different political projects. While the past and future are often evoked in rhetoric associated with authoritarianism, Torres argues, an emphasis on human actions in the present is important for a more democratic political culture, and she searches over a century of Cuban thought for this perspective.
Delving into political texts and essays, literature, and art, Torres puts theories of temporalities in conversation with the Cuban experience. Torres closely examines the use of time and its political implications in Fidel Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech, the writings of Jose Marti and Che Guevara, the poetry of Eliseo Diego and the Origenes group, and paintings by Cuban exiles Nereida Garcia Ferraz and Maria Martinez-Canas.
Recent events in Cuba have placed the search for democracy and social justice center stage, and Torres also studies the temporalities underpinning these movements, asking whether these projects are providing alternatives to overused past and future tropes. She suggests ways of thinking for today's activists, encouraging them to remember history and imagine new possibilities while cultivating space for human agency now.
Delving into political texts and essays, literature, and art, Torres puts theories of temporalities in conversation with the Cuban experience. Torres closely examines the use of time and its political implications in Fidel Castro's "History Will Absolve Me" speech, the writings of Jose Marti and Che Guevara, the poetry of Eliseo Diego and the Origenes group, and paintings by Cuban exiles Nereida Garcia Ferraz and Maria Martinez-Canas.
Recent events in Cuba have placed the search for democracy and social justice center stage, and Torres also studies the temporalities underpinning these movements, asking whether these projects are providing alternatives to overused past and future tropes. She suggests ways of thinking for today's activists, encouraging them to remember history and imagine new possibilities while cultivating space for human agency now.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Florida
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Paper over boards
Illustrations
9 b&w, 7 colour illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 19 mm
Weight
646 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-68340-402-6 (9781683404026)
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Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
01/2024
University of Florida Press
€33.99
Available for download
Person
Maria de los Angeles Torres is LAS Distinguished Professor of Latin American and Latino Studies at the University of Illinois Chicago. She is the author or editor of many books, including In the Land of Mirrors: Cuban Exile Politics in the United States and The Lost Apple: Operation Pedro Pan, Cuban Children in the U.S., and the Promise of a Better Future.