Lydia Cabrera and the Construction of an Afro-Cuban Cultural Identity Envisioning Cuba Louis A.Pérez Jr., editor Edna M. Rodríguez- Mangual Lydia Cabrera and the Construction of an Afro-Cuban Cultural Identity The University of North Carolina Press Chapel Hill and London © 2004 The University of North Carolina Press All rights reserved Library of Congress Manufactured in the Cataloging-in-Publication Data United States Rodríguez-Mangual, Edna M. of America Lydia Cabrera and the construction of an Afro-Cuban cultural identity/ Designed by Edna M. Rodríguez-Mangual. Eric M. Brooks p. cm.—(Envisioning Cuba) Set in Quadraat and Includes bibliographical references Gill Sans Bold and index. Extra Condensed by isbn0-8078-2887-4 (cloth: alk. paper) Eric M. Brooks isbn0-8078-5554-5 (pbk.: alk. paper) 1. Cabrera, Lydia—Contributions in The paper in this book Cuban ethnology. 2. Cuba—Civilization— meets the guidelines for African influences. 3. Blacks—Cultural permanence and durability assimilation—Cuba. 4. Blacks—Cuba— of the Committee on Ethnic identity. 5. Blacks—Cuba— Production Guidelines Folklore. I. Title. II. Series. for Book Longevity pq7389.c22z865 2004 of the Council on 868'.6409—dc22 2004049626 Library Resources. cloth 08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1 paper 08 07 06 05 04 5 4 3 2 1 For Miriam and Geño This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 The Point of Departure: Fernando Ortiz and Afro-Cuban Contents Studies 25 2 A Disarticulation of the Gaze: Exploring Modes of Authority and Representation in the Rhetoric of El monte 59 3 The Death of the King: Between Anthropology and Fiction 99 4 The Anthropologist’s Exile: Nation and Simulacrum 133 Notes 169 Bibliography 175 Index 195 Lydia Cabrera in the 1980s 6 Lydia Cabrera in La Quinta San José, ca. 1944 9 Illustrations Fernando Ortiz, Lydia Cabrera, María Herrera de Ortiz, and María Teresa Rojas in Vienna, 1952 63 Lydia Cabrera with an informant at the Central Cuba, Matanzas, Cuba, 1940s 96 Lydia Cabrera with informants at the Central Cuba, Matanzas, Cuba, 1940s 105 When the credits roll at the end of a film, if one has the patience to sit still and read all the names that made the production possible, one can then understand the collective work, effort, and energy that go into such a production. A book is not a film, yet many start with a grateful author listing a series of Acknowledgments names that made it possible for her words to make it into print. This work is no different. I am completely indebted to a commu- nity of people who have offered me, and this project, their best talents. So the credits roll. The idea for this book emerged a long time ago and far away from Cuba and the Caribbean, during the dark winter days of Glasgow. That year I had the opportunity to read with pleasure—and no deadlines—the short stories of Lydia Cabrera, as well as a lot of postcolonial theory and cultural studies. I was able to chat freely about my ideas with many friends, including Dr. Simon Halliday. I want to thank him for the long hours of conversations on post- colonialism and globalization. After I came back from Scot- land, I received much support from my colleagues and professors at Emory University, where this