Open your eyes and soar : Cuban women writing now / edited by Mary G. Berg.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Berg, Mary G.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Cuban literature--20th century.

Cuban literature.

Short stories, Cuban.

Cuban literature--20th century--Translations into English.

Short stories, Cuban--Translations into English.

Cuban literature--Women authors.

Physical Description:

188 pages ; 23 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Other Title:

Cuban women writing now

Place of Publication:

Buffalo, N.Y. : White Pine Press, [2003]

Summary:

The ten writers in this volume rose to prominence in the last decade of the twentieth century. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Cuba underwent a drastic economic contraction that brought about an explosion of feminine narrative writing, largely in a need to reinforce the self-esteem so critical in times of crisis and uncertainty. For the first time in Cuban literature, women focused on topics long considered taboo -- sexuality, eroticism, domestic violence, drug addiction and pedophilia -- to bring attention to the social and moral crisis brought about by the loss of Soviet support. They focused, too, on the different dimensions of emigration, with special emphasis given to the conflicts produced in those who remained behind. Raft crossings, both those that were successful and those that ended in failure, are given a feminine point of view, as is the age-old profession of prostitution, which is seen as the crossing of the new borderlines that were established as tourism was once again encouraged. Although most of these stories were written with the Cuban reader in mind, they offer not only a window on Cuban women's lives but also a mirror in which we can see ourselves reflected.

Contents:

Cuban Women Writers Now 9

/ Karla Suarez

The Eye of the Night 21

Anniversary 32

/ Anna Lidia Vega Serova

Peter Piper Picked a Peck 38

Russian Food 53

/ Adelaida Fernandez de Juan

Oh Life 57

Journey to Pepe 64

/ Nancy Alonso

The Seventh Thunderbolt 72

Thou Shalt Not Deviate 79

/ Aida Bahr

Little Heart 87

Absences 103

/ Ena Lucia Portela

At the Back of the Cemetery 106

/ Mirta Yanez

Fifita Calls Us in the Morning 128

Past Meets Present: Old Tales Out of School 134

/ Mylene Fernandez Pintado

Mare Atlanticum 139

The Anteater 146

/ Marilyn Bobes

This Time Listen to What I Say 152

It's a Good Thing 163

/ Sonia Bravo Utrera

Sandra 170

Decision 175.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

1893996646

OCLC:

54077292