Democracy and time in Cuban thought : the elusive present / María de los Ángeles Torres.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Torres, María de los Angeles, author.

Contributor:

Rosengarten Family Fund.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Democracy--Cuba--History.

Democracy.

Political participation--Cuba.

Political participation.

Democratization--Cuba.

Democratization.

Time pressure.

Time--Sociological aspects.

Time.

Cuba--Politics and government.

Cuba.

Politics and government.

Genre:

History

Physical Description:

xxiv, 202 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 23 cm

Place of Publication:

Gainesville : University of Florida Press, [2024]

Summary:

"In this analysis of political discourse in Cuban culture, María de los Angeles Torres focuses on how the concept of time has been employed by different political projects, arguing that an emphasis on human actions in the present is important for a democratic political culture"-- Provided by publisher.

"How the temporalities of past, future, and present have been used in Cuban political rhetoric and expressed in Cuban culture. In this fascinating analysis of political discourse in Cuban culture, María 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 Martí and Che Guevara, the poetry of Eliseo Diego and the Orígenes group, and paintings by Cuban exiles Nereida García Ferraz and María Martínez-Cañas. 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.Publication of this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the American Rescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Introduction: Temporalities and Politics

The Past

The Future

The Present

Democratizing the Past

Temporalities and Democracy

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Local Notes:

Acquired for the Penn Libraries with assistance from the Rosengarten Family Fund.

Other Format:

Online version: Torres, Mari̹a de los A̹ngeles. Democracy and time in Cuban thought

ISBN:

9781683404026

1683404025

9781683404262

1683404262

OCLC:

1378359655