Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Major/Program

Spanish

First Advisor's Name

Santiago Juan Navarro

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee chair

Second Advisor's Name

Maria Asuncion Gomez

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Third Advisor's Name

Astrid Arraras

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Andrea Fanta

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee member

Keywords

Trauma, Cuba, melancholy, literature, culture

Date of Defense

3-29-2023

Abstract

In contemporary global and digital contexts, the relationship between hegemonic discourses and traumatic events of the past or present influences both individual perceptions and collective imaginaries. Public discourse may acknowledge collective traumas only decades later, when they cease to serve as catalysts for action in the public sphere. The interpretation of past events can evolve based on differing ideological perspectives, which in turn impacts the interpretation of current events. My dissertation, "Las ruinas de Utopía: Trauma in Post-Soviet Cuban Literature and Culture," examines the connections between trauma, society, and artistic representations by writers and artists in post-Soviet Cuba. I conduct a comparative analysis of literary and cinematic works to investigate portrayals of collective memory and history in the country. This research integrates interdisciplinary approaches from politics (Arendt, Linz), sociology (Bauman), psychology (Bollas), and the arts (Rancière). It provides a categorization of the concept of trauma, drawing upon psychoanalysis (Freud), history (LaCapra), social sciences (Alexander), and psychiatry (Cyrulnik). I examine trauma in contemporary Cuban cultural production through four thematic axes – human ruin, cultural ruin, family, and exile – inspired by Antonio José Ponte's literary concept of ruin. In post-Soviet Cuba, revisiting the past publicly, outside the boundaries of officially sanctioned revolutionary discourse, entails significant personal risks. I argue that the melancholy of the democratic left, understood in its Freudian sense, clings to the Cuban revolutionary utopia and its myth. This attachment serves as a fetish substituting for the failed materialization of the Marxist utopia in Europe, hindering the grieving process and obscuring the totalitarian nature of Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution.

Identifier

FIDC011053

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