Una Comunidad De Dolientes: El Indígena En La Literatura Colonial Cubana

"Although numerous essays on Aboriginal archaeology and historical accounts have explored the characteristics of Indigenous communities at the onset of colonization, academic criticism has largely overlooked their representation in Cuban literature and art. This book addresses that critical gap, emphasizing the significance of Indigenous figures in the Cuban social imagination from the late eighteenth to the late nineteenth centuries. It examines a range of cultural texts--including poems, caricatures, plays, and essays--that depict Indigenous characters within both proto-nationalist and pro-Spanish discourses. In the former, the Indigenous figure serves to critique colonial authority and assert a rightful claim to the land; in the latter, it is used to ridicule Cuban separatists. The book's theoretical framework draws on the works of Bronislaw Baczko, Benedict Anderson, and others to explore the formation of Creole social subjectivity and to illuminate the ideological conflicts embedded within the colonial order."--Back cover.