Description
Book SynopsisLooks at portrayals of Havana in literature, music, and the visual arts in the post-Soviet era, as the city is reinvented as a destination for international tourists and business ventures.
Trade Review“... an interesting addition to work on the city of Havana.” - Guy Baron,
Bulletin of Spanish Studies“[E]specially timely…. These essays by architects, historians, cultural critics, sociologists, photographers, and writers from the island and beyond yield a variety of perspectives, reflecting competing visions for Havana’s present and future.” - Rachel Price,
Literature and Arts of the Americas“All in all, this book should be considered an exploratory account that will hopefully incite more anthropologists to investigate the current transformations of Havana, arguably the Latin American capital of the 20th century.” - MARIAN VIOREL ANASTASOAIE,
Social Anthropology“A superb collection of provocative, wide-ranging essays on what used to be, and soon will be again, America’s favorite foreign city. The distinguished contributors—the Havana All-Stars—explore the body and soul of the Cuban capital with passion and insight.”—
Gustavo Pérez Firmat, author of
The Havana Habit“An eloquent, urgent, and riveting account of Havana today and where it might be tomorrow. This anthology brings together an incredible range of thoughtful observers, all of whom adore this gorgeous tropical metropolis, ravished by the sea and by history. Congratulations to Anke Birkenmaier and Esther Whitfield for the gift of this book, which is certain to become a classic.”—
Ruth Behar, author of
An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba“[An] interesting addition to work on the city of Havana.” -- Guy Baron * Bulletin of Spanish Studies *
“[E]specially timely…. These essays by architects, historians, cultural critics, sociologists, photographers, and writers from the island and beyond yield a variety of perspectives, reflecting competing visions for Havana’s present and future.” -- Rachel Price * Literature and Arts of the Americas *
Table of ContentsPreface Introduction: Beyond the Ruins / Anke Birkenmaier and Esther Whitfield Part I. Mapping Havana: Citizenship and the City 1. Visits to a Non-Place: Havana and Its Representation(s) / Velia Cecilia Bobes; 2. The Bitter Trinquennium and the Dystopian City: Autopsy of a Utopia / Mario Coyula; 3. Barbacoas: Havana's New Inward Frontier / Patricio Del Real and Joseph Scarpaci; 4. The "Slums" of Havana / Jill Hamberg; 5. Havana and Its Landscapes: A Vision for Future Reconstruction of Cuban Cities / Nicolas Quintana; 6. The Illegible City: Havana after the Messiah / Rafael Rojas A Photo-Essay: Havana / Orlando Luis Pardo Lazo Part II. Havana's Shifting Margins 7. The City in Midair / Emma Alvarez-Tabio Albo; 8. Made in Havana City: Rap Music, Space, and Racial Politics / Sujatha Fernandes; 9. Urban Performance Pieces in Fragmented Form: A Reading of Pedro Juan Gutierrez and Antonio Jose Ponte / Cecelia Lawless; 10. Topographies of Cosmonauts in Havana: Proyecto Vostok and Insausti's Existen / Jacqueline Loss 11. Touring Havana in the Work of Ronaldo Menendez / Laura Redruello Part III. Coda 12. La Habana: City and Archive / Antonio Jose Ponte; 13. Bitter Daiquiris: A Crystal Chronicle / Jose Quiroga Glossary; References; Contributors; Index
