Reframing Latin America: A Cultural Theory Reading ... - BGSU Blogs

138 reframing latin america
the ways Cubans came to view the world and themselves. In making the
assertion that Cuban identity is located in large part outside of Cuba, Pérez
rejects the conventional essentialist logic, as expressed by Gobineau, that
national identity comes from the blood of its people. Instead, he says that
the notion of national identity being formed in isolation is no longer tenable.
In response to the perception in some circles that Cuba had surrendered
its identity to its colossal neighbor to the north, Pérez examines contact
between Cubans and North Americans as “it moved in both directions, often
repeatedly back and forth, transformed and transforming.” 4 He is not so
naïve as to deny that dominant nations have greater capacity to shape cultural
discourse, but he also notes that weaker nations participate in shaping
the discourses of stronger ones. One illuminating example that Pérez offers
in this regard involves the infl uences of Cuban music and dance on U.S.
popular culture and, simultaneously, of Cubans’ strategy of reselling for the
North American market.
Pérez suggests that this unequal relation ultimately led to Cuban disenchantment
with U.S. market culture and consumption. He asserts that
the attraction to U.S. cultural hegemony later becomes the grounds for repulsion:
“The power of U.S. hegemony was embedded in cultural forms
that served as the principal means by which the North American presence
was legitimized. It just happened that these forms also served as the means
by which North American infl uences were contested and otherwise diminished
or eliminated altogether.” 5 According to Pérez, this disenchantment
lead to Cuban support for populist/socialist leaders such as Fidel
Castro.
Arthur de Gobineau, THE INEQUALITY
OF HUMAN RACES 6
Chapter IV: The Meaning of the Word “Degeneration”;
the Mixture of Racial Elements; How Societies Are Formed
and Broken Up [. . .]
Bichat, 7 as we know, did not seek to discover the great mystery of existence
by studying the human subject from the outside; the key to the riddle, he
saw, lay within. Those who followed the same method, in our own subject,
were traveling on the only road that really led to discoveries. Unfortunately,
this excellent idea of theirs was the result of mere instinct; its logical implications
were not carried very far, and it was shattered on the fi rst difficulty.
“Yes,” they cried, “the cause of destruction lies hidden in the very vitals
of the social organism; but what is this cause?” “Degeneration,” was the