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

the socialist utopia 267
that portrayal. Where does the fi lm situate itself discursively, despite its
intentions? The title of the fi lm, Soy Cuba, is repeated in a voice-over
narration throughout the fi lm. Who is the “I” (Soy) of Cuba? Is there a specifi
c character(s) in the fi lm who embodies the nation of Cuba? Is it always
the same character or does it change during the course of the fi lm? Who/
what else is Cuba? What does this representation of Cuba include and,
consequently, exclude? How does this in turn fi t into what is included
or excluded in the portrayal of the Cuban Revolution? When attempting
to answer these questions, consider the ways in which national identity
intersects with gender, class, and race identity.
• Why is it signifi cant that the fi lm has a sizable Soviet presence in its
production? In what way might this fi lm say more about the lens through
which Russians view Cuba than about the fi lm’s explicit subject, Cuba
itself?
• We offer a description of Soy Cuba without additional analyses from
other scholars. When you have the opportunity to see the fi rst vignette of
Soy Cuba, can you see the presence in our analysis of a discourse that we
might not be aware of? The successive interpreters of Said’s Orientalism,
for example, are themselves subjected to critical theory readings. For this
exercise, keep in mind graph 2.3 in the introductory chapter.
• In what ways is the representation of women in the fi lm similar to
Che’s relationship with women as described by Alma Guillermoprieto?
What do these two examples suggest to us about the role of gender in the
Cuban Revolution and later in the revolutionary government?
Notes
1. This is a reading of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, The Motorcycle Diaries:
A Journey Around South America, trans. Ann Wright (London: Verso, 1996).
2. Guevara 12.
3. Guevara 49.
4. As of 2004, Granado was alive and living in Cuba. He recently traveled
to Brazil for a premiere of the movie that is based on the Diaries. Larry
Rohter, “Che Today? More Easy Rider Than Revolutionary,” New York
Times, 26 May 2004: A4.
5. Guevara 51.
6. Guevara 52.
7. Guevara 152.
8. Guevara 148.
9. Guevara 135.
10. Guevara 90.
11. Stuart Hall, “Ethnicity: Identity and Difference,” ed. Geof Eley and
R. Suny, Becoming National: A Reader (New York: Oxford UP, 1996) 339.