Writing Islands : Space and Identity in the Transnational Cuban Archipelago

Employs methods from archipelagic studies to analyse works of contemporary Cuban writers on the island alongside those in exile. Offering a new lens to explore the multiplicity of Cuban space and identity, Elena Lahr-Vivaz argues that these writers approach their nation as part of a larger, transnational network of islands.

Howcontemporary Cuban writers build transnational communitiesIn Writing Islands, ElenaLahr-Vivaz employs methods from archipelagic studies to analyze works ofcontemporary Cuban writers on the island alongside those in exile. Offering anew lens to explore the multiplicity of Cuban space and identity, she arguesthat these writers approach their nation as part of a larger, transnationalnetwork of islands. Introducing the term “arcubiélago” to describe the spacescreated by Cuban writers, both on the ground and in print, Lahr-Vivazilluminates how transnational communities are forged and how they functionacross space and time. Lahr-Vivazconsiders how poets, novelists, and essayists of the 1990s and 2000s builtinterconnected communities of readers through blogs, state-sponsored bookfairs, informal methods of book circulation, and intertextual dialogues. Bookchapters offer in-depth analyses of the works of writers as different as ReinaMaría Rodríguez, known for lyrical poetry, and Zoé Valdés, known for stridentcritiques of Fidel Castro. Incorporating insights from on-site interviews inCuba, Spain, and the United States, Lahr-Vivaz analyzes how writers maintainedconnections materially, through the distribution of works, and metaphorically,as their texts bridge spaces separated by geopolitics. Througha decolonizing methodology that resists limiting Cuba to a distinct geographicspace, Writing Islands investigatesthe nuances of Cuban identity, the creation of alternate spaces of identity,the potential of the Internet for artistic expression, and the transnationalbonds that join far-flung communities. Publicationof this work made possible by a Sustaining the Humanities through the AmericanRescue Plan grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.