Revolutionizing Romance: Interracial Couples in Contemporary Cuba - Softcover

Fernandez, Nadine T

9780813547237: Revolutionizing Romance: Interracial Couples in Contemporary Cuba

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0813547237 ISBN 13: 9780813547237

Publisher: Rutgers University Press, 2010

Scholars have long heralded mestizaje, or race mixing, as the essence of the Cuban nation. Revolutionizing Romance is an account of the continuing significance of race in Cuba as it is experienced in interracial relationships. This ethnography tracks young couples as they move in a world fraught with shifting connections of class, race, and culture that are reflected in space, racialized language, and media representations of blackness, whiteness, and mixedness. As one of the few scholars to conduct long-term anthropological fieldwork in the island nation, Nadine T. Fernandez offers a rare insider's view of the country's transformations during the post-Soviet era. Following a comprehensive history of racial formations up through Castro's rule, the book then delves into more intimate and contemporary spaces. Language, space and place, foreign tourism, and the realm of the family each reveal, through the author's deft analysis, the paradox of living a racialized life in a nation that celebrates a policy of colorblind equality.

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About the Author:

NADINE T. FERNANDEZ is an associate professor of social sciences at the State University of New York, Empire State College.

Review:

"This excellent work breaks new ground in our understanding of Cuban society by focusing on interracial relationships, the sites where mestizaje is produced. Fernandez analyzes these interactions and exchanges with all their contradictions and complexities, making for a compelling read." (Alejandro de la Fuente author of A Nation for All: Race, Inequality, and Politics in Twentieth-Century)

"This extremely insightful book addresses a major paradox in Cuban society. Fernandez's ethnography and sophisticated analysis dives deep into the contradictory meanings of interracial romance, providing much-needed sociocultural analysis." (Faye Harrison author of Outsider Within: Reworking Anthropology in the Global Age)

"Because of its accessible style and the succinct background chapters on Cuban racial history and the topic of romantic love, the book is a fine resource for introductory courses on race in Latin America and the Caribbean."
(New West Indian Guide)

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