The Frozen Revolution: Ruins, Aura and Melancholy in Post-Communist Cuba

Duanel Díaz

November 1, 2018

Event Description

Cuba is a land of strange contrasts: vintage American cars among dilapidated buildings with walls covered in revolutionary slogans. Duanel Díaz argues that what distinguishes contemporary Havana from other decayed places such as Detroit and New Orleans is precisely this striking coexistence between the revolution and the ruins. Any effort to understand Cuba’s post-communist present takes us back to the heyday of the revolution.

Speaker

Duanel Díaz Infante is an assistant professor of Spanish at Virginia Commonwealth University. His research focuses on culture and politics in Cuba as well as theoretical and historical issues of Marxism and Communism.

Cosponsors

Co-sponsored by the Center for Latin American Studies and the Department of Spanish and Portuguese.