Lourdes Casal’s revolutionary internationalism in the United States

In this project, I analyze the literary and critical production of sociologist and poet Lourdes Casal in her work in both the United States and Cuba to promote dialogue and fight against U.S. capitalism and imperialism. During my time in Cuba, I was able to get a much better picture of Casal, reading her in a transnational context and considering her work in the U.S. as evidence of Cuban internationalist ideals. I was also able to use this time in Cuba to get more familiar with the research terrain for the period that I am studying. Questions of artistic commitment, aesthetic autonomy and censorship were major points that came up in conversations I had with academics, artists and authors I met on the island. Research was not necessarily smooth sailing at all times, but I got a lot of work done by simply talking to as many people as I could to help me to locate the materials I wanted to look at. The results of my project help me to better understand this historical moment and to broaden the scope of my research to better encompass transnational perspectives.