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Transculturacion

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The theory of ‘transculturación’ was first imagined by Fernando Ortiz of Cuba in 1940. He had dedicated his life studying his fellow Cubans and their way of life. The phenomenon of ‘transculturación’ can best be described as being “expres(ando) las diferentes fases del proceso transitivo de una cultura a otra, el proceso implica también necesariamente la pérdida o desarraigo de una cultura precedente”. In this essay I will be analysing the political changes in Haiti after the French colonial days as described in Alejo Carpentier’s novel ‘El reino de este mundo’. Because two strongly distinctive and contrasting cultures are presented throughout this novel I will be analysing whether or not the process of ‘transculturación’ does develop or if …show more content…

While some divisions remain between both the Haitians and the Europeans, some dissapear. Alejo Carpentier also includes many important themes and ideas throughout ‘El reino de este mundo’ such as the importance of African traditions. Pauline Bonaparte, after effectively seducing African men on her ship, ends up putting her trust in Soliman , a black slave to cure her husband from the yellow fever through voodoo magic. Following her husband’s tragic death, Pauline sails back to France with Soliman by her side, who later becomes an officer and seems to lead a comfortable life in Europe. Ti Noël is now a wise ancient man who has lived through many years, his own metamorphosis into various creatures, lead him to realise that the cycle of life will eventually repeat itself ‘Y comprendía, ahora, que el hombre nunca sabe para quién padece y espera.’ He comes to realise that when power is at stake the colour of the skin black or white has little importance. he understands that evolution will continue and that mankind need to learn from their mistakes in order to cohabit peacefully. Alejo Carpentier thus shows us how ‘transculturación’ is not an easy process but a very complicated one which will take years and years to occur.

Nicolás Guillén’s ‘Motivos de Son’ was published in 1930, it consists of …show more content…

Whilst the author in ‘Motivos de Son’ (1930), writes from the perspective of a black man, in his later work ‘Songoro Cosongo’ (1931) the content of his writing develops into writing about the African- American integrated population from a different perspective. ‘Poesía mulata’ is the term Nicolás Guillén uses to coin his inditing. It consists of a form of poetry which expresses the unification of both cultures as they are no longer considered as the black culture or white culture but rather a blend of both, merging together. In his work of poetry ‘Mulatto verses’ he even goes further then saying that the Cubans have influenced the Africans but he goes further then this by expressing the idea that both cultures may have influenced each other. Nicolás Guillén’s work wishes to explore the black experience in Cuba, he achieves this by internalising and writing as if he were part of that world. Nevertheless the author remains a white Cuban, thus his point of view is observatory and does not speak of actual

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