Overview
In this moving and personal account of the forty-three-year-old divide between Cuba and its exile population in the United States, Roman de la Campa questions both sides of a family feud that is acutely reflective of his own experience. Taking the three migration waves of Cubans to the United States as a historical background to his own story, the author details the continuing rift between Havana and Miami and the shaping, in the light of globalization and post-socialism, of a Cuban national split which has obvious consequences for both countries.
Synopsis
The impasse over Elian Gonzalez is only the most publicized chapter in the ongoing rift between the two Cuban capitals of Havana and Miami. In this gripping personal account of the forty-one-year-old divide between Cuba and its exile population in the United States, Roman de la Campa questions both sides of a family feud that is acutely reflective of his own experience. Cuban born and commuting between the arch-enemies in spite of their respective roadblocks, he tells the story of his coming of age in the Cuban diaspora, with its faded sympathies for revolution, and his continuing disdain for official Miami, the exile capital. Cuba on my Mind takes the three migration waves of Cubans to the United States as a historical backdrop for the author's story. Through these de la Campa's memoir offers a hard look at his two Cubas, their obsessive attempts to deny the other, their respective use of migration as a political card, and their nationalist passions. Above all it shows how globalization and post-socialism are shaping a Cuban national split with obvious consequences, not only for Havana, but also for the United States.
Author Bio:Roman de la Campa chairs the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature and the Program on New American Studies at the State University of New York. His recent books include Latin Americanism, Late Imperial Culture, and America Latina y sus comunidades discursivas.