cover image  Cuba: A Cultural History

Cuba: A Cultural History

Alan West-Durán. Reaktion, $29 (288p) ISBN 978-1-78023-839-5

West-Durán, associate professor of cultures, societies, and global studies at Northeastern University, encourages travelers, actual or armchair, to move toward an understanding of Cuba’s unique cultural heritage, which has been forged by the melding of Spanish and African traditions and by extremes of capitalism and communism. Moving from 1898, when Cuba gained its independence from Spain, to the 21st century, West-Durán surveys the country’s cultural development, setting out each era’s historical context and then discussing its cultural achievements. This is a fruitful approach, as it allows readers to understand the reciprocal relationship between politics and cultural expression. It also merits praise for conceiving of culture as including not only the works of writers, artists, filmmakers, and composers, but also the cultural work of ordinary people, such as the Afro-Cuban spiritual practices that syncretize Catholic and West African traditions and songs that confront the racism that has persisted despite great societal changes under revolutionary socialism. West-Durán manages to pack this relatively short book with an impressive density of material, and his graceful, lucid style prevents it from becoming overwhelming. Readers fascinated by and interested in Cuba should find this book to be of great value in understanding a complex and often contradictory society. (Nov.)