Authors
Roberto
FERNÁNDEZ RETAMAR
La Habana, 1930 - La Habana, 2019
Genre: Poetry , Social sciences , Essays
Poet, essayist and Cuban cultural promoter. National Prize of Literature in 1989 and National Prize of Social Sciences in 2012. He was a member of the Council of State of Cuba and President of the House of the Americas. Full Member of the Cuban Academy of Language and corresponding of the Royal Academy of Language from 1997. He holds among others the distinctions: José Martí Order; Centennial Medal of José Lezama Lima; National Prize for Culture Research; Latinity Award and José Martí International Prize awarded by UNESCO . Among his vast poetic and essay work we highlight: In its place, the poetry (1961); Poetry reunited (1966); Poetry reunited again (2009); We the survivors (2010); Contemporary poetry in Cuba (1927, 1953 and 2009); Essay of another world (1969); For a theory of Latin American Literature (1975) and Caliban and other essays ( 1971). His work has been published in a large part of Latin America.
“Our symbol is not Ariel, as Rodó thought, but Caliban. This is something seen with particular clarity by us, the half-breeds who inhabit the same islands where Caliban lived: Prospero invaded the islands, killed our ancestors, enslaved Caliban and taught him his language to be able to understand him: what else can Caliban do but use that same language —today he has no other— to curse him, to wish the “red plague” fell on him? I do not know another more accurate metaphor of our cultural situation, of our reality”.
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