Precarity, uncertainty, rupture and calamitous transition have defined the political history of Cuba for centuries. The Cuban twentieth century, for example, saw several revolutions and various dictatorships. As historian Lillian Guerra has so eloquently illustrated martyrdom, armed struggle, civic unrest and civil war are just some of the indices that marked the nation’s instability in the years leading up to its latest Revolution (Guerra 2018).  The economic instability which has plagued the island over the last sixty-seven years, as it moved from free market capitalism, to communism, to state controlled capitalism has exacerbated the climate of political precarity and consolidated a sense of a society that has been constantly teetering on the edge of collapse. Now that, once again, the world has become sensitive to Cuba’s being on the verge of upheaval, how do we make sense of this history in global terms? Cuba has at different points served as a model for different Latin American and Middle Eastern societies in moments of regime change, for example. It’s overreliance on and then precipitous fissure from the former Soviet Union is well documented. And its deep engagement with various African nations constitutes a highly contentious history. In this seminar we will address the following questions:

What does it mean for Cuba to be once more on the verge of transition? 

What can literature, cinema and the performing arts offer as guides to reading the precarity of the past and to finding solutions for the present?

What can we learn through exploring Latin American, Middle Eastern, West African and Post-Soviet cultural perceptions of Cuba, its political histories and its global role in the 21st century? 

And what does the engagement of Cuban cultural production with the world beyond its borders offer as clues to how it might navigate a precarious future?