2001 Events

The Cuban Republic and José Martí: 1902 - 2002

The Cuban Republic was born in the first years of the twentieth century with formidable tasks ahead. Several historical legacies among the new republican leaders and institutions vied for articulating Cuban identity, the state, and civil society. One legacy in particular, the nationalist and political ideas of José Martí, took a central stage among the followers of the Cuban separatist martyr and "apostle." Today few would doubt the centrality of Martí's legacy for the Cuban sense of identity and nationality. The approaching centennial of the origin of the Cuban Republic provides an opportunity to evaluate the symbiosis and counterpoints between Cuban republican traditions and Martí's legacy.

This international symposium brings together over twenty specialists from
Brazil, Cuba, France, Germany, Mexico, United States to assess the evolving interactions between views of the Cuban republic and readings of Martí's ideas and influence.

The Bildner Center acknowledges the support from the Ford Foundation, the Christopher Reynolds Foundation, and The Graduate Center, City University of New York.

Session I

Thursday, Dec. 6: Skylight Conference Room (9100)

• 5:00 p.m. Registration
• 5:30 p.m. Opening Remarks
• 6:00-7:30 p.m. MARTÍ AND REPUBLICAN TRADITIONS
  Moderator:
  Margaret Crahan, Hunter College & Graduate Center - CUNY
  Building the Literary Image of José Martí in the United States
  Ivan A. Schulman,University of Illinois
  Los primeros republicanos. Notas sobre la tradición republicana en Cuba
  Rafael Rojas, Colegio de Mexico
  Reescribiendo a José Martí: Fina García Marruz
  Luisa Campuzano, Casa de las Américas
• 7:30 p.m. Reception (By invitation)

Session II

Friday, Dec. 7, 2001: Room 9206

• 8:30-9:00 a.m. Registration
• 9:00-11:00 a.m. NATION-BULDING AND CULTO MARTIANO
  Moderator:
  Alfonso Quiroz, Baruch College & Graduate Center - CUNY
  The "Apostle" in Stone: Nationalism and Monuments in Honor of Martí
  João Felipe Gonçalves, Johns Hopkins University
  Redefining Martí and "Cuba Libre" in the 1920s
  Lillian Guerra, Bates College
  Martí en el Cine Cubano
  Rogelio París, ICAIC

Session III

• 11:15-1:15 a.m. THE REPUBLIC AND THE UNITED STATES
  Moderator:
  Mauricio Font, Queens College & Graduate Center - CUNY
  The Long and Winding Road that Dead-Ended: U.S. Cuban Relations (1898-1961)
  Marifeli Pérez-Stable, Florida International University
  José Martí and the Americas: Class, Race and the Limits of National Representation
  Laura Lomas, Pennsylvania State University
  Cuban Displacement, American Transnational Form: Martí's Escenas Norteamericanas
  Antonio López, Rutgers University
  Racism in the Republic: Marti and the Legacy of the U.S. Civil War
  Oscar Montero, Lehman College & Graduate Center - CUNY
• 1:15-2:30 p.m. Lunch

Session IV

• 2:45-5:00 p.m. THE RADICAL & REVOLUTIONARY LEGACY
  Moderator:
  Oscar Montero, CUNY
  José Martí, Pilar de la Revolución Cubana
  Paul Estrade, University of Paris VIII
  "Rights Are Not Pleaded, They are Wrested by Force of Arms." Martí and the Cult of the Resource to Violence in Cuba, 1902-2002
  Rafael Tarragó, University of Minnesota
  Martí and the Schools of the Republic
  Alfonso Quiroz, Baruch College & The Graduate Center-CUNY
  El Uso del Legado Martiano por los Indepedientes de Color
  Tomas Fernandez Robaina, Biblioteca Nacional Jose Marti

Session V

Saturday, Dec. 8, 2001: Room 9206

• 10:00 a.m. -12:00 p.m. CUBAN HISTORIOGRAPHY AND MARTÍ
  Moderator:
  Samuel Farber, Brooklyn College - CUNY
  Presencia martiana en los textos de historia de Cuba (1902-1958)
  Carmen Almodóvar, Universidad de La Habana
  José Martí en la obra de Fernando Ortiz
  José A. Matos, Instituto de Filosofía y Fundación Fernando Ortiz
  Ediciones y popularización de la obra martiana desde 1902
  Pedro Pablo Rodríguez,Centro de Estudios Martianos
  A Dream Transformed: Martí, U.S. Intervention and the Cuban Republic
  Stephen Sokol, Fund for Reconciliation and Development
• 12:00-1:15 p.m. Lunch

Session VI

• 1:30-3:30 p.m. NATIONAL AND GROUP IDENTITIES: IMMIGRANTS, RACE, AND GENDER
  Moderator:
  Michael Turner, Hunter College - CUNY
  Immigración española e imaginario nacional en Cuba
  Consuelo Naranjo Orovio, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas, Madrid
  Martí y la emigración cubana de Yucatán frente al nacimiento de la
  República
  Carlos Bojórquez Urzaiz, Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán
  Race and the Republic in Lydia Cabrera
  Licia Fiol-Matta, Barnard College
  Gender Trouble: José Martí and Juana Borrero
  Ottmar Ette, Universität Potsdam
• 4 p.m. Closing Comments

 

When: December 6 - 8, 2001
Where: The Graduate Center
365 Fifth Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(Across from the Empire State Building)

Registration is required: to reserve, send email to bildner@gc.cuny.edu or leave message at (212) 817-2096.

Those interested in the December conference should send inquiries to bildner@gc.cuny.edu or write to Bildner Center, The Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10016.