Pedro Perez Sarduy – författare

From the forewords: "At a time when Cuba is undergoing immense economic and social changes, race becomes a kind of cultural litmus test for the national identity. . . . This anthology illustrates fully that it is possible to be both revolutionary and black in Cuba."—Manning Marable, Columbia University

"The authors of Afro-Cuban Voices, also key actors in the new, unfolding dialogue about race in Cuba, make a seminal contribution through a forthright critique of ‘racial blind spots’ in official history and present-day racial discrimination."—James Early, director of cultural studies and communication, Smithsonian Institution

From the series editor: "A courageous attempt to deal head-on with the issue of race in Cuba today. . . . Pérez Sarduy and Stubbs [seek to] put a human face on this debate, and do so well. The book will be received with relief by some and with frustration by others. Controversial it will undoubtedly be, since—as with most things Cuban—strong emotions are a given assumption. It will be an admirable beginning for the series and, it is hoped, will spark a much-needed debate in the United States on many aspects of the ‘Cuban question.’ It is about time."—John M. Kirk

Based on the vivid firsthand testimony of prominent Afro-Cubans who live in Cuba, this book of interviews looks at ways that race affects daily life on the island. While celebrating their racial and national identity, the collected voices express an urgent need to end the silences and distortions of history in both pre- and postrevolutionary Cuba. The 14 people interviewed—of different generations and from different geographic areas of Cuba—come from the arts, the media, industry, academia, and medicine. They include a doctor who calls for joint U.S.-Cuban studies on high blood pressure and a craftsman who makes the batá drums used in Yoruba worship ceremonies. All responded to four controversial questions: What is it like to be black in Cuba? How has the revolution made a difference? To what extent is that difference true today? What can be done? Exposing the contradictions of both racial stereotyping and cultural assimilation, their eloquent answers make the case that the issue of race in Cuba, no matter how hard to define, will not be ignored.

A volume in the series Contemporary Cuba, edited by John M. Kirk

Set in Cuba and Miami, from the 1940s to the present, twoAfro-Cuban women narrate their life stories. One leaves a small town in thecentral part of the island to work as a maid in Havana in prerevolutionaryCuba. The other, her friend''s daughter, educated in revolutionary Cuba, leavesHavana in the 1980 Mariel boatlift, to find work as a maid in Miami A history fullcircle?

Je crois que dans ce roman il y a des éléments qui sont fondamentaux parce qu’il ne cesse d’être littéraire et en même temps il s’attache à rendre le parler populaire de certains mondes féminins qui paraissent tantôt tellement fermés, tantôt tellement étrangers au monde de l''homme. Cela est un apport extraordinaire parce que c’est une chronique d’une psychologie sociale inédite dont l’écheveau de relations raciales et de genre est d''une richesse encore inappréciable.Réellement, je crois qu’il va être très difficile de classer ce roman. L’important est que sa lecture est absolument délicieuse alors qu’elle traite de la vaillance à affronter les conflits de la société cubaine d’aujourd''hui, de la culture cubaine, de l''expérience des migrations, de l’existence de pôles tellement divers de cette culture qui sont disséminés dans l''univers, sachant qu’au jour d’aujourd’hui la culture cubaine est seule et unique. Ne manquez pas Les Bonnes de La Havane. Oubliez tout ce que vous avez pu lire et écrire sur les bonnes, en n’importe quel lieu de la planète, en particulier dans ce Tiers Monde. Oubliez Jean Genet et lisez Pedro Pérez Sarduy.

Nancy Morejón, La Havane, 15 février 2002

Prix du Livre insulaire 2008, catégorie Fiction