Sophia Peabody Hawthorne's “Cuba Journal”: A Link Between Cultures

• Published in: The Nathaniel Hawthorne review 2011-10, Vol.37 (2), p.73-96
• Main Author: Forza, Daniela Ciani
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 19th century; Analysis; Authors; Criticism and interpretation; ESSAYS; Fiction; Hawthorne, Sophia Peabody; Journal writing; Latin American culture; Mothers; Multiculturalism; Nineteenth century literature; Plantations; Politics; Records and correspondence; Semantics; Semiotics; Slavery; Travel; Travel literature; Travelogues; Writing; Written correspondence
• ISSN: 0890-4197

[...]not only was the United States exerting its political and economic power to draw the island into its sphere of influence because of its strategic position in the Caribbean Sea, but, in following its expansionistic strategies, it also strongly advocated an increasing acquaintance between the North American and the Cuban peoples. Travelogues, journals, diaries, and tourist guides on Cuba proliferated, testifying to the charm the island exerted on North Americans, whether for its exotic landscapes and alien customs, or as a result of their aspirations of profit and political interference.16 Confirming both Caesar's and Schriber's17 assessments of nineteenth-century American travel writing, the general tenor of this production conveys strong admiration for the amenity and agreeableness of the island's nature and relaxed manners, but also ambiguous curiosity as to its history, its social idiosyncrasies, and its contradictions, which doubtlessly helped to substantiate North Americans in their belief that they were God's chosen people, rather than to encourage them in deeper confrontation. Another sign of the text's semantic unity of charm is the allusion to Sophia's "young knight's" courteous manners, which adds further elegance to the scene. Besides natural landscapes, in fact, whose picturesque descriptions are intense and copious in the journal, polished behavior also receives significant attention from the author. 24 In referring to the abundant literature that focused on Cuba in the nineteenth century, ranging from travelogues to fiction and diaries, Lazo uses the term "Cuba Guide" - that is, literature combining "political observation with practical information on travel [offering] a gamut of impressions about accommodations, geography, history, politics, and flora and fauna with additional ruminations on slavery, gender conventions, and Catholicism" (181). [...]he stresses the wide array of observations contained in such writing. 25 Scrupulously following Dr. Channing's advice, the Peabody family always tried to prevent Sophia from feeling inadequate because of her ill health, and discouraged her from feeling any remorse for her self-absorption (about her health or artistic career).