The Aesthetics of Socialism: Cultural Polemics in 1960s Cuba

In January 1961, the National Council of Culture (CNC), dominated by members of the pre-revolutionary Communist Party, was established as the central cultural organ of the Cuban Revolution. Three months later, the Bay of Pigs invasion prompted Cuba to declare its processes to be motivated by sociali...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oxford art journal 2014-12, Vol.37 (3), p.265-283
Main Author: Gordon-Nesbitt, Rebecca J.
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:In January 1961, the National Council of Culture (CNC), dominated by members of the pre-revolutionary Communist Party, was established as the central cultural organ of the Cuban Revolution. Three months later, the Bay of Pigs invasion prompted Cuba to declare its processes to be motivated by socialism and enter the Soviet ambit. These events combined to raise concerns among members of the Cuban cultural community about the nature of aesthetic practice that would be expected thenceforward. This article sheds light upon the key discussions around aesthetics that raged in Cuba, during the first half of the 1960s, between the dogmatic Marxists of the CNC and those creative practitioners who sought an alternative form of socialism to that which had developed in the Soviet Union. This account covers territory ranging from realism to abstraction and idealism to materialism. In the process, it seeks to add nuance to discussions of Cuban cultural policy and demonstrate that socialist realism is far from the only aesthetic response to socialism.
ISSN:0142-6540
1741-7287
DOI:10.1093/oxartj/kcu016