‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>

<p class="first" id="d126047e74">This article follows two lines of inquiry. First, it provides a rereading of the novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo</i> (Desnoes 1965), suggesting that the protagonist, Sergio, is affected by...

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Main Author: William Rowlandson
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pluto Journals 2020-11-01
Series:International Journal of Cuban Studies
Online Access:https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.12.2.0329
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author William Rowlandson
author_facet William Rowlandson
author_sort William Rowlandson
collection DOAJ
description <p class="first" id="d126047e74">This article follows two lines of inquiry. First, it provides a rereading of the novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo</i> (Desnoes 1965), suggesting that the protagonist, Sergio, is affected by the threat of nuclear war throughout the novel and that this fear dominates the text from the outset, and not just the novel's ending during the Missile Crisis of October 1962. It argues that Sergio's state of anxiety and inertia derive as much from this fear as from his intellectual detachment and problematic relationship with the Cuban Revolution, where critical attention has tended to focus. This rereading gives texture to Sergio's inaction and nihilism, revealing a coherent response of an individual to the threat of catastrophe. Secondly, this article sets this rereading against a new context of catastrophe: that of climate change, ecosystem collapse and species extinction. In this context an overlooked revolutionary fervour is detected in Sergio that provides a reading of hope in the narrative that, when read analogously against the present, may reflect a sense of hope against calamity. </p>
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spelling doaj.art-33343bad9a9d4c4086980186e7dd31e82023-05-12T08:44:47ZengPluto JournalsInternational Journal of Cuban Studies1756-34611756-347X2020-11-0112232935010.13169/intejcubastud.12.2.0329‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>William Rowlandson<p class="first" id="d126047e74">This article follows two lines of inquiry. First, it provides a rereading of the novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo</i> (Desnoes 1965), suggesting that the protagonist, Sergio, is affected by the threat of nuclear war throughout the novel and that this fear dominates the text from the outset, and not just the novel's ending during the Missile Crisis of October 1962. It argues that Sergio's state of anxiety and inertia derive as much from this fear as from his intellectual detachment and problematic relationship with the Cuban Revolution, where critical attention has tended to focus. This rereading gives texture to Sergio's inaction and nihilism, revealing a coherent response of an individual to the threat of catastrophe. Secondly, this article sets this rereading against a new context of catastrophe: that of climate change, ecosystem collapse and species extinction. In this context an overlooked revolutionary fervour is detected in Sergio that provides a reading of hope in the narrative that, when read analogously against the present, may reflect a sense of hope against calamity. </p>https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.12.2.0329
spellingShingle William Rowlandson
‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>
International Journal of Cuban Studies
title ‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>
title_full ‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>
title_fullStr ‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>
title_full_unstemmed ‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>
title_short ‘I would rather go on being underdeveloped.’ Rereading and recontextualising Edmundo Desnoes&apos;s 1965 novel <i>Memorias del subdesarrollo </i>
title_sort i would rather go on being underdeveloped rereading and recontextualising edmundo desnoes apos s 1965 novel i memorias del subdesarrollo i
url https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.12.2.0329
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