Identity is a crucial concept in history and cultural studies. Cuban culture is a harmonious synthesis of several cultures: Spanish, African, and Afro-Cuban, while the identity of the Cubans has a unique set of characteristics. In the study Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar, published in 1940, Fernando Ortiz proposed approaches to understanding Cuban identity and defining the codes of national culture and its internal image. He carried out a kind of personification of sugar and tobacco, claiming that they are the main archetypes of the Cuban image. The scientist considered the primary task of studying the culture of Cuba from the inside, being a part of it, and focusing on the dynamics of complex processes of cultural interaction. As a result of it, in Cuba, new meanings and new cultural codes were born. Thus, thanks to Ortiz’s clear and precise statements about Cuban identity, it is possible to trace how the era of colonialism influenced Latin America.
“Questions on transculturation are vital for a better understanding of social phenomena, especially in Cuba” (Ortiz, 102). One of the most significant aspects of the book is the description of the concept of transculturation, which Ortiz uses to describe Cuban history. It is not only the second chapter’s central notion; this aspect runs through the entire composition with a thin thread. Using this term, the author explains in detail the “extremely complex cultural transmutations” that took place in Cuba (Ortiz, 98). It means that although Cuba was a Spanish colony for many centuries, it did not become its backup but created its unique culture from a mixture of Spanish, local and African elements. Ortiz takes pride in creating a unique Cuban culture that resisted the country’s degradation during its colonial period. Cubans’ awareness of their cultural identity and their stubborn resistance to cultural neo-colonialism are inextricably linked with the long and challenging process of gaining political sovereignty and the struggle for liberation from colonial dependence. Thus, the author explores the legacy of colonialism in Latin America through his description of the process of transculturation.
“When sugar is born, it is just sugar; it does not have his name” (Ortiz, 272). The author uses sugar as a metaphor for an alien culture since this product was brought to Cuba and adapted to regional characteristics by Europeans. Even though the sugar industry was the backbone of the Cuban economy on a par with tobacco, the author describes sugar production as a rough, mishmash, crushing, grinding, and blending. The natural bulk is transformed into a chemically homogeneous botanical lot to satisfy the human masses’ needs. Sugar is something ordinary, and it has neither form nor personality. Cuba’s history over the years has been associated with dependence on the sugar interests of foreigners who have always demanded the extraction of sugar for their enrichment, to the detriment of the country’s interests. Throughout the composition, the author contrasts sugar with tobacco, which reflects Ortiz’s attitude to the history of colonialism in Latin America. He discovered that sugar capitalism was a problem for Cuban national interests since the high degree of foreign ownership of sugar factories meant that the country was not sovereign but depended on the colonialists.
“Sugarcane and tobacco are all contrast” (Ortiz, 278). In almost every paragraph of the second chapter, Ortiz considers Cuba’s history from the perspective of studying the history of sugar and tobacco, which are the country’s economic base. Unlike sugar, tobacco is the original on Cuban soil; therefore, in any case, concerning tobacco, it is marked by thoroughness, purity, and nobility. In contradistinction to sugar, tobacco always has many names and brands, depending on the area, the owner of the plantation, the processor, the sowing and harvesting period, and the nature of drying. Tobacco is not only individual; it is national because tobacco is Cuban. The description of this product also contains Ortiz’s attitude to the spread of colonialism in Latin America. The author endows tobacco with the ideal properties, associating it with the Cuban national identity. According to the Ortiz, tobacco is native, and the smoking of the tobacco purifies. Thus, tobacco and sugar are the main protagonists of Cuban history. Their striking differences are reflected in the creation of the Cuban people themselves, their social stratification, political upheavals, and international relations.
Therefore, the production of sugarcane and tobacco plantations is inextricably linked with colonization, cheap labor, and oppression by foreigners, which Ortiz discussed in detail. The author tried to see the history of colonial domination in the reflection of sugar crystals. Sugarcane was a symbol of all Cuban reality, sweet to the oppressors and unbearably bitter to the Cuban people. At the same time, tobacco, which is native to Cuba, metaphorically represents Cuban authenticity. Ortiz associates the tobacco industry with art. Through a consideration of sugar and tobacco production, as well as the peculiarities of Cuban transculturation, the author was able to accurately describe the influence of colonialism on Latin America and characterize its legacy.
Work Cited
Ortiz, Fernando. Cuban Counterpoint: Tobacco and Sugar. Translated by Harriet de On´ıs. Durham: Duke University Press, 1995.