CHAPTER 20 Material Culture Across Revolutions

Conversations on transition in contemporary Cuba typically contemplate pos-tulations on the end of Castro’s regime; some admittedly hypothesize on the timing of Castro’s death and its aftermath. Theories abound on the metamor-phosis of Cuban socialism; many envision the gains of a free market econ-omy, while others postulate on the consequences of an ultra-capitalistic nation and United States intervention. In this essay I argue that a detrimental part of Cuba’s ongoing (and future) “national ” renewal, long-term re-devel-opment and global re-integration agenda should be an evaluation of the evolving cultural imaginary established as “Cuban ” nationality or national identity. As such, I propose that by engaging in the study of “Cuban”-ori-ented cultural production—especially popular cultural materials—new argu-ments broaching the definitions of Cuban national identity can be postulated. I argue that by tracing the particularities pertaining to nationally-oriented cul-tural materials and by analyzing their aesthetic qualities (both artistic and ide-ological) and relevant commodifications (the economies they are part of) a