Tembladera: a constant cocedura of Cuban national identity

Abstract

National identity discourses are always in the process of creation and (trans)formation. At certain particular moments in the country, there is a need to affirm ourselves in the face of decisive historical events that force us to do a (re)construction of national identity. In Tembladera, José Antonio Ramos, to achieve a redefinition and national self-affirmation, investigates and analyzes what being Cuban means, and demands socio-political changes. He promotes discourses of the (re)construction of national identity and tries to achieve it by emphasizing the education of young people, the role of memory and the meaning of the Cuban land. Through each character and their actions, Ramos clearly shows «what we should be.» In this attempt, we can observe that some of his approaches and ideology coincide with those of Martí´s Nuestra America and What is a nation? by Renan. The national identity discourses of a given moment were crystallized in literary works such as Tembladera; they continued to be constructed over the years and continue to be (re)constructed at this precise moment, which enables a comparison among diverse discursivity that supports a common purpose.