Materialidad y mercantilización: el Período especial, Ediciones Vigía y El río de Martín Pérez y otros poemas

Abstract

In this essay, I examine the commodification of Blackness during the Special Period (1991-2000) in Cuba using the artist’s book El río de Martín Pérez y otros poemas (1996) by the author Nancy Morejón and the independent press Ediciones Vigía. I maintain that examining the materiality of this poetry collection reveals a tension between two tendencies in Special Period Cuba: the desire to celebrate Afro-Cuban identity during a period of relative freedom and the urge to commodify that expression. Firstly, I theorize the artist’s books of Ediciones Vigía as commodities within the context of Cuba’s growing tourist economy during the Special Period. Applying this theoretical apparatus to El río de Martín Pérez y otros poemas, I argue that the material of the book itself performs Black Cuban identity, both celebrating and commodifying that culture. Finally, uniting a book-as-object approach and a content analysis, I analyze the title poem, “El río de Martín Pérez,” and show how the content of the book also participates in the book’s performance of Blackness.