The Politics of Culture in Cuba

Since 1959, the ambitious goal of the new regime in Cuba has been to create “a new man in a new society.” Official documents talk about la Revolucion as “the most important cultural fact of our history” (Ministerio de Cultura, 1977). The mass media, as well as education and cultural policies, were quickly mobilized to promote the state’s new agenda. A new and extensive politico-cultural field (PCF) was created, within which cultural agents operate.2 In this “new society,” the scope of what could be expressed was reduced, while the range of cultural activities and their access by the population in general expanded in most areas. The imprint of communist cultural policy was recognized here. As Milosz once wrote about realist socialism (the idealtypical cultural policy of communist regime): it “fortifie les petits talents et mutile les grands” (it strengthens modest talents and mutilates great ones) (Milosz, 1988: 206).