ABSTRACT
Whereas an active global Cuban diaspora has, for close to 60 years, produced a large corpus of dissident and exilic texts outside of Cuba, any type of artistic transgression or creative dissidence inside of Cuba continues to be illegal, persecuted, and dangerous, with little improvement over the repressive era associated with the 1960s–1980s. These acts, whether taken by a peaceful Cuban women’s organization, a global hip-hop rapper, an internationally coveted performance and mixed-media artist, or a typical citizen expressing his or her personal opinions to a video camera, are still considered counterrevolutionary in the current Cuban context, even after Fidel Castro’s death in the fall of 2016 and improved relations between the United States and Cuba during the second term of the Obama administration. This chapter interweaves contemporary cases that demonstrate Cuban disobedience with D. Travers Scott’s concept of dynamic resonance in contrast to static intertextuality to reflect the ever-amplifying connections among actions of dissent, various forms of media, and viral dissemination. A controversial film and novel by the Cabrera Infante brothers in the 1960s are examined as influential for AfroCuban emplacement, representation, and subsequent self-making of artistic activism. The chapter hopes to provide a new approach to the long trajectory of AfroCuban discrimination and dissent by considering AfroCuban performance of nationality and mediated dissidence. Whether or not broader access to the Internet as of 2018 and a revised national constitution (ratified February 2019) will improve the situation of the disadvantaged AfroCubans remains to be seen.
