Group D's Responses and New Questions for feb 5th readings

1. What was the Cuban government trying to accomplish by making tourism their main focus for the economy?

Interest in the Cuban tourism industry largely stemmed from a fluctuating sugar market that the island had very much relied on prior to the 1920s. Government officials and tourism promoters alike looked to facilitate a boom that would lead Cuba and its capital city of Havana towards becoming a kind of American Riviera or “Paris of the western hemisphere.” By bringing in wealthy tourists, including many Americans looking to avoid alcohol prohibition in the United States, Cuba had the potential to flourish economically - these tourists provided a flow of money to hotels, casinos, clubs, and other sites of attraction (eg, Hershey’s model town).

2. What are the similarities and differences between the tourism boom of the 1920's and of the 1950's?

“The rationale for tourism in the 1950s mirrored that of the 1920s: an alternative revenue source when sugar slumped at the close of the Korean War; foreign investment collaboration; collapse brought about by revolution and the loss of investors’ cash.”

The main difference can be found in the new demographics and the industry’s impact on Cuban society circa 1950. Thousands of middle/working class tourists would travel to Cuba on a regular basis using paid vacation time or package deals supplied by travel companies and airlines. Pan American Airways alone provided sixty to eighty round-trip flights a week from Miami to Havana at a reasonable fare. “Good times came in packages that looked more and more like the United States and less like an exotic foreign country. A mixed blessing for Cuba, 1950s tourism undeniably contributed to anti-Batista sentiment. Nevertheless, when revolutionaries chased Batista and the gangsters out, they tried to hold on to tourism.” Fidel Castro, even as he rallied against the US in the late 1950s, remained friendly towards travelers and believed that tourism could become Cuba’s largest business even after doing away with prostitution and gambling.

3.  What was the first philanthropic society and what were its goals?

Pro-Arte Musical was the first philanthropic society. It was created by Maria Teresa Garcia Montes de Gilberga in 1919, and it had “an openly nationalistic musical agenda.” The goal of the society was to promote Cuban music while also enhancing or elevating public taste.The society believe in conservative nationalist goals, and thought that the public should be listening to more “quality music.” The Pro-Arte Musical established a fund that helped bring about concerts featuring “notable foreign concert musicians” to Havana. The society also helped the formation of the first symphony in Cuba.

4. What are some of the complexities and ironies of afrocubanismo music and how did Ignacio Villa personify these? 

Afrocuban forms had the potential to serve as a barrier to national disintegration and the possibility of cultural subsumption by the United States. Although the music of afrocubanismo artists ultimately proved most effective in symbolizing Cubanness during the machadato, it was not the only form of nationalist composition. Pervasive biases against Afrocuban street culture among middle-class musicians problematized the acceptance even of salon rumbas, congas, and related musics as national expression. Many patriotic songs avoided racial references completely. Some works invoked the common struggles of the revolutionary war, the writings of Marti, or depicitions of the countryside in order to inspire nationalist sentiment. 

5.  In the context of musical expression, what was the essential conflict between nationalist aspirations and sociocultural attitudes in the late nineteenth, early twentieth century?  

Indigenous nationalism provided an alternative basis for constructing Cuban cultural heritage and offered an outlet for nationalist expression during a period of intense censorship by colonial authorities.  Patriotic sentiment could be expressed only through metaphor or indirect allusion. Reimagining the past and their relationship to it, advocates of musical indigenismo generated a considerable body of work inspired by historical figures.

NEW QUESTIONS:

Q for “Hollywood in Havana and the Birth of Critical Practice”:

What kind of effects on Cuban cinema and society did US aid have at the turn of the 20th century?

Q for “Hollywood in Havana and the Birth of Critical Practice”:

How did the culture of Hollywood (in the 1920s) influence the way Cuban women dressed and behaved, and how did this Hollywood culture in Cuba help to sell US products?

Q for “Hollywood in Havana and the Birth of Critical Practice”:

What was the “Grupo Minorista”, what were their political views, and what was their goal/purpose?”

Q for “Visual Arrangements, Sonic Impressions”:

What were some consequences that resulted from the sever between Cuba and the United States and how did music help alleviate tensions?