Nicolás Guillén
Encyclopedia
Nicolás Cristóbal Guillén Batista (10 July 1902 – 16 July 1989) was a Cuba
n poet, journalist, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba
.
Guillén was born in Camagüey
, Cuba. He studied law at the University of Havana
, but he soon abandoned a legal career and worked as a typographer and journalist.
His poetry was published in various magazines from the early 1920s and his first collection, Motivos de son, appeared in 1930. West Indies, Ltd., published in 1934, was Guillén's first collection of poetry with political implications. Cuba's dictatorial Machado
regime had been overthrown in 1933, but political repression in the following years intensified. In 1936, with other editors of Mediodía, Guillén was arrested on trumped-up charges, and spent some time in jail. In 1937 he joined the Communist Party
and made his first trip abroad–to attend a Congress of Writers and Artists in Spain. During his travels in the country he covered Spain's Civil War
as a magazine reporter.
Guillén returned to Cuba via Guadeloupe. He stood as a Communist in the local elections of 1940. The following year he was refused a visa to enter the United States, but he travelled widely over the next twenty years – in South America, China and Europe. Guillén's poetry was increasingly becoming imbued with issues of cross-cultural Marxist
dialectic. He was prevented by the Batista
government from entering Cuba in 1953, but was welcomed back by Fidel Castro
after the revolution
, becoming appointed president of the Unión Nacional de Escritores de Cuba–the National Cuban Writers' Union–in 1961. He also wrote some evocative and poignant poetry highlighting social conditions, such as "Problemas de Subdesarrollo" and "Dos Niños". He was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1954, which was later renamed for Lenin under de-Stalinization
and also the Laureate Of The International Botev Prize in 1976.
Nicolás Guillén died in 1989 at age 87 and was buried in the Colon Cemetery, Havana
. His nephew was experimental Cuban filmmaker Nicolás Guillén Landrián
(1938–2003).
Guillén is probably the best-known representative of the "poesía negra" ("black poetry") that tried to create a synthesis between black
and white cultural elements, a "poetic mestizaje
". Characteristic for his poems is the use of onomatopoetic words ("Sóngoro Cosongo", "Mayombe-bombe") that try to imitate the sound of drums
or the rhythm
of the son
. Silvestre Revueltas
's symphonic composition Sensemayá
was based on Guillén's poem of the same name, and became that composer's best known work.
Guillen made an international mark for himself with the publication of Motivos de son. The work was inspired by the living conditions of Afro-Cubans and the popular music of son. The publication consisted of eight short poems that were composed using the everyday language of the Afro Cubans. The collection stood out in the literary world because it emphasized and established the importance of Afro-Cuban culture as a valid genre in Cuban literature.
In Man-Making words: Selected Poems of Nicolás Guillén, Angel Aguier, in reference to Motivos de son, wrote that "the son, a passionate dance born of the Negro-white encounter under Caribbean skies in which the words and music of the people culminate in song, is the basic substance of the elemental poetry which Guillen intuitively felt as the expression of the Cuban spirit.… He specifically chose the son as the mixed artistic creation of the two races that make up the Cuban population; for the son, in form and content, runs the full gamut of every aspect of our national character." This quote establishes how the son, such a profound musical genre of that time, initiated the fusion of black and white Cuban culture, which, with Guillén's incorporation of the genre into his writings, symbolized and created a pathway for the same cultural fusion in Cuban literature.
Guillén's unique approach of incorporating the son into poetry was one the aspects his literary volume Sóngoro consongo (1931). In this literary work, Guillén included poems that depicted the lives of Cubans and emphasized the importance of Afro-Cuban culture in Cuban history. Sóngoro consongo authentically captures the realistic essence of the Afro-Cuban lifestyle and the ways in which they deal with their personal situations.
One of Guillén's works, "La canción del bongó", from Sóngoro consongo is a fusion of West African and Hispanic literary styles, contributing to the uniqueness of Guillén's literary vision.
Esta es la canción del bongó:
—Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
Unos dicen: Ahora mismo,
otros dicen: Allá voy.
Pero mi repique bronco,
pero mi profunda voz,
convoca al negro y al blanco,
que bailan el mismo son,
cueripardos y almiprietos
más de sangre que de sol,
pues quien por fuera no es de noche,
por dentro ya oscureció.
Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
En esta tierra, mulata
de africano y español
(Santa Bárbara de un lado,
del otro lado, Changó),
siempre falta algún abuelo,
cuando no sobra algún Don
y hay títulos de Castilla
con parientes en Bondó:
Vale más callarse, amigos,
y no menear la cuestión,
porque venimos de lejos,
y andamos de dos en dos.
Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde si llamo yo.
Habrá quién llegue a insultarme,
pero no de corazón;
habrá quién me escupa en público,
cuando a solas me besó...
A ése, le digo:
—Compadre,
ya me pedirás perdón,
ya comerás de mi ajiaco,
ya me darás la razón,
ya me golpearás el cuero,
ya bailarás a mi voz,
ya pasearemos del brazo,
ya estarás donde yo estoy:
ya vendrás de abajo arriba,
¡que aquí el más alto soy yo!
This poem, like many in Sóngoro consongo, incorporates the rhythmic sounds of son. The poem has a rhythm, unlike most poems that focus on the number of syllables, which focuses on the marking of stressed and unstressed syllables in strong and weak beats. "La canción del bongó" is one of Guillén's poems that truly stand out, according to Dellita L. Martin, because "it is the only one to indicate Guillén's painfully increasing awareness of racial conflicts in Cuba".
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
n poet, journalist, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered as the national poet of Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
.
Guillén was born in Camagüey
Camagüey
Camagüey is a city and municipality in central Cuba and is the nation's third largest city. It is the capital of the Camagüey Province.After almost continuous attacks from pirates the original city was moved inland in 1528.The new city was built with a confusing lay-out of winding alleys that made...
, Cuba. He studied law at the University of Havana
University of Havana
The University of Havana or UH is a university located in the Vedado district of Havana, Cuba. Founded in 1728, the University of Havana is the oldest university in Cuba, and one of the first to be founded in the Americas...
, but he soon abandoned a legal career and worked as a typographer and journalist.
His poetry was published in various magazines from the early 1920s and his first collection, Motivos de son, appeared in 1930. West Indies, Ltd., published in 1934, was Guillén's first collection of poetry with political implications. Cuba's dictatorial Machado
Gerardo Machado
Gerardo Machado y Morales was President of Cuba and a general of the Cuban War of Independence...
regime had been overthrown in 1933, but political repression in the following years intensified. In 1936, with other editors of Mediodía, Guillén was arrested on trumped-up charges, and spent some time in jail. In 1937 he joined the Communist Party
Communist party
A political party described as a Communist party includes those that advocate the application of the social principles of communism through a communist form of government...
and made his first trip abroad–to attend a Congress of Writers and Artists in Spain. During his travels in the country he covered Spain's Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
as a magazine reporter.
Guillén returned to Cuba via Guadeloupe. He stood as a Communist in the local elections of 1940. The following year he was refused a visa to enter the United States, but he travelled widely over the next twenty years – in South America, China and Europe. Guillén's poetry was increasingly becoming imbued with issues of cross-cultural Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...
dialectic. He was prevented by the Batista
Fulgencio Batista
Fulgencio Batista y Zaldívar was the United States-aligned Cuban President, dictator and military leader who served as the leader of Cuba from 1933 to 1944 and from 1952 to 1959, before being overthrown as a result of the Cuban Revolution....
government from entering Cuba in 1953, but was welcomed back by Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
after the revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
, becoming appointed president of the Unión Nacional de Escritores de Cuba–the National Cuban Writers' Union–in 1961. He also wrote some evocative and poignant poetry highlighting social conditions, such as "Problemas de Subdesarrollo" and "Dos Niños". He was awarded the Stalin Peace Prize in 1954, which was later renamed for Lenin under de-Stalinization
De-Stalinization
De-Stalinization refers to the process of eliminating the cult of personality, Stalinist political system and the Gulag labour-camp system created by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. Stalin was succeeded by a collective leadership after his death in March 1953...
and also the Laureate Of The International Botev Prize in 1976.
Nicolás Guillén died in 1989 at age 87 and was buried in the Colon Cemetery, Havana
Colon Cemetery, Havana
The Colon Cemetery or more fully in the Spanish language Cementerio de Cristóbal Colón was founded in 1876 in the Vedado neighbourhood of Havana, Cuba on top of Espada Cemetery. Named for Christopher Columbus, the 140 acre cemetery is noted for its many elaborately sculpted memorials...
. His nephew was experimental Cuban filmmaker Nicolás Guillén Landrián
Nicolás Guillén Landrián
Nicolás Guillén Landrián was a Cuban experimental filmmaker and painter.Guillén was an accomplished filmmaker. He made a total of 13 documentaries, although they were heavily censored and prevented from being part of the Cuban Film Industry...
(1938–2003).
Literary works
In the 1920s, when Afro-Cuban sounds and instruments were changing the world of Cuban music, Afro-Cuban culture began to spread to the realms of art and literature. Initially, Afro-Cuban poetry, or "negrista" poetry, was mainly published by white Cubans such as Emilio Ballagas, Alejo Capentier, and José Tallet. It wasn’t until the 1930s when Guillén would appeal to the literary society by giving an accurate personal account of the struggles, dreams, and mannerisms in the Afro-Cuban.Guillén is probably the best-known representative of the "poesía negra" ("black poetry") that tried to create a synthesis between black
African American culture
African-American culture, also known as black culture, in the United States refers to the cultural contributions of Americans of African descent to the culture of the United States, either as part of or distinct from American culture. The distinct identity of African-American culture is rooted in...
and white cultural elements, a "poetic mestizaje
Mestizo
Mestizo is a term traditionally used in Latin America, Philippines and Spain for people of mixed European and Native American heritage or descent...
". Characteristic for his poems is the use of onomatopoetic words ("Sóngoro Cosongo", "Mayombe-bombe") that try to imitate the sound of drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
or the rhythm
Rhythm
Rhythm may be generally defined as a "movement marked by the regulated succession of strong and weak elements, or of opposite or different conditions." This general meaning of regular recurrence or pattern in time may be applied to a wide variety of cyclical natural phenomena having a periodicity or...
of the son
Son (music)
The Son cubano is a style of music that originated in Cuba and gained worldwide popularity in the 1930s. Son combines the structure and elements of Spanish canción and the Spanish guitar with African rhythms and percussion instruments of Bantu and Arará origin...
. Silvestre Revueltas
Silvestre Revueltas
Silvestre Revueltas Sánchez was a Mexican composer of classical music, a violinist and a conductor.-Life:...
's symphonic composition Sensemayá
Sensemayá
Sensemayá is a poem by the Cuban poet Nicolás Guillén, adapted as an orchestral work by the Mexican composer Silvestre Revueltas. It is one of Revueltas's most famous compositions....
was based on Guillén's poem of the same name, and became that composer's best known work.
Guillen made an international mark for himself with the publication of Motivos de son. The work was inspired by the living conditions of Afro-Cubans and the popular music of son. The publication consisted of eight short poems that were composed using the everyday language of the Afro Cubans. The collection stood out in the literary world because it emphasized and established the importance of Afro-Cuban culture as a valid genre in Cuban literature.
In Man-Making words: Selected Poems of Nicolás Guillén, Angel Aguier, in reference to Motivos de son, wrote that "the son, a passionate dance born of the Negro-white encounter under Caribbean skies in which the words and music of the people culminate in song, is the basic substance of the elemental poetry which Guillen intuitively felt as the expression of the Cuban spirit.… He specifically chose the son as the mixed artistic creation of the two races that make up the Cuban population; for the son, in form and content, runs the full gamut of every aspect of our national character." This quote establishes how the son, such a profound musical genre of that time, initiated the fusion of black and white Cuban culture, which, with Guillén's incorporation of the genre into his writings, symbolized and created a pathway for the same cultural fusion in Cuban literature.
Guillén's unique approach of incorporating the son into poetry was one the aspects his literary volume Sóngoro consongo (1931). In this literary work, Guillén included poems that depicted the lives of Cubans and emphasized the importance of Afro-Cuban culture in Cuban history. Sóngoro consongo authentically captures the realistic essence of the Afro-Cuban lifestyle and the ways in which they deal with their personal situations.
One of Guillén's works, "La canción del bongó", from Sóngoro consongo is a fusion of West African and Hispanic literary styles, contributing to the uniqueness of Guillén's literary vision.
Esta es la canción del bongó:
—Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
Unos dicen: Ahora mismo,
otros dicen: Allá voy.
Pero mi repique bronco,
pero mi profunda voz,
convoca al negro y al blanco,
que bailan el mismo son,
cueripardos y almiprietos
más de sangre que de sol,
pues quien por fuera no es de noche,
por dentro ya oscureció.
Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde, si llamo yo.
En esta tierra, mulata
de africano y español
(Santa Bárbara de un lado,
del otro lado, Changó),
siempre falta algún abuelo,
cuando no sobra algún Don
y hay títulos de Castilla
con parientes en Bondó:
Vale más callarse, amigos,
y no menear la cuestión,
porque venimos de lejos,
y andamos de dos en dos.
Aquí el que más fino sea,
responde si llamo yo.
Habrá quién llegue a insultarme,
pero no de corazón;
habrá quién me escupa en público,
cuando a solas me besó...
A ése, le digo:
—Compadre,
ya me pedirás perdón,
ya comerás de mi ajiaco,
ya me darás la razón,
ya me golpearás el cuero,
ya bailarás a mi voz,
ya pasearemos del brazo,
ya estarás donde yo estoy:
ya vendrás de abajo arriba,
¡que aquí el más alto soy yo!
This poem, like many in Sóngoro consongo, incorporates the rhythmic sounds of son. The poem has a rhythm, unlike most poems that focus on the number of syllables, which focuses on the marking of stressed and unstressed syllables in strong and weak beats. "La canción del bongó" is one of Guillén's poems that truly stand out, according to Dellita L. Martin, because "it is the only one to indicate Guillén's painfully increasing awareness of racial conflicts in Cuba".
Major works
- Motivos de son (1930)
- Sóngoro cosongo (1931)
- West Indies Ltd. (1934)
- España: poema en cuatro angustias y una esperanza (1937)
- Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas (1937)
- El son entero (1947)
- Elegías (1948–1958)
- Tengo (1964)
- Poemas de amor (1964)
- El gran zoo (1967)
- La rueda dentada (1972)
- El diario que a diario (1972)
- Por el mar de las Antillas anda un barco de papel. Poemas para niños y mayores de edad (1977)
Discography
- Antologia Oral: Poesia Hispanoamericana del Siglo XX / Oral Anthology: Spanish-American Poetry of the 20th Century (Folkways RecordsFolkways RecordsFolkways Records was a record label founded by Moses Asch that documented folk, world, and children's music. It was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution in 1987, and is now part of Smithsonian Folkways.-History:...
, 1960) - Nicolás Guillén: Poet Laureate of Revolutionary Cuba (Folkways, 1982)
External links
- International Jose Guillermo Carrillo Foundation
- Fundación Guillén
- Nicolás Guillén from Cervantes Virtual
- Guillén, Nicolás from Enotes.com
- Bio from los-poetas.com
- Guillén Discography at Smithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian FolkwaysSmithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was founded in 1987 after the family of Moses Asch, founder of Folkways...
- The Cuban condition