Cuban Landscapes

Heritage, Memory, and Place
1. Auflage 2009
ISBN: 978-1-60623-323-8
Verlag: Guilford Publications

Buch, Englisch, 216 Seiten, Format (B × H): 150 mm x 224 mm, Gewicht: 318 g

Reihe: Guilford Texts in Regional Geography

This accessible book offers a vivid geographic portrait of Cuba, exploring the island’s streetscapes, sugar cane fields, beaches, and rural settlements; its billboards, government buildings, and national landmarks. The authors illuminate how natural and built landscapes have shaped Cuban identity (cubanidad), and vice versa. They provide a unique perspective on Cuba’s distinct historical periods and political economies, from the colonial period through republicanism and today’s socialist era. Compelling topics include the legacies of slavery and the sugar industry, the past and future of urban development, and the impact of “islandness” on sociocultural processes.

Zielgruppe

Scholars and students in regional geography and Latin American studies; other readers interested in Cuban history, politics, and culture. Will serve as a supplemental text for advanced undergraduate or graduate-level courses on Cuba, Latin America, or the Caribbean.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Scarpaci, Joseph L

Portela, Armando H

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Geographie | Raumplanung Regionalgeographie

Inhaltsverzeichnis

1. On Cuban Landscapes

2. Humboldt’s Landscape: Connecting Then and Now

3. Sugar
4. Heritage
5. Tourism

6. Information

7. Conclusions: Whither Cuban Landscapes?

Über Autor(innen)

Joseph L. Scarpaci, PhD, until his death in 2023, was Professor Emeritus at Virginia Tech, where he taught in a range of fields, including geography, urban planning, historic preservation, landscape architecture, and Latin American studies. He was also the Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Cuban Culture?+?Economy. Dr. Scarpaci received multiple Fulbright Fellowships and was the recipient of awards from the Association of American Geographers, the Conference of Latin American Geography, and the Library of Congress. Most known for his research on Cuba and Cuban communities in the United States, he began conducting research in Cuba in 1990 and made nearly 100 trips to the island.

Armando H. Portela is a physical geographer who worked for 23 years in the Institute of Geography of the Cuban Academy of Sciences. He coauthored the section “Geomorphology (Relief)” in the Nuevo Atlas Nacional de Cuba (Institute of Geography of the Academy of Sciences of Cuba, 1989) and produced a number of geomorphologic maps of the island. He currently works at the Miami Herald and freelances for the newsletter CubaNews, where he regularly publishes on geographical issues of the island.