Miguel Barnet

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Miguel Ángel Barnet Lanza (born January 28, 1940 in Havana ) is a Cuban writer , ethnologist and chairman of the UNEAC writers ' association .

Life

Miguel Barnet studied social sciences at the University of Havana . He took classes in ethnology and folklore and taught folklore himself to art and culture presenters. Barnet conducted research at the Institute of Ethnology of the Cuban Academy of Sciences (Academia de Ciencias de Cuba) and was a student of Fernando Ortiz Fernández , the great teacher of Cuban anthropology .

Barnet has repeatedly used interviews as a means of making historical processes clear in the dialectic between reality and reflection . In “ Rachel's Song ”, for example, Cuba's 20s come to life through the memories of an old singer and prostitute . In the novel “ Gallego ” the reader will find the story of the Galicians who emigrated to Cuba in large numbers and who left their mark on Cuban tradition with their peasant peculiarities (not least their eating habits).

"The Cimarrón"

Miguel Barnet achieved world fame with the publication of the book " The Cimarrón " ( Biografía de un cimarrón ) in 1966 . Cimarrón is a term used in Cuba for runaway slaves. While working on an ethnological-historical project in 1963, through a newspaper note, Barnet came across a 104-year-old black man who was a slave in Cuba during the Spanish colonial era , then fled and hid in the forests of Cuba for a long time. Esteban Montejo, the name of the former slave, possessed astonishing vitality and memory and had fought as Mambí in the independence movement against Spain . Barnet succeeded in compressing the extensive tape recordings into an impressive image of man in which the interviewer remains in the background and the interviewee captivates the reader with his thoughts, feelings and actions.

Even if Esteban Montejo certainly does not remember all historical dates exactly, the essential thing becomes clear: the wisdom of someone "educated" through life. In addition, the life story of Montejo is an unusual source for historians interested in the history of "people without a story": the fact that runaway slaves had to avoid all contact with other people meant that they always remained a kind of legend. You knew they existed, but you didn't know who they were or how they lived. So the Cimarrón Esteban Montejo remains the only witness to the truth of a myth.

Based on this book, Hans Magnus Enzensberger (libretto) and Hans Werner Henze (music) created the recital El Cimarrón (for baritone and three instrumentalists).

Political commitment

In April 2003, Barnet was one of a group of prominent Cuban cultural worker, the one in the newspaper of the Cuban Communist Party , Granma signed, published open letter, which was addressed to friends of Cuba throughout the world and international criticism of the human rights policy of the Cuban government as "anti-Cuban smear campaign "rejected: in the weeks before President had Fidel Castro in the" black spring have become known "arrests 75 critical journalists and civil rights activists condemn in fast-track to long prison terms and three young black Cubans after the bloodless failed attempt of a ship hijacking put to death also after summary trials .

Miguel Barnet is one of only two Cubans to have been awarded the Federal Cross of Merit. Barnet received this award in 2004 for his long-term commitment to a German-Cuban cultural exchange.

Works (selection)

  • Afro-Cuban cults . The Regla de Ocha and the Regla de Palo Monte ("Cultos afrocubanos"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 2000, ISBN 3-518-12143-X .
  • Everyone dreamed of Cuba. The life story of a Galician emigrant ("Gallego"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1988, ISBN 3-518-38077-X .
  • The Cimarrón. The life story of an escaped Negro slave from Cuba (“Biografia de un cimarrón”). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1999, ISBN 3-518-39540-8 .
  • The angel's craft (“Oficio de ángel”). Amman-Verlag, Zurich 1993, ISBN 3-250-10201-6 .
  • A Cuban in New York. Roman ("La vida real"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1990, ISBN 3-518-40229-3 .
  • Song of Rachel ("La canción de Rachel"). Suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt / M. 1983, ISBN 3-518-37466-4 .
  • The mute dogs. Fables ("Akeké y la Jutía"). Edition diá, Wuppertal 1986, ISBN 3-905482-09-6 .

literature

  • Vincent von Wroblewsky: Conversation with Miguel Barnet . In: Sinn und Form , Vol. 35 (1983), Issue 2, pp. 409-421.
  • Bernd Wulffen : Order for Miguel Barnet . In: Ice Age in the Tropics. Ambassador to Fidel Castro . Ch. Links Verlag, Berlin, 2006, pp. 261-265, ISBN 978-3-86153-406-8 .
  • Michael Zeuske : The Cimarrón and the Archives. Ex-slaves, ethnic violence and ideology in Cuba . In: Crossing borders. Contributions to a modern Romance studies . Vol. 4. (1997), No. 8, pp. 122-139.
  • Michael Zeuske: The Cimarrón in the Archives. A Re-Reading of Miguel Barnet's Biography of Esteban Montejo . In: New West Indian Guide / Nieuwe West-Indische Gids , Vol. 71 (1997), Heft 3 & 4, pp. 265-279. ( online )
  • Michael Zeuske: Novedades de Esteban Montejo . In: Revista de Indias , Vol. 59 (1999), Issue 216 (May – August), pp. 521–525.
  • Michael Zeuske: Black Caribbean. Slaves, Slavery Cultures, and Emancipation . Rotpunktverlag, Zurich 2004, ISBN 3-85869-272-7 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Message from Havana for our friends far away (PDF; 7 kB) from: Friendship Society BRD - Cuba eV , accessed on June 27, 2011, Spanish version here
  2. ↑ Hijackers executed by ferry in Cuba In: Der Tagesspiegel of April 13, 2003, accessed on June 27, 2011
  3. ↑ Bernd Wulffen: Ice Age in the Tropics , p. 264

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Barnet, Miguel
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Barnet Lanza, Miguel Ángel (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Cuban writer and ethnologist
DATE OF BIRTH January 28, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Havana