Arte Blanco con Motivos Negros: Fernando Ortiz’s Concept of Cuban National Culture and Identity

The purpose of this article is to analyze Fernando Ortiz’s treatment of the poetic production of the 1920s and 30s movement of Afrocubanismo. The first section explains his belief in a process which would culminate with the consolidation of a mulatto Cuban national identity. It is argued that Ortiz conceived of this process as one which would eliminate what he assumed were pure African forms, which he viewed as primitive and inferior. The second section explores how these notions affected his evaluations of the poetry of the movement. The third section compares Ortiz’s methodology in determining identities to what is known in anthropology as an etic perspective. It is argued that Ortiz ascribes mulatto identities to cultural forms without considering the perspectives of their practitioners. The article reaches three main conclusions regarding Ortiz’s treatment of afrocubanista poetry. Firstly, that he used it as the confirmation of a process of formation of a mulatto Cuban national identity. Secondly, that he viewed it as a genre which could stylize and make acceptable inferior African cultural forms. Thirdly, that he used it as an instrument through which to dilute conflictive black or African identities.