The "new man" in Cuba

"The Cuban Revolution not only changed the political regime of the island nation, it also transformed Cuban cultural identity. Che Guevara coined the idea of the "New Man" to represent the unique revolutionary identity that all Cubans were called to take on. In the speeches of the era, the "New Man" adopted different guises according to the political campaign of the day: the literacy worker, the committed intellectual, the hardworking "New Woman," or the heroic sugarcane cutter, among others." "Tracing the rise and fall of the "New Man," Ana Serra examines political speeches and award-winning novels that constructed this new Identity during the formative years of the Castro regime. Serra argues that during the early revolutionary period, writers helped create the identity of the "New Man" while simultaneously criticizing its problematic aspects. Although the writers professed unconditional support for the revolution, their texts contained prophetic insights into the conflicts that the new identity would generate."--Jacket.