Edited by
Pedro Pérez Sarduy and
Jean Stubbs

Acknowledgments and note on terminology	 	     1
Introduction: the rite of social communion
  by Pedro Pérez Sarduy and Jean Stubbs                 3
For a Cuban integration of whites and blacks
  by Fernando Ortiz                                     27

Part 1: the die is cast

The 19th century black fear  by Rafael Duharte Jimenez       37
Mariana and Maceo   by Jose Luciano Franco                   47
People without a history   by Pedro Deschamps Chapeaux       55
Drum ballad   by Jesus Cos Causse                            60
Back to Africa   by Rodolfo Sarracino                        67
Solutions to the black problem  by Pedro Serviat             77
Times I walk with my father  by Domingo Alfonso              91
The 20th century black question  by Tomas Fernandez Robaina  92

Part 2: Myth and reality

Imaginary dialogue on folklore  by Rogelio Martinez Fure    109
An initiation ceremony in Regla de Palo
  by Gladys Gonzalez Bueno                                  117
The principle of multiple representation  by Joel James     121
Abakua signs  by Argeliers Leon                             125
Sara, one way or another  by Tomas Gonzales                 128
The Orishas in Cuba  by Natalia Bolivar                     137
The strokes of magical realism in Manuel Mendive
  by Gerardo Mosquera                                       146
Bembesiana  by Marcelino Arozarena                          154
Asere  by Eloy Machado                                      157
Ifa says  by Tato Quinones                                  159
Ofumelli  by Excilia Saldana                                163
Maria Antonia  by Eugenio Hernandez                         169
Adire and broken time   by Manuel Granados                  180

Part 3:  Redrawing the line

Birth of a national culture  by Walterio Carbonell          195
A white problem: reinterpreting Cecilia Valdes
  by Renaldo Gonzalez                                       204
The black and white in the narrative of Alejo Carpentier
  by Salvador Bueno                                         214
Runaway story  by Miguel Barnet                             222
Race and nation  by Pablo Armando Fernandez                 243
The maids  by Pedro Pérez Sarduy                            250
Questions only she can answer  by Georgina Herrera          262
The true door  by Soleida Rios                              263
Images and icons  by Sergio Giral                           264
Rey Spencers's swing  by Marta Rojas                        273

Notes on contributors         287
Glossary                      297
Bibliographic note            303
Index                         306