Narratives and Images of the Past From Invention to Creativity

NARRATIVES AND IMAGES OF THE PAST FROM INVENTION TO CREATIVITY As previously mentioned, a crucial aspect of ethnicity processes is "the identification of the group towards the past," which emphasizes the roots. This criteria states that the emergence of these processes is determined by shared ancestry, common descent, common ancestral origin, and common cultural history. According to Roosens (1989), Thompson (1989), Tonkin et al. (1989), and others, the belief in a shared heritage need not be supported by evidence. However, historical imagery should be seen as a metaphorical application of historical knowledge rather than as a link in a causal chain. The present and the future, not the past, are the centers of historical memory (Bloch, 1977). Incorporating information from the outside world into thoughts on historical events that are then utilized to affect the present is more important than maintaining immaculate texts or rituals (Rappaport, 1990). How are you? How are the unique recollections of Cuban islanders constructed, shared, and transformed into something communal or social? According to P. Connerton (1989, p. 2), our perception of the past shapes how we see the present, and our perceptions of the past frequently help to justify the social structures that exist now. A significant portion of the world we live in is contextualized by items and events from the past, which means that much of what we perceive in the present is related to things we are not really experiencing. Depending on whatever pasts we are prepared to attach this present to, we each experience the present differently. First of all, each and every Cuban islander, whether they live alone or in a family, is familiar with certain historical tales about life in the Canary Islands, their travel there, and the place in Cuba where their ancestors originally settled. grandparents, the food they consumed there, the local traditions... Each one was either personally experienced or related by a forebear. Moreover, some have only heard about their heritage from other descendants since, among other things, their parents have never spoken about it or their grandparents have disappeared. They cannot even pinpoint the exact location of the island of origin on a map. They say they are at most of Spanish descent. Through social interaction, people are able to get memories of the past. Through narrating their own or transmitted memories-many of which are intricate and varied-such representations of the past gradually start to transform into shared experiences, metanarratives of the past, a history that is respected and appreciated as shared. These historical images and the knowledge gained from them are created, reaffirmed, and recreated through almost ritualistic staging during gatherings of family members and friends celebrating the arrival of "delegations" from every town or location in the Canary Islands that travel to Cuba to visit or unite. Acknowledging themselves as fellow Cuban islanders, they start to gather, find, and recall their own recollections, constructing and enhancing their collective identities. Thus, every islander from Cuba learns to organize the knowledge he gathers into shared mental areas. For this reason, studying the transfer actions that enable common memory requires an understanding of how memory is socially formed (Connerton, 1989, p. 37). However, we also need to consider the critical role that so-called local intellectuals-many of whom are the grandchildren of native islanders-play in the creation of stories based on a collection of documentary sources that sit at the crossroads of two cultural traditions, in addition to the individual or collective narratives of the Cuban islanders. On the one hand, basing their conclusions on information found in Cuban parish and historical-provincial archives, as well as books and legal documents authored by Canarian academics rather than necessarily academic historians. For this reason, the Canarian Association in Cuba and its delegates are very interested in creating a library where people can learn about the geography, history, and customs of the Canary Islands-many of which have already vanished in Cuba and others of which have been maintained despite having vanished in the Canary Islands. Alternatively, based on an examination of their Canarian forefathers' "oral tradition" and the already hallowed terrain of Cuba, where the tales are set. Thus, local intellectuals turn become ethnographers who are fixated on carrying out a genuine rescue effort for customs, knowledge, and practices that remain among the last. the islanders who are still alive. At the municipal and provincial levels, the aim of hosting colloquiums, seminars, and symposiums is to publicly showcase the research that has been conducted. Characters (like Cañambrú and Cuquillo, for instance) are studied; Canarian embroidery and weaving in various Canarian-descent locales is analyzed; folklore roots are studied and traditions are preserved; and most importantly, a project of the Canarian Emigration Museum is developed, which is defined in terms of the needs and aspirations of the Cabaiguanense people, who are referred to by some as the capital of the Canary Islands in Cuba. Thus, narratives and metanarratives cannot be regarded as simple discourses. Instead, they are re-enactments of cults or rituals that are defined and understood in the minds of people who engage in them. Furthermore, these rituals are not only formal nor just expressive. They have an impact that extends beyond the period of remembering ceremonies. Despite being observed on certain days and locations, they influence and give significance to a wide range of non-ritual activities, adding worth and significance to the lives of individuals who participate in them. Because of this, the Canary Islanders embark on new life projects based on these festivities. These projects may include strengthening bonds with family members, viewing assistance as a way to lessen the hardships and aches of daily living in Cuba, or, who knows, receiving an inheritance or embarking on an odyssey that will never end. These stories, and metanarratives in particular, represent a true selective process because, in order to be shared, they must be simplified-often purposefully-by local intellectuals, omitting all or part of the "historical truth" because, ultimately, what matters is that the reader assume and identify with the past, whether it be real or mythical. It doesn't matter if the pasts that Cuban islanders reconstruct and call upon are legendary or empirically verifiable, as long as they accurately capture the actions of the Canarian people in the historical periods and locales that are described in historical accounts. Due to the possibility that it is founded on myths or partly made- up stories, even this history may be difficult to prove. We must remember that "cultural identities are symbolically constructed," as Linnekin & Poyer (1990, p. 15) have pointed out, in that the standards by which these tales are assigned to the Canaries and the symbols that are employed are essentially cultural rather than innate qualities. Put another way, ethnic categories do not reflect a lack of significance in the real world; rather, they are arbitrary and reflect their semiotic character. The issue of the "invention of history" is directly related to this subject (Hobsbawn & Ranger, 1993; Lowenthal, 1993; Middleton & Edwards, 1990; Briggs, 1996; Friedman, 1992a, 1992b). The fact that the ancestral way of life is rhetorically reproduced and historical data is distorted in those tales and ceremonies does not entail a blatant fabrication of the events related. They frequently function more as ancestor tales with potent political overtones, according to R. Keesing (1989, p. 19). Symbolic processes create historical pictures, which are occasionally employed as mnemonic devices to make sure that historical details are retained in oral memory and are not overlooked. These processes, in my opinion, are more indicative of the Canary Islanders' inventiveness, "agency," and autonomy than they are of authenticity vs non-authenticity, a false dichotomy that they do not believe in. We are dealing with cultural processes where the diaspora gives the customs-which are thought to be Canarian-a "Cuban Havor." Access to more scientific information on Canarian customs does not, in the context of globalization, destroy the "creative process" of the identity experience. The many narratives and meta-narratives of Cuban islanders con frequently be dissimilar, which suggests that creating a collective, highly agreed meta- narrative is more of a project than a reality. With that said, I would not want to close this section without mentioning this. It concerns the rewriting of Cuban history by State-affiliated ideologues, many of whom are descended from local islanders, who demand that the Canarians-who are seen as "truly great men and women"-be closely involved in the most important turning points or occasions in Cuban history. Local historians have written a great deal on nearly every Canarian-related national, provincial, and local event. One notable instance is the 1994 book Canarian Immigration in Cuba by Ramiro García Medina, which describes what he refers to as the "first Canarian presences" in Cuba and "in the footsteps of the islanders." On the one hand. They mention significant occasions like the Canarian founding of cities like Matanzas, the legend of the bandit Manuel Garcia, known as the king of the Cuban countryside, or the islanders who rose to become leading figures in the military and academia (professors and professors like Gomero Domingo León y Mora and Palmero Valeriano Fernández Ferraz), or the fact that Silvestre de Balboa, baptized in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria on June 30, 1563, is a common founding father in Canarian and Cuban literature. However, there are other factors that may have been more significant, such as the fact that the island vegueros and Canarian generals played a significant role in the Liberation Army of the Wars of Independence, that José Martis mother, Leonor Pérez, was born in Tenerife, the massacre of islanders in 1926, the fact that José Miguel Pérez, a palmero, was a founding member of the Central Committee of the first Marxist-Leninist party in Cuba, and that some Canarians joined Fidel Castro in the Cuban Revolution. The scholars recognize the significance of the initial events because they "exalt the Canarian contribution to Cuba," which extended beyond labor in the agricultural sector as farmers, vegueros, or settlers. Canary Islanders played significant roles in civic society, academia, and the civil service. Literature from Cuba. To comprehend the motivation of Cuban officials in incorporating the islands into the revolutionary history of Cuba, however, requires evaluating the remaining facts. This interpretation of history emphasizes the similarities between islanders and Cubans rather than their differences. One of the earliest significant turning points in the Cubans independence journey, which ended in 1898, was the vegueros' 1717 uprising against the tobacconists of the Spanish Crown. In an attempt to equalize the Afro-Cuban contribution, the Cuban islanders compare Leonor Pérez, the mother of José Martí Pérez, with Mariana Grajales, the mother of Antonio Maceo Grajales. The setting of the 1926 killing of around forty islanders and Cubans includes the labor movements and the dictatorship of Gerardo Machado y Morales (1924-1933). Contributions to the Communist Party's establishment and the Cuban Revolution are among the most extensively studied subjects in contemporary Canarian historiography in Cuba. Depending on one of the various interpretations, we are dealing with an actual historical construction. Similar to any construction, certain facts are omitted while others are chosen. There is little question that the Canarians supported opposing teams in the numerous competitions, and in this sense, a legitimate roster of "great Cuban men and women with Canarian blood" might be compiled. Others, the unidentified, "the island people without history," adapted and reworked their culture to fit their everyday life in Cuba. This phenomena also represents, from other perspectives, a "cultural construction of identity based on the past," which prioritizes "a biological, racial perspective," as I have said before (Galván ed., 1997, pp. 16-17). Individuals who are immigrants or descended from islanders are considered "genetic carriers of Cubanness" due to their historical involvement. From this vantage point, Cuban islanders are significant primarily for their contribution to the development of the Cuban country. They are more Cuban than islanders, in certain respects. We must comprehend the underlying tension among Cuban islanders who engage in a variety of identities, some of which are vehemently at conflict with one another, in this setting.