Homeland is Made from the Worth of its Sons

 

From a cursory coding of the data (yet years of familiarity with the subject matter), it appears to me that my main thematic category of The Future is often communicated in terms of History. While that sounds ironic on its face, it makes sense that a regime concerned with continuity would appeal to the population of Cuba's future in terms of an allegiance to the past.

A case in point is a billboard that appeared for the "ANIVERSARIO 113 DEL REINICIO DE LA GUERRA DE INDEPENDENCIA". It features a quote from José Martí: "La patria está hecha del mérito de sus hijos". This claims that the nation depends on its offspring, that Cuba's fate is in the hands of youth--yet the dictum about the future ironically hails from over a century prior. The context for Martí's quote was in the 1893 run-up to the "reinitiation" of the failed 10-year independence war (1868-78). The analogy of continuity cannot be missed: the Martí-masterminded War of Independence (1895-98) is to the previous 10-Year War as Cuba's near future is to Cuba's revolutionary history (which entails--at least according to the state--the entire period of struggle from 1868 to 1959). To sum up: 1868 is to 1898, as 1959 is to 2009.

The rest of the quote (which does not appear on the billboard, but may be familiar to many Cubans and thus implicit) says that 'the wealth of a nation derives from a child that beats the same path as his predecessors, leading to a more useful and complete result'. Just as the second generation of independence fighters followed triumphantly in the steps of the first unsuccessful generation, this billboard suggests that today's youth continue the revolutionary path to greater national goals.

It is important to note that the nation does not produce its offspring. Rather, "a nation is made" from the valuable contributions of "sus hijos". Just as Martí and Maceo and Gomez generated the independent nation of Cuba, the current crop of children will make their historic homeland by way of "merit".

Finally, I take a look at the visual graphics of this billboard. It is the figure of a late 19th century Cuban independence fighter on horseback, sword raised. There are three iterations of this image. The smallest and faintest one appears in the bottom left corner. Ascending is a larger and bolder iteration. Then finally the boldest and grandest rendition occupies the central space of the billboard. This image is the graphic representation of early precursors in struggle begetting later generations that ride along the same route, growing stronger and bolder.

From this single example we see how a simple quote and minimalist graphics can conjure history towards impelling the future.

(Of course, it remains to be seen how an outdated screen print of an old quote on an outdated mass medium can reach a 21st century audience. Maybe it could have better "connected" to today's youth by playing with the multiple meanings of the word "reinicio", so as to express something technologically updated while retaining the earlier historical significance--maybe meaning something along the lines of "Reboot the Revolution".)