Call for Panelists: The Works of Gustavo Pérez Firmat; Extended Deadline: 5/1/06; 11/2/06-11/5/06

International Conference on Caribbean Studies, November 2-5, 2006,

University of Texas-Pan American. Website:

(http://www.panam.edu/dept/modlang/caribe1.htm)

Keynote Speaker: Gustavo Pérez Firmat

In his book, On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality, & Culture

(1999), Louis Pérez Jr. has noted that Cuban- and subsequently,

Cuban-American- identity is "almost always in flux," and that it is, "as it were, a

work in progress." As the relationship between Cuba and the United

States grew, these two cultures "converged on each other, interacting and

merging, and fused in dynamic adaptation and accommodation" (Pérez 6).

Pérez highlights the notion that the birth and formation of Cuban

identity and nationalism has always been influenced by the United States.

Because of its tenuous, and often times, antagonistic relationship with

the U.S., Cuba's nationalism and its citizens' identity has been, in

part, shaped and affected by its struggle to free itself of U.S. culture.

However, since the social and political relationships between Cuba and

the U.S. have been so strong and conflicting, the formation of Cuban

identity cannot help but be powerfully connected to the United States.

These tensions and conflicts can be seen manifesting in the work of many

Cuban-American writers, especially Gustavo Pérez Firmat's. Throughout

his works, Firmat explains that because of his dual ethnicity, he is not

entirely Cuban or American, but rather that he is a new, ethnically

hybridized being, possessing links to both cultures and struggling to

consolidate the two.

I am looking for three to four panel members interested in discussing

any of Gustavo Pérez Firmat's work. Possible topics might include, but

are not limited to:

Biculturation

Bilingualism

Life on the Hyphen

The Cuban Diaspora

The 1.5 Generation

Cuban-Bred-American (CBA) Identity

Cuban Identity in Popular Culture

The Life of Exile

The Cuban Condition

Please send all abstracts (250-300 words) to: nmansito_at_yahoo.com, by 5/1/06.

Nicolas Mansito III

Illinois State University

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Received on Sun Apr 16 2006 - 09:05:38 EDT