Memory & Resistance

Poet draws on themes of love and struggle in her call for commitment to the human spirit

Story by Elisa Rizon, Contributing Writer
Photo courtesy of Cristina Rodríguez Cabral
Translated by Suan Pineda

Cristina Rodríguez Cabral

The release of Cristina Rodríguez Cabral’s latest anthology offers once again a reminder that art reflects life as it adds a little bit more to it. “Memory and Resistance” regenerates universal themes such as love, friendship and motherhood and introduces other not so universal but not less relevant topics, such as the African Diaspora and the Hispanic immigration to the United States.
The Afro-Uruguayan poet, who now lives in Columbia, has written nine poetry books and a novel, which won the Casa de las Américas Literary Award. In her new book, Cabral brings out elements that we don’t often take into account, such as the closeness between the past—personal as well as universal—and the present. She presents a passionate defense of her right to nurture poetic creativity with the experience of being a black woman, a Latina, an immigrant, a mother, a lover and a friend.
Cabral’s poetry is neither pessimistic nor bitter. On the contrary, her poems reveal hope and faith in humanity. But rather than a rhetorical and superficial celebration of blackness and femininity, they issue a “llamada”—or calling out, to use an image from the Afro-Uruguayan tradition of Candombe—for commitment.
“Memory and Resistance” proposes a challenge to the reader: that of embracing the diversifying black presence – and within that presence, the universal themes of love and falling out of love, of greetings and farewells, of friendship and motherhood, renew themselves through the inclusive vision of groups not always honestly represented in the configuration of Western values.
One poem, “Saudades de Bahía,” illustrates some of the themes that constitute “Memory and Resistance” the continuity of oppression—not only of Afro-descendents—in modern systems of “progress;” our responsibility for future generations; and a reminder of our dependence on the forces of nature. African deities such as Iemayá – goddess of the oceans and seas—color her exploration of the latent Afro-Latino identity, an identity that goes beyond national and linguistic borders and that affirms the human relationship with the divine.
The formal presentation of Cabral’s book will take place in Nashville, Tenn., at the annual meeting of the College Language Association. But Central Missourians were treated to an early preview with an informal presentation of her book at Westminster College on March 5. The poet explained to the audience the political and historical transformation of her Afro-Uruguayan community in Montevideo, the capital of the country. And she touched on themes such as the practices of slavery in Uruguay that began during the colonial era, and continued for years in the independence era, the segregation of the Afro-Uruguayans in certain areas of Montevideo and their present situation.
Cabral’s poetic voice has a subtle and playful tone, but at the same time has a sarcastic and constant one. It is also characterized by the theme of confronting one’s blackness in the face of the social pressures of the dominant culture. Images of water and vegetation, the rhythms of the drums of the Candombe and the melancholic melodies of tango illustrate Cabral’s palimpsest poetry in which it portrays the complexity of the multicultural experience in Montevideo. It is a poetry where her past and her heritage are not at war, but are assimilated as primordial factors of an organic being. Cabral’s verses and poetic prose are nurtured by a renovating perspective of poetry’s old concepts, an Afrocentric vision that draws forth the African presence in America from history’s oblivion.

Copies can be obtained at area bookstores, or directly from the author for $10 plus $3 shipping for first book, $1 per book for additional books. 1000 Hospital Drive Apt. 11C, Columbia, Mo. 65201.