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Revista Surco Sur
Volume 5 | Issue 8
3-30-2015
Creating a Literary Bond: Lydia Cabrera and
ToniMorrisonChristiana Succar
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Recommended CitationSuccar, Christiana. 2015. Creating a
Literary Bond: Lydia Cabrera and Toni Morrison. Revista Surco Sur,
Vol. 5: Iss. 8, 36-41.DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.5038/2157-5231.5.8.24Available at:
http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/surcosur/vol5/iss8/25
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In comparing the short stories Cuentos Negros by Lydia Cabrera
and the novel The Bluest Eye by ToniMorrison one must recognize the
impact of the time period in which the authors’ lived, the
culturalidentity represented in their works and the form and
structure utilized to convey messages throughliterature. Though
both women lived in different time periods in history and were from
differentbackgrounds, as minority female writers they expressed
similar recognition and insight of a minorityculture while in the
shadow of the Dominate European-American hegemony.
Lydia Cabrera was born on May 20, 1899 in Havana, Cuba to a
prominent family. Though herformal education was inconsistent, she
was exposed to renowned writers, politicians and artists.Cuentos
Negro first published in Paris in 1937 and then in Cuba in 1940 was
initially dubbed as storiesto entertain her ill companion Teresa de
la Perra. However, these stories stemmed from Cabrera’sintimate
relationship with Blacks from her childhood, adult research and the
influence of FernandoOrtiz “the father of Afro-Cuban studies”
(Hoffman-Jeep 343).
Thirty-two years later, Toni Morrison was born Chloe Anthony
Wolford in 1931, in Loraine, Ohio.Though born into a Southern
family she grew up in Loraine during the collapse of its steel mill
industry.After completing her M.A. in 1955 and holding various
faculty positions she published her first novelThe Bluest Eye in
the United States in 1970. Though she was not a political activist
during the civilrights movement, during her faculty position at
Howard she taught two individuals who becamewell-known figures in
the movement Stokely Carmichael and Claude Brown (Peach 5).
As both authors’ embarked onthese seminal pieces of
literaturethey faced a world in a state of flux.Cuba was a
post-colonial newindependent nation struggling withnew ways to talk
about race.Cabrera challenged this conflict inher work by
maintaining theAfrican Yoruba language andAfro-Cuban religious
culture. Shestraddles the two worlds betweenthe major Cuban and
minorityAfro-Cuban culture through theuse of polyphonic narratives
topresent an understanding of Afro-Cuban culture as fundamental
tothe understanding of Cubanculture. This is evident in the
crossreferencing of the Catholic andOrisha religion in the short
storyBregantino Bregantin.
In this story, the king ofCocozumba (an African mythicsetting)
seeks a husband for hisdaughter. When he marries heroff to a worm
whose healthdeclines she is passed on to histrusted bull. The bull
is a powerhungry promiscuous animal that
Christiana SuccarCreating a Literary Bond:Lydia Cabrera and Toni
Morrison
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impregnates multiple women ayear and then kills the
maleoffspring. One day he meets hismatch, Sanune who seeks outthe
help of the gods. “She cameto the edge of the fearsomeforest,
guided by the spirit of hermother who, while she wasalive, was a
faithful servant ofthe saints of iron, her protectors(arrow, bow,
nail, chain, andlock), Ogun and Ochosi, SaintPeter and Saint
Norbert”(Cabrera 10). “The deceasedwoman begged for the help
fromOgun and Ochosi, and the forestopened its arms…” (12).
Thesaints recognized Sanune as thefaithful servant’s daughter
andOchosi the protector of women,looked to the goddess of the
sea
and the moon and fertility rights, Yemaya the Virgin of Regla
(who straddles both Afro-Cubanand Catholic religion-Cabrera,
footnote 7 12).
Sanune becomes pregnant and on the eve before birth “she [takes]
a bath in an infusion of poplarleaves, artemesia, bay laurel,
incense, all of Saint Barbarba’s herbs, and sigueraya boiled
inaguardiente and bee honey perfumed with tobacco” (15). When the
executioner kills the babySanune quickly returns to the forest,
where Ochosi brings him back to life by rubbing his armsand legs
with bee honey. Then, Ogun pronounces to Sanune to “calmly go back
to the village.When your son is ten years old, he’ll knock over a
palm tree with one thrust of his horns, andwhen he’s twenty, a
ceiba tree (the sacred tree of Cuba)” (15-16). The calf grows into
the bullBregantino Bregantin!, who rids the village of his
tyrannical father reclaiming nature’s rightsand the birth of men in
Cocozumba (19).
Though this tale is rich with other interpretations central to
the story such as the power ofgender, anthropological references
and cultural analysis it overtly illustrates the struggle
betweenCuban-Catholicism and Afro-Cuban religion through constant
comparison between the CatholicSaints and African Gods. Hiriart
reminds the reader that Cabrera was aware that religiousproverbs
were common in Afro-Cuban tales because the Blacks were obligated
to harmonizeits polytheism with the Catholic culture (45). However,
in “Bregantino Bregantin,” Cabrerautilizes the comparison between
both cultures as a way to empower and create space for Afro-Cuban
expression within the Cuban culture.
Similar to Cabrera’s struggles, Morrison as a black-female
writer, during the civil rights movementfocused on black characters
living within a white dominated society. She faced head on
thehegemonic perception of what defined Euro-American cultural
values and ideals impressed onblack people. In her novel The Bluest
Eye the protagonist is a young black girl named PecolaBreedlove who
struggles to fit into her community. Given the racial divide of the
1940’s she isunable to integrate into white society, so she
fantasizes about having white skin, blue eyes andblond hair. While
at the same time shunned by the black society because of her
ugliness “she satlooking in the mirror, trying to discover the
secret of the ugliness, the ugliness that made herignored or
despised at school, by teachers and classmates alike” (Morrison
45).
As the story commences, Morrison cleverly introduces this
conflict by emphasizing whitemiddle-class American values as
measured through Euro-American standards. The tone of thebook is
set in the first three lines as one of the narrator’s recites the
Dick-Jane American primer.“Here is the house. It is green and
white. It has a red door. It is very pretty. Here is the
family.Mother, Father, Dick and Jane live in the green and white
house. They are very happy.” (3). Thisrecitation continues
throughout the novel as Pecola faces continuous rejection by the
community.
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According to Peach, “engaging with theassumptions of the white
American primer,Morrison’s novel unfurls the history in
Euro-American standards of beauty and in whiteAmerica’s
idealization of the family from anAfrican-American perspective…”
(32-33). Inaddition to the subtle reminder of theinfluence of the
dominant white hegemony,it is also evident in the overt action of
thecharacters.
When Pecola temporarily moves in withthe neighbors Frieda and
Claudia, she iswelcomed with a cup of milk in a ShirleyTemple cup.
As Pecola takes the cup she“gazed fondly at the silhouette of
ShirleyTemple’s dimpled face” (Morrison 19). Thisfond gaze reflects
the ideals that superiorbeauty consists of light skin, eyes and
haircolor. However, through the character ofClaudia, this iconic
view of the white racedoes not remain stagnant. Claudia says
“Icouldn’t join them in their adoration becauseI hated Shirley. Not
because she was cute,but because she danced with Bojangles, whowas
my friend, my uncle, my daddy, andwho ought to have been
soft-shoeing it andchuckling with me” (19). Morrison
utilizesClaudia both as the narrator and theantagonist for this
theme of the novel. As thenarrator, she creates a sense of being on
theoutside looking in at the recognition of theinfluence of the
majority power over theminority race and as antagonist theawareness
of suppression of the minorityculture.
In addition to their representation of theinfluence between
cultures, both workshighlight the importance of cultural
identity.Cabrera’s work emphasizes the role the Afro-Cuban culture
has in the Cuban culture. Sheaccomplishes this by telling her
stories in twodistinct settings: the African forest and “elmonte”
or wilderness of Cuba to emphasizeeach culture’s identity while
creating a bridgebetween the two. This is evident in the
shortstories “Tatabisaco” and “El caballo deHicotea”. In the former
the African settingtakes place “[e]arly in the morning [where]the
women would go to work the fields [and][t]he men would go deep into
the virgin forestto hunt” (Cabrera 112). In the latter, thestory
commences in Havana where “Hicoteawas busy reading Havana
Illustrated besidea stream where Br’er White Horse came
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twice a day to drink” (141). These separatedescriptions signify
the importance of thewilderness to the individual cultures, but
atthe same time blend the African and Cubancultures through their
descriptions of anoutside space. This blending is important
toexemplify Cabrera’s anthropologicalknowledge of the significance
of the Afro-Cuban’s tribute to the forest/wilderness.
Like Cabrera, Morrison’s emphasis oncultural identity is in two
forms inclusion andindividualism. However, Morrison looks toher
characters’ behaviors and actions tostress the relevance of
African-Americanidentity in the dominant Anglo-Saxonsociety. On the
surface, the beliefs of thecharacter Pecola represent the
culturalaspirations to fit in whereas Claudiarepresents the
importance of individualism.Pecola’s desire to have blue eyes is a
physicalchange that she believes will gain heracceptance by
society. “If she lookeddifferent, beautiful, maybe Cholly would
bedifferent, and Mrs. Breedlove too. Maybethey’d say, ‘Why, look at
pretty-eyed Pecola.We mustn’t do bad things in front of thosepretty
eyes’… Each night, without fail, sheprayed for blue eyes” (Morrison
46-7). Thephysical change will take care of the outsideperception
and dictate on the surface whatmainstream society determines
acceptable.
On the other hand, the character ofClaudia constantly questions
these values ofwhite dominance, inadvertently emphasizingthe
importance of the African-Americanculture. Each Christmas Claudia
received ablonde blue-eyed doll and was told “[h]ere,they said.
This is beautiful, and if you are onthis day worthy you may have
it…I could notlove it. But I could examine it to see what itwas
that the world said was lovable” (21).Such insight allows for
individual thought, ashift away from the majority rule.
Moreover, both authors convey theirstories in a folkloric
language to relaycultural messages through various lessons.They
accomplish this by straddling theboundaries of the oral and written
discourse,multiple narratives and varied structure.These elements
are present in the messageconveyed in Cabrera’s story
“Walo-Wila”.In this short story, two sisters Walo-Wila andAyere
Kende live in a house in town. Walo-Wila never went out in public
and Ayere
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Kende sat out on the balcony to enjoy the cool eveningsea
breeze. Below the balcony was a golden gobletfull of fresh water.
As men came by they commentedon the beauty of the goblet and Ayere
Kende sang“Yes, but my sister is more beautiful!” and thegentleman
replied, “I want to see her...Let me comein” and Ayere Kende sang,
“If you marry her, youwill see her then, my brother” (Cabrera
25).
As many men continued to pass, the banter andsong continued.
Until one day Stag, the son ofHoneysuckle drank out of the golden
goblet. Walo-Wila and Ayere Kende sang their lament and
despiteWalo-Wila’s deterrence, Stag pronounced, “I’ll marryher.”
Then, Walo-Wila declared “The mother of mysister lives at the
bottom of the sea” (28). At midnightStag was advised to go down to
the bottom of the seawith a gourd of pearls. Stag returned with a
gourdfilled with saphhires of Olokun (the Orisha Olokuncorresponds
to Our Lady of Regla-goddess ofrelationships). Walo-Wila is
revealed and Stag learnsshe is more beautiful than imaginable:
“When the moonand the sea kiss…” (28). The power of the
writtendiscourse is evident through the imagery of Ayer Kendeon the
balcony waiting for suitors. The musical calland response create
orality and the multiple narratives varied meanings for the reader.
Thisvaried literary structure signals multiple levels of meanings
and messages through one medium.
Like Cabrera, Morrison’s folkloric language utilizes oral and
written discourse through therepetition of the Dick-Jane American
primer, multiple narrative voices, and play between poeticsong and
narrative. The introduction and repetition of the primer is like a
societal chant ofexpectation and fluidity between oral and written
structure that relays the message to both readerand characters. The
multiple narratives relay various messages to the reader. The
narrator of theprimer is an omniscient narrator who providesClaudia
with access to information and othercharacters outside the
immediate range of experience(Peach 34). So, Claudia seeks to
understand therelevance and influence of the white middle class
toher culture. The play between poetics and narrativeis evident in
Pecola’s reaction to Poland’s lament toloneliness.
Pecola climbed the stairs to their apartment. Evenbefore the
door was opened to her tapping, shecould hear Poland singing-her
voice sweet andhard, like new strawberries:I got blues in my
mealbarrelBlues up on the shelf…(repeat)Blues in my bedroom‘Cause
I’m sleepin’ by myself (Morrison 51).
This song represents Pecola’s loneliness and desireto be loved.
As Maguire explained with Cabrera’swork “[b]y changing and
confounding expectationsof structure and content, expand [their]
text’s levelsof meaning…” (11). Similar to multiple
narratives,varied structures enhance the ability identify shifts
inmeaning directed at the reader and among thecharacters.
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Overall, both female authors overcame variouschallenges to stand
in the present literary statureand though their personal
backgrounds andexperiences vary there are many commonalities
intheir literary expression. Both authors rely on a senseof magic
to tell their stories. Cabrera’s work is lessabout character
development and more aboutculture with the emphasis on the
enchantedexpression of cultural and religious values.
Morrisondevelops her characters throughout a novel that hasan open
structure and fragmentations that leave thereader to interpret
subtle messages. Despite theirdifferences, they both recognized the
importance ofcultures that needed to be heard and recognized bythe
majority.
Bibliography- Cabrera, Lydia. Afro-Cuban Tales. Trans.
Alberto
Hernandez-Chiroldes and Lauren Yoder.Lincoln: University of
Nebraska Press, 2004.Print.
- Cabrera, Lydia. Cuentos Negros de Cuba. Miami:Ediciones
Universal, 2002. Print.
- Hoffman-Jeep, L. “Creating Ethnography: ZoraNeale Hurston and
Lydia Cabrera.” AfricanAmerican Review. 39:3 (2005): 337-353.
Web.15 Jan. 2014.
- Hiriart, Rosario. Lydia Cabrera: Vida Hecha Arte.New York:
Eliseo Torres and Sons, 1978.Print.
- Maguire, Emily. Racial Experiments in CubanLiterature and
Ethnography. Gainesville:University Press of Florida, 2011. Web.
26March 2014.
- Morrison, Toni. The Bluest Eye. New York:Penguin, 1970.
Print.
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Creating a Literary BondCreating a Literary Bond
Creating a Literary Bond
Revista Surco Sur3-30-2015
Creating a Literary Bond: Lydia Cabrera and Toni
MorrisonChristiana SuccarRecommended Citation
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