Maestra Voluntaria - by Daura Olema Garcia (Paperback)

About the Book

""Maestra voluntaria" imagines an answer to a critical question during the momentous first 5 years after the 1959 ouster of General Fulgencia Batista: "If the Revolution is Socialist, what does that mean for me?" Author Daura Olema crafted the novel based on her diary written during teacher training for the 1961 Literacy Campaign. Casa de las Amâericas gave the novel its prize for best novel in 1962, and it was used used it as the basis of the 1963 movie "En dâias como estos" for the new Instituto Cubano del Arte e Industria Cinematogrâafica (ICAIC). Yet, despite the evolution of testimonial writing to serve other Latin American revolutionary projects and to celebrate the achievements of the Cuban Revolution (literacy and education among them), the novel was never reprinted. As a revolutionary "bildungsroman", "Maestra voluntaria" was "revolutionary" to some, but for others not very "literary", or even considered "propaganda". "Todo empezâo en el tren... ahora ya yo sâe mi camino", are the novel ending words, a quote Olema builds upon in the "Palabras preliminaries" she wrote for this new edition: "y el camino que ha seguido hoy mi paâis duele profundamente". The possible world she depicted in "Maestra voluntaria" never came to exist. Although her novel received the Casa de las Amâericas prize, Olema was not welcomed into the intellectual class that battled over the meaning of "revolutionary" literature. Instead, she went to write for various press outlets until her retirement and subsequent emigration. The value of the novel as an expression of a possible world and as a tool for critically engaging the power of civic engagement, mass mobilization and the manipulation of populist discourse. Literary scholars note the value of the mix of realist documentation and literary conventions in the novel, as it serves as window into aesthetic debates regarding literatura comprometida, socialist realism, and the development of the testimonio genre. Historians have cited the novel as useful for understanding the dynamics of the power struggle during the early years of the revolution For Spanish Literature students "Maestra voluntaria" is an opportunity for immersing, as only literature can, in a moment of powerful uncertainty amid intense social and political change. This edition has 3 main parts. The first is an introduction outlining the historical context of the novel, the struggle during early sixties to define a Cuban "revolutionary" culture, and a reading of the text regarding its genre and place in Latin American literary history, a pertinent bibliography and an epilogue with a sample scholarly reading of the novel vis-áa-vis a gender studies approach, as well as a Pedagogic Dossier for stimulating reader discussion of the novel. The author's "Palabras preliminares" follows to situate the author and her message to today's reader"--

Book Synopsis

Maestra voluntaria (Volunteer Teacher) imagines an answer to a critical question during the momentous first years after General Fulgencio Batista's removal from office in 1959: If the revolution is socialist, what does that mean to me?

Author Daura Olema produced this novel based on her journal written during teacher training for the 1961 Literacy Campaign.

Casa de las Américas awarded its prize for best novel in 1962, and it was used as the basis for the 1963 film On days like these for the new Cuban Institute of Cinematographic Art and Industry (ICAIC). However, despite the evolution of testimonial writing to serve other Latin American revolutionary projects and to celebrate the achievements of the Cuban Revolution (including literacy and education), the novel was never reprinted.

For Hispanic Literature students, Maestra voluntaria is an opportunity to immerse themselves, as only literature allows, in a moment of great uncertainty in the midst of intense social and political change. It helps to answer the question: Why did the young people of the moment believe in the Revolution?

The novel's value lies in its expression of a possible world, as well as a tool to critically test the power of civic engagement, mass mobilization, and manipulation of populist discourse. It highlights the value of the combination of realistic documentation and literary conventions in the novel, since it serves as a window to aesthetic debates about committed literature, socialist realism, and the development of the testimonial genre.

This edition includes an introduction that describes the historical context of the struggle during the early sixties to define a Cuban revolutionary culture and offers a reading of the reception and possible approaches to the text, as well as a pertinent bibliography and a Pedagogical Dossier to stimulate the discussion about the novel.

The new edition of the book that plunges the reader into that year of uncertainty regarding the future of the Cuban Revolution: 1961. What to believe? Why?