Entrevistas Cubanas: Historias de una Nacion Dividida Book

In order to obtain a cohesive and comprehensive understanding of Cuban society, Felipe Arocena and William Noland spent three years interviewing and photographing the people of this nation in Cuba and in Miami. This book is the product of that interval during which the two men gathered narratives, reflections and life stories of both Cubans living in their own country and those residing in Miami. Collectively the dialogues assist in answering questions such as: What is life like for the Cuban people after nearly 50 years of Castro's rule? How do those Cubans who emigrate to Miami manage? And, how do these two groups relate to one another?

These accounts, all published in the interviewees' native Spanish, provide a synopsis of a single country that has been divided in two. The conversations recorded with people living in Cuba represent three distinct groups; those employed by the state, which practically all formal employment is; individuals working in occupations not tied to the government, such as musicians, farmers or those in the businesses owned by foreign investors; and the Cubans supporting themselves with semi-clandestine or completely clandestine activities.

The Miami Cubans interviews are of a range of unique people from the executive director of the National Cuban-American Foundation, high school teenagers, the manager of one of the most successful stores in Miami, and workers in a tobacco factory.

About the Authors
Sociologist and writer Felipe Arocena is an associate professor at the University of the Republic, Uruguay, and a visiting assistant professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the United States. He lives in Monteuideo and Atlanta. He is also the author of William Henry Hudson and lives in Atlanta, Georgia. William Noland is an associate professor of art at Duke University. He lives in Durham, North Carolina.