The Portrayal of a Society in Cultural Transformation: Carlos Guillermo Wilson’s Raíces africanas

• In Event: Literature between Asia and Latin America

Abstract

Numerous authors from various Latin American countries celebrate their African heritage and a few of these incorporate the manipulation, exemplification and utilization of African gods in their narratives. While skin color never completely defines their existence, the consciousness of class and social acceptance is ever present and expresses itself in many ways, including the use of African cultural elements. For Panamanian author Carlos Guillermo Wilson’s (El Cubena) in Raíces africanas the manifestation of a rich cultural web remains omnipresent. The stories in Raíces africanas reflect an undercurrent of the many different cultural and ethnic complexities that are present in modern day Panama. Among these nuances exist the partnership among people of African, Asian and indigenous descent. Accordingly, my study also explores how the portrayal of the divergent and convergent aspects come together to reflect the reality of the Central American nation. Using theorist and writers such as Manuel Zapata Olivella, Robert Farris Thompson, Toni Morrison, J. Kameron Carter and others, my investigation explores how El Cubena weaves African cultural elements like black oral traditions with Asian and European influences to foment socio-political activism. My analysis not only enriches the meaning of the text as well as augments its cultural depth and breadth. The global interdependence of cultural (ethnic) spheres makes such an investigation not only worthwhile but necessary for a more thorough understanding of transcontinental influences. By studying potential traces of African and Asian heritage, we reinforce the worldliness of texts, we increase our appreciation of fiction as works of art.

Author

• Emmanuel D Harris, U of North Carolina Wilmington