Although significant changes in Cuba have occurred since this book was first published twenty years ago and particularly in very recent years, Bridges to Cuba / Puentes a Cuba remains an important document for understanding the deep complexity of Cuba and its diaspora. Though the “quilt of stories, testimonies, poems, analysis, art, and photographs” (xiv) included in the anthology are unchanging, with the exception of the introduction and cover art, Bridges remains a vital and key text which has since become a foundational part of Cuban studies. Now, with these changes—especially in Cuba-US relations— fresh interpretations of the pieces presented in the anthology are inevitable; however, the power behind each piece retains significance both alone and as part of as sort of a interwoven heteroglossia of what “Cubanness” is both within and beyond the island. Or, as anthropologist, ethnographer, writer, scholar of Cuban studies, and editor of Bridges Ruth Behar best notes in the twentieth anniversary introduction, the “collection is filled with the voices of those who have lived and breathed their Cubanness for as long as they have been alive in the world, and continue to do so” (xiv). These voices include some of the most powerful names in Cuban studies, a virtual “who’s who” of the field, and together in this anthologthey have constructed a bridge that remains as relevant today as it was when it was released in 1995.

Going back to the anthology’s title, significant on many levels, these bridges are varied in metaphorical meaning for Behar, some physical in nature yet unseen when she relates her travels from Michigan to Cuba and back as a messenger of letters that, if sent via regular mail, were likely to be censored or lost (xi). “We carry letters, dreams, grief, from one side to the other,” Behar writes in the original introduction (8). In this regard, it is difficult to ignore the ever-evolving role of— as one significant example— technology for this bridge in an island-nation which has only recently obtained increased access to other “bridges” such as the internet and to cellular phones. Whereas Behar discusses the aforementioned difficulty of the mail system and marvels at the ability to now direct dial to Cuba and not even have to travel there to see Cuban films such as Strawberry and Chocolate (Fresa y Chocolate), instead being able to watch these at her home in Michigan. The Cuba of today, though far from having such widespread access for everyone, has increasingly seen Cubans living on the island with more access to powerful platforms for change, such as the various existing social media sites. Notwithstanding, Bridges to Cuba twenty years after the fact indeed acts as a bridge itself, now in 2015 available as an eBook, something nonexistent at its first printing in 1995.

The book is divided into three parts, Reconciliation, Rupture, and Remembering. The presence of Cuban artist Rolando Estévez in the anthology remains particularly strong, as his artwork of bodies along with quotes from Cuban poet Dulce María Loynaz serve as the bridges from one section to the next in both editions. Estévez is a poet and principal designer of Ediciones Vigía, an independent publishing house based in Matanzas, Cuba, which has created handmade art-object books and magazines since 1985. His powerful art also has prominence on the cover of the twentieth anniversary edition. Vigía is a presence woven throughout Bridges, both visually and with the piece “Vigía: The Endless Publications of Matanzas,” which offers extremely insightful interviews with Estévez and with Vigía founder and poet Alfredo Zaldívar. It is one of the many fragments of Bridges that, by using memory and testimony to tell a history, engages the reader in the complexity of Cuba and how its history and politics have directly affected cultural production on the island.

Though repackaged with a striking new cover and introduction, the twentieth anniversary edition of Bridges to Cuba / Puentes a Cuba could have benefited from an afterword of sorts, perhaps relaying the thoughts of some of the contributors themselves twenty years after the original publication, especially taking into account some of the important changes in Cuba and its current state. However, the absence of such a section is perhaps most fitting, as the fragmented text of voices demonstrates the complexity of Cubanness, an identity without a certain resolution, with the interweaving visuals, memories, and testimonies standing just as vital and relevant today, facilitating vital conversations both then and now.

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[Review length: 742 words • Review posted on October 18, 2016]