Fernando Ortiz and the Ideological Construction of Cuban Identity: Between Cultural Revaluation and Structural Distortion

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1. Introduction

Fernando Ortiz occupies a central position in Cuban cultural historiography. His work has often been presented as a foundational framework for understanding national identity, particularly regarding the Afro-Cuban component. However, a critical reassessment of his legacy requires a clear distinction between his original scientific contribution and the later ideological use of his thought.

This analysis proposes that the core issue does not lie solely in Ortiz’s work, but in the process of reception, simplification, and political exploitation of his discourse within the contemporary Cuban institutional framework.

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2. Ortiz’s Contribution: Revaluation of the Marginalized

In the Republican period, Afro-descendant culture was frequently perceived as inferior, primitive, or marginal. Ortiz’s work aimed to:

• systematize Afro-descendant cultural practices,

• grant them academic legitimacy,

• integrate them into the national discourse.

His concept of transculturation sought to explain the complex interaction between different cultural matrices in Cuba, including both African and Hispanic influences.

From this perspective, his work represents an expansion of the Cuban cultural field, rather than a replacement of one component by another.

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3. Central Problem: The Absolutization of One Cultural Component

The conflict emerges in the later reinterpretation of his work, reduced to a simplified narrative:

Cuba as an essentially Afro-Cuban identity.

This shift implies:

• an overrepresentation of the Afro-descendant component,

• an underrepresentation or invisibilization of the Hispanic and European component,

• a loss of the structural complexity of Cuban culture.

Thus, an analytical model (transculturation) becomes an ideological one (partial identity).

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4. Political and Cultural Instrumentalization

Within the Cuban political system, this simplification has served several functions:

• construction of an exportable cultural identity (tourism, performance),

• consolidation of a populist discourse rooted in cultural and racial narratives,

• symbolic legitimization of an official narrative.

At the same time, a structural contradiction emerges:

• limited access to Ortiz’s original work,

• restricted circulation in educational institutions,

• institutional appropriation without real democratization of knowledge.

The result is an intellectual figure transformed into a functional symbol, rather than a living academic reference.

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5. Consequences: Distortion of National Self-Perception

This process has contributed to a partial perception of Cuban identity, where:

• certain cultural elements are emphasized at the expense of others,

• cultural representation is confused with historical structure,

• the comprehensive understanding of national identity is weakened.

Culture ceases to be understood as a complex system and becomes a tool for ideological and aesthetic construction.

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6. Methodological Parallel with the Cuban Casino Square Method (MCC)

This phenomenon parallels what occurs in Cuban social dance:

• empirical Casino presents a fragmented and non-systematized reality,

• popular interpretations tend to absolutize partial elements,

• the underlying structure of the phenomenon is lost.

The MCC proposes the opposite:

• analytical separation of components,

• structural identification,

• conscious and reproducible synthesis.

In this sense, the MCC constitutes a methodological response to the same logic of distortion observed in the cultural field.

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7. Conclusion

Fernando Ortiz’s legacy must be understood in its proper dimension:

• as a significant contribution to cultural revaluation,

• but also as a starting point later reinterpreted and partially utilized.

The current task is not to reject his work, but to:

reintegrate it into a complete structural understanding of Cuban culture, avoiding its reduction to an ideological instrument.

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Author

Yoel Marrero
Author of the Cuban Casino Square Method (MCC)

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Links

🔗 Blog: https://bailesocialinteligente.blogspot.com
🔗 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@CATALOGOCOREOGRAFICOMCC

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