ABSTRACT
This article examines the production of hegemonic historical imaginaries among Cubans in Havana and Miami in the context of the struggle between Cuba’s socialist state and its exiled opponents. It argues that, after five decades of an intense conflict that have saturated the public spaces of these cities with nationalistic historical references, the adversary political ideologies of the two Cuban elites have not become hegemonic in either city, but that the deep ideological assumptions that they share enjoy uncontested currency among Cubans in both locales today. The article focuses on the celebration of national hero José Martí - whom both Cuban elites claim as their predecessor and inspirer - and analyzes this case to make the more general point that political conflict helps make forms of historic consciousness hegemonic by naturalizing symbols, conceptions, and narratives that the contending parties share and take for granted.
KEYWORDS:
Nationalism; hegemony; state socialism; Cuba; Miami