![Herberto Padilla, 1981](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b6/Herberto_Padilla%2C_1981.jpg)
Heberto Juan Padilla (20 January 1932 – 25 September 2000) was a
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...
put to the center of the so-called Padilla affair when he was imprisoned for criticizing the Cuban government.
He was born in Puerta de Golpe,
Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños'' ...
, Cuba. His first book of poetry, ''Las rosas audaces'' (''The Audacious Roses''), was published in 1949. After his first marriage to Bertha Hernandez with whom he had three children, Giselle Padilla, Maria Padilla and Carlos Padilla, he married poet
Belkis Cuza Malé
Belkis Cuza Malé (born 1942) is a Cuban-American writer, journalist, and painter, best known for her poetry.
Biography
She studied literature at the University of Santiago de Cuba beginning in December 1964. After marrying her first husband, s ...
with whom he had his younger son Ernesto Padilla.
Although Padilla initially supported the revolution led by
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
, by the late 1960s he began to criticize it openly and in 1971, he was imprisoned by the Castro regime.
Background
Padilla's criticism of the Castro Regime was prompted by the changing role of the writer in the new revolutionary society of Cuba, and the brewing hostilities between Cuban cultural bureaucrats and the Cuban writers. During the 1950s, writers in Cuba had shown strength and vigor in the production of cultural institutions and creative material, including the ''
Casa de las Américas
Casa de las Américas is an organization that was founded by the Cuban Government in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution, for the purpose of developing and extending the socio-cultural relations with the countries of Latin America, ...
'' and the publication of ''Lunes de Revolución''.
However, cultural bureaucrats had begun to be more critical towards art produced, and banned the movie ''P.M.,'' a film about night life in Cuba. This perpetuated already existing distrust between the
Popular Socialist Party, and ''Lunes de Revolución,'' who had sponsored the television platform that ''P.M.'' was shown on. Following this crisis, the writers of ''Lunes de Revolución,'' among other Cuban writers, were invited to a series of discussions at the National Library, where leaders of the PSP accused them of being divisive and not truly socialist. The heated nature of these debates demanded the intervention of Fidel Castro, himself, who then, in this speech, outlined the government's cultural policy: there will be tolerance towards all forms of artistic expression, as long as there was a basic support for the Revolution.
Padilla began to get frustrated with the growing government interference in cultural affairs. In 1968, this underlying tension manifested in a debate published in the cultural magazine, ''El Caimán Barbudo,'' where Padilla wrote a scathing critique of
Lisandro Otero
Lisandro Otero González (June 4, 1932 – January 3, 2008) was a Cuban novelist and journalist.
Background
Born in Havana, Cuba, Otero won Cuba's National Prize in Literature in 2002 and was the director of Cuban Academy of Language from October ...
's ''Pasión de Urbino,'' a novel that was considered for the Spanish Biblioteca Breve award, but was beat out by ''Tres Tristes Tigres'' by
Guillermo Cabrera Infante
Guillermo Cabrera Infante (; Gibara, 22 April 1929 – 21 February 2005) was a Cuban novelist, essayist, translator, screenwriter, and critic; in the 1950s he used the pseudonym G. Caín, and used Guillermo Cain for the screenplay of th ...
. In Padilla's article, he denounces ''Pasión de Urbino,'' as well as its bureaucratic author, Otero, who was the Vice President of the Cultural Council.
Padilla proceeded to praise ''Tres Tristes Tigres,'' calling it one of the most brilliant, ingenious and profoundly Cuban novels ever written.
Therefore, Padilla not only attacked Otero, a high-ranking cultural official but praised Cabrera Infante, who had publicly condemned the Revolution and the conditions of writers within Cuba, dangerously branding Padilla as an ally to traitor to the Revolution.
Following this scandal, the editorial board of ''El Caimán Barbudo'' that published this debate was fired and Padilla had also lost his job working at the ''Granma,'' or one of the government sanctioned news outlets in Cuba.
Padilla's frustration was only exacerbated when the Cuban Union of Writers and Artists, or the
UNEAC
The National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Unión Nacional de Escritores y Artistas de Cuba, UNEAC) is a social, cultural and professional organization of writers, musicians, actors, painters, sculptors, and artist of different genres. It ...
, awarded the "Julián de Casal" to Heberto Padilla's collection of critical poems, ''Fuera del juego'' in 1968, which would allow it to be published and distributed to the public.
Before ''Fuera del juego'' was published, the UNEAC had heavily criticized the decision, and underwent a series of discussions about the counterrevolutionary nature of the book. The series of poems contained blatant revolutionary skepticism, especially in the poem titled ''Fuera del juego,'' where he outlines the difference between a good revolutionary and a bad revolutionary. Although the poem, as well as the book, presents a critical stance on the Revolution, it does so to prevent the Revolution from "supra-bureaucracy or militarization".
The decision, however, was upheld, and ''Fuera del juego'' was published with a political disclaimer, but the criticisms of Padilla's work did not halt here. A series of articles were posted in ''Verde Olivo,'' the magazine of the armed forces, under the name Leopaldo Avila, prompting a stricter outline of the government's cultural policy.
The conditional tolerance of Cuban literature required more than just a basic support for the Revolution. Thus a declaration of principles was created and approved at the Congress of Writers and Artists in 1968 that further defined the role of the writer in Cuba, stating that the writer has to not only support the Revolution, but contribute to it through utilizing literature as a "weapon against weakness and problems which, directly or indirectly, could hinder this advance."
Affair
Imprisonment
With the strengthening of the overall cultural policy of the Cuban government in an attempt to avoid the weakening of the Revolutionary ideology, vigilance towards Cuban writers had increased, punishing them for even slightly deviating from Castro's communist praxis. Thus on March 20, 1971, Heberto Padilla was arrested and jailed for his work, ''Fuera del juego''. To illustrate the trivial nature of revolutionary vigilance, one of the charges brought against ''Fuera del juego'' was Padilla's conception of history, where he described time as a circle. This was seen as counterrevolutionary. In UNEAC's official point of view, they stated, "He has expressed his anti-historical attitude by means of exalting individualism in opposition to collective demands of a country in the midst of historical development and by also stating his idea of time as a reoccurring a repeating circle instead of an ascending line."
Controversy
Padilla was released thirty-seven days after being imprisoned, but not before delivering a statement of self-criticism to a UNEAC meeting. In this statement he had confessed to the charges brought against him, describing himself to be what his adversaries accused him of being: a counterrevolutionary, subtle, insidious, and malignant. He had also accused other writers, including his own wife, and urged them to follow his lead of conforming to the Revolutionary society.
After Padilla's statement of self-criticism, a number of prominent Latin American, North American, and European intellectuals, including
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (born 28 March 1936), more commonly known as Mario Vargas Llosa (, ), is a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and former politician, who also holds Spanish citizenship. Vargas Ll ...
,
Julio Cortázar
Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine, nationalized French novelist, short story writer, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenced an ent ...
,
Susan Sontag
Susan Sontag (; January 16, 1933 – December 28, 2004) was an American writer, philosopher, and political activist. She mostly wrote essays, but also published novels; she published her first major work, the essay "Notes on 'Camp'", in 1964. Her ...
, and
Jean-Paul Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and litera ...
, spoke out against Padilla's incarceration, and the resulting controversy came to be known as "the Padilla affair."
The affair stirred a schism among political critics across the world, bringing many who had previously supported the Fidel Castro government to reconsider their position.
Though Padilla was released from prison, he was still not allowed to leave the country until 1980.
Aftermath
He lived in New York,
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
and
Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
, before finally settling in
Princeton, NJ
Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whic ...
. Padilla was a Fellow at the
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (or Wilson Center) is a quasi-government entity and think tank which conducts research to inform public policy. Located in the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washi ...
. Farrar Straus & Giroux published several editions of his poetry, a novel, ''En mi jardín pastan los héroes'' (translated as ''Heroes Are Grazing in My Garden''), and a book of memoirs, ''La mala memoria'' (translated as ''Self-Portrait of the Other'').
He was the Elena Amos Distinguished Scholar in Latin American Studies at
Columbus State University
Columbus State University is a public university in Columbus, Georgia. Founded as Columbus College in 1958, the university was established and is administered by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.
History
The university w ...
, Columbus GA, 1999–2000. He died on 25 September 2000 while teaching at
Auburn University
Auburn University (AU or Auburn) is a public land-grant research university in Auburn, Alabama. With more than 24,600 undergraduate students and a total enrollment of more than 30,000 with 1,330 faculty members, Auburn is the second largest uni ...
in
Alabama
(We dare defend our rights)
, anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama"
, image_map = Alabama in United States.svg
, seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery
, LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville
, LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...
.
Works
Poetry
* ''Las rosas audaces'', 1949
* ''El justo tiempo humano'', 1962
* ''La hora'', Cuadernos de Poesía 10 (Sets of Poems 10), La Tertulia, La Habana, 1964
* ''Fuera del juego'', 1968
* ''Provocaciones'', 1973
* ''Poesía y política - Poetry and Politics'', bilingual anthology, Playor, Madrid, Georgetown University Cuban series, 1974
* ''El hombre junto al mar'', Seix Barral, Barcelona, 1981
* ''Un puente, una casa de piedra'', 1998
* ''Puerta de Golpe'', anthology created by Belkis Cuza Malé, Linden Lane Press, 2013
* ''Una época para hablar'', anthology that contains all of Padilla's poetry, Luminarias / Letras Cubanas, 2013
Narratives
* ''El buscavidas'', novel, 1963
* ''En mi jardín pastan los héroes'', novel, Editorial Argos Vergara, Barcelona, 1981
* ''La mala memoria'', memoir, Plaza & Janés, Barcelona, 1989 (Eng. translation: ''Self-portrait of the other'' 1989)
* ''Prohibido el gato'',
political novel
Political fiction employs narrative to comment on political events, systems and theories. Works of political fiction, such as political novels, often "directly criticize an existing society or present an alternative, even fantast ...
written in 1989
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Padilla, Heberto
1932 births
2000 deaths
20th-century Cuban poets
Cuban male poets
Cuban emigrants to the United States
Auburn University faculty
Prisoners and detainees of Cuba
Cuban dissidents
20th-century male writers