Sánchez told DIARIO LAS AMÉRICAS about the details of the workshop.
Much has been said about José Martí, perhaps not with the depth it deserves
You have said well: there is a lot of talk about Martí, he is quoted profusely and every January 28 or May 19 — the dates of his birth and his fall in combat, respectively — acts are lavished on him or he is mentioned in the press. However, the Apostle continues to be, as Cuban intellectuals warned during the 30s of the last century, “an illustrious stranger.”
There are various factors that explain it: first of all, the cult of Martí, his deification during the Republic, determined that he be presented as a saint, apostle, mystic; so it was unnecessary to read it. He was better known through phrases taken out of context, in the style of “Be educated to be free.” It is also possible that in the 20th century Cubans born after 1960 have felt a certain weariness with his figure, since they found his image everywhere; Emphasis was placed on his political ideas and they heard ad nauseam that he had been the “intellectual author of the attack on the Moncada Barracks” or “I lived in the monster and I know its entrails.” And that could be shocking or it did not fit the reality of the population that, in increasing numbers, went into exile.
It should be added that the school preferred to hang it as an icon on the wall rather than motivate its reading, which, of course, goes beyond Los zapaticos de rosa….
What is new in the course-workshop?
All. The objective, the structure, the content, and the participatory method. I explain:
The objective is, precisely, to READ MARTÍ. It is not a course to passively listen to the teacher and then go home. That does not interest me: the participants will have to read, debate and make brief presentations.
The structure of the program, ambitious and diverse, offers a wide panorama of his literary work, of each genre he cultivated. At the same time, we will review her passionate life and we will stop at controversial or little-known aspects (for example, the disputes with Gómez and Maceo, and the relationships with Carmen Miyares). I will emphasize the literary Martí more than the political Martí, without forgetting the indissoluble links between one and the other.
Much of the information that I have gathered from biographers and scholars—and that I will share with those in attendance—has been totally new to me. And I hope it is very well received.
Why is it important to read Martí in these times?
read to Jose Marti, today, is as necessary and edifying as reading Euripides, Shakespeare, Balzac, Hemingway, Borges and Vargas Llosa… Like all good literature, it is a source of spiritual growth and aesthetic pleasure; hence its primary validity. This, likewise, is also noted in his ethical legacy and his example of a sensitive and spiritual man.
Martí’s poetry or his Diary (From Cap Haitien to Two Rivers) constitutes an aesthetic experience of the first order; the same could be said of the many chronicles of him, a journalistic genre in which he excelled. Martí also wrote plays, novels, testimonials and essays. His speeches and correspondence show a wealth of ideas and a formal beauty that delights. Finally, going through his biography, stripped of sacred attributes, is a moving, surprising, stimulating experience; finally, enriching.
The fact of conducting 13 sessions over 3 months implies a challenge not only as a teacher, but also for those who enter this exciting journey
This course could also be titled ESSENTIAL MARTÍ. Because three months (actually 26 hours) is very little to delve into Martí’s work. I have something that other scholars, such as Manuel Pedro González and Orlando González Esteva, have said: “Martí seduces”. And he achieves this through his extraordinary personality and imposing and relevant work. It is understood that he has been revered by writers of the stature of Rubén Darío, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, Alfonso Reyes, José María Vargas Vila, Gabriela Mistral, Pedro Henríquez Ureña, José Enrique Rodó, Juan Ramón Jiménez and Miguel de Unamuno, among others.
That is why I trust that, once the workshop is over, the attendees will continue reading Martí. The most laborious thing for me —although certainly enjoyable— has been preparing the course, which I have been doing for more than a year. I am very motivated and I hope to continue my work of promoting the life and work of José Martí through other channels and in other places.
In addition, my Reading workshops —with this there are already five— foster bonds of affection and community of interests. People share a love of reading, socialize and, at the end of each session, there is time to talk and have a glass of wine. On other occasions, during the closing ceremony and delivery of certificates, the most repeated question is this: “and when is the next one?”
More information
At the end of the Reading Workshop, attendees will receive a Certificate of Participation. You can register at the headquarters of the American Museum of the Cuban Diaspora (1200 Coral Way, Miami FL, 33145), call 305-529-5400 or write to info@thecuban.org
More about Emilio Sanchez
Dr. Emilio J. Sánchez is an Adjunct Instructor at Nova Southeastern University. Previously, he led the workshops New Hispanic American Narrative (2018), The Forgotten Writers of the Boom (2019), Narrative of the United States, 20th century (2019) and Cuban Narrative of the Republic (2020-2021).
workshop program
1. INTRODUCTION
Martí, exiled writer. Review of his life and work. Is it still valid? Biographies: hagiographies and critical studies. Difficulty in biographing Martí. Most outstanding biographies (Jorge Mañach, Martí, the apostle; Félix Lizaso, Martí, mystic of duty; Luis Rodríguez Émbil, Martí, Saint of America; C. Márquez Sterling, José Martí: synthesis of an extraordinary life; Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, Martí revolutionary; Martí, male, Gonzalo de Quesada y Miranda).
Organizational issues of the course-workshop.
2- MARTÍ: CONTROVERSY AND SILENCE
Controversy over the catastrophe of Fernandina and her death in Dos Ríos. Silence or opacity around the discrepancies with Máximo Gómez and Antonio Maceo and relations with Carmen Miyares de Mantilla. Pejorative descriptions of Cuban exiles and the Spanish press. Inaccuracies about private life and habits.
3- POETRY
General characteristics of his poetry. Martí, initiator of modernism. Importance of his poetic work. Comments on the collection of poems by him Ismaelillo, Free Verses and Dust of butterfly wings. Analysis of simple verses.
4- NARRATIVE
Diversity of Marti’s prose. modernist narrative. Narrative genres that he cultivated: novel, short story, testimony-chronicle. Importance of his narrative work. Comments on The Golden Age, From Cap Haitien to Two Rivers and other stories. Analysis of the novel Lucía Jerez.
5- JOURNALISM
Martí, reporter, chronicler, critic, columnist, editor. José Martí’s contributions to journalistic genres. Ideas about the mission of the press. The chronicle as a meeting point between journalism and literature. Comments on Martian chronicles (Festivals of the Statue of Liberty, The Brooklyn Bridge, A Terrible Drama).
6- ORATORY
Martin, speaker. Characteristics of Marti’s oratory. The power of seduction of José Martí. Views of his contemporaries. Comments on his speeches (“With all and for the good of all”; Tampa, 11/27/1891); “The New Pines”, Tampa, 11/27/1891).
7- TEST
The essay as a literary genre. Martí, creator of the modern essay. Characteristics of Marti’s essays. Comments on essays (The political prison in Cuba, Emerson, Our America, The truth about the United States).
8- EPISTOLARY
Martí, epistolographer. Importance of Marti’s epistolary. Characteristic. Breadth and variety of epistolary. Classification (Félix Lizaso): political, literary and intimate. Analysis of letters (to Carmen Zayas Bazán; to Carmen Miyares; to Fermín Valdés Domínguez; to Manuel Mercado; to María Mantilla; to Rosario de la Peña; to her mother; to her son).
9- THEATER
Martí’s early love for the theater. Martí as theater critic. Characteristics of the theater of him. Comments on his works (Abdala, 1869; Adulteress, 1874; Love is paid with love, 1875; Homeland and Freedom, 1877).
10- POLITICS
Political Martin. Marti’s concept of politics. Prison and exile. Participation in the wars of independence – War of the Ten Years (1868-1878); Little War (1879-1880); Gomez-Maceo plan (1884); War of Independence (1895-)—. Foundation of the Cuban Revolutionary Party. The future Cuban republic according to Martí. Democracy and tyranny. political legacy. Martian cult and manipulation of the Apostle. Position against capitalism and socialism. Comments on political documents (Our ideas, Montecristi Manifesto, Karl Marx).
11- RELIGION AND ETHICS
Mysticism of José Martí. Philosophical bases of his universalist spirituality. Eclecticism: Krausism, pantheism, Christianity, Buddhism. Position against Catholicism. Cult of death.
Ethical sense of José Martí. Sources of his thought and conduct. Hierarchy of values: duty, sacrifice, love, forgiveness, integrity, kindness. Martin, Mason.
spiritual legacy.
12- PENDING
The participants will select the theme of the session.
13- CONCLUSIONS and CLOSURE
Assessment of the Workshop by the participants. Instructor Summary Words. Delivery of certificates. Toast.
STRUCTURE OF THE SESSIONS
1st hour (45 minutes): Presentation of the Instructor, Dr. Emilio J. Sánchez
Recess: 15 minutes.
2nd hour: Reading Experience by a participant* (15 minutes); debate, by all participants, on previously indicated texts (45 minutes)
* In both cases it is a question of recounting the personal experience of reading José Martí. Not about what Wikipedia says or the review (or the prologue), but exclusively about how the reader received said text (liked it or not; understood it or not; found it difficult or easy; was it enthusiastic or bored, associated it with other readings, memories, passages, characters, images that impressed you, if it allowed you to complete the vision of the author.
SYNTHETIC CONTENT:
- INTRODUCTION
- BIOGRAPHIES on JOSÉ MARTÍ
- POETRY
- NARRATIVE
- JOURNALISM
- ORATORY
- TRIAL
- EPISTOLARY
- THEATER
- POLITICS
- MARTÍ: RELIGION AND ETHICS
- MARTÍ (theme to be defined)
- CONCLUSIONS AND CLOSURE