The CCCNY commemorates the 127th anniversary of the death of José Martí with an illustrated lecture* by Martí scholar Ryan Spangler on the spirituality of Cuba’s towering figure. When José Martí died on the battlefield of Dos Ríos that fateful day in May of 1895, he left a legacy that has inspired and infiltrated almost every political debate in Cuba through today. His words and political ideology form the foundation for a myriad of doctrines and beliefs still relevant today. Yet, despite the great attention and care given to the body of his oeuvre by critics for more than a hundred years, the underpinning spiritual theme that runs through the veins of his poetry has oft-times been dismissed or simply ignored.
By first highlighting the impact and influence of the early German Romantics, Spangler will address the concept of redemption so prominent in the poetry of Martí. The great Cuban poet used his verse to write himself into the Biblical narratives of the Old and New Testaments, appropriating the roles of both the Father and the Son to create a Modern Testament that could serve to enlighten and liberate both Cuba and its people as they struggled to free themselves from the spiritual and political servitude plaguing them in his time, and which is still applicable today.
The presentation will be followed by a Q&A via Zoom with Ryan Spengler, moderated by Ricardo Gil, director of our Martí Studies Program.
This special literary and history event is part of our CreateNYC Language Access Series on Cuban History, Art, and Literature. It will be held in English.
DUE TO THE COVID PANDEMIC, THIS PROGRAM WILL BE STREAMED THROUGH OUR YOUTUBE CHANNEL.
Please click on this link on the scheduled date and time:
https://youtu.be/x9bqYQSpA90
*I Am the Father and the Son: Religion and Redemption in the Poetry of José Martí.
Ryan Anthony Spangler received his Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky. He is an Associate Professor at Creighton University where he specializes in 19th and 20th Century modernismo and Avant-Garde poetry. He has published on the concept of spirituality in the works of José Martí and Rubén Darío, and the theater of resistance in the dramaturges, Haffe Serulle and Victor Zavala Cataño. In 2018, he and Georg Schwarzmann co-edited the critical anthology Syncing the Americas: José Martí and the Shaping of National Identity. His recently completed English language edition of Martí’s Versos libres is currently under review. Additionally, in 2012 Ryan was the youngest recipient of the Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Award for Teaching Achievement, Creighton University’s most prestigious teaching award.
This event is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York State Legislature.
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