Tampa: Impressions of an Emigrant (New World Diasporas)

ISBN: 0813066638

Author: G

Condition: New

In 1896, Wenceslao Gálvez y Delmonte fled the violence of Cubas war for independence and settled in Tampa. He soon made his new home the focus of a work of costumbrismo, the Spanish-language genre built on closely observing the everyday manners and customs of a place.Translated here into English, Gálvezs narrative mixes evocative descriptions with charming commentary to bring to life the early Cuban exile communities in Ybor City and West Tampa. The writers sharp eye finds the local characters, the barber shops and electric streetcars, the city landmarks and new Cuban enclaves. One day, Gálvez offers his thoughts on the pro-independence activities of community leaders like Martín Herrera and Fernando Figuerdo. On another, our exiled bourgeois intellectual author wryly recounts his new life as a door-to-door salesman and lector reading aloud to workers in a cigar factory.This scholarly edition includes photographs and newspaper clippings, a foreword on Gálvezs extraordinary pre-exile years, extensive notes to the translation, and a wealth of other supplementary material putting the authors life and work in context.A volume in the series New World Diasporas, edited by Kevin A. Yelvington