Eusebia Cosme and Black Womanhood on the Transatlantic Stage

Bibliographic Data

ID4052065
AuthorsTakkara Brunson, Takkara K Brunson (corresponding author)
Year2017
Volume15
Issue2
Pages389-411
Publication date2017-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueMeridians (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1536-6936 • E-ISSN: 1547-8424
PublisherDuke University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2979/meridians.15.2.06
OpenAlexW2761952374
LanguageEN
References cited12

A woman of African descent born in Cuba, Eusebia Cosme relocated to the United States during the late 1930s. She quickly became an internationally renowned performer of “Afro-Antillean” poetry, dressing in elaborate costumes as she recited the works of prominent poets who included Nicolas Guillén, Luis Páles Matos, and Langston Hughes. This article argues that Cosme utilized male-written texts, in addition to attire and choreography, to engage discourses of blackness on the transatlantic stage. The article compares her performances to those of her female contemporaries who included Josephine Baker, Carmen Miranda, and Katherine Dunham. It analyzes how Cosme employed a range of identity maneuvers that allowed her to challenge depictions of African culture as primitive, and to address the history and legacies of African enslavement. Finally, the article explores the ways in which various audiences—African American, white American, white Latin American, and Afro-Caribbean—translated her performances of blackness. Cosme’s success stemmed from her ability to construct a nuanced representation of blackness within both Cuban and Afro-diasporic perspective

Aesthetics · African american · Art · Art history · Choreography · Dance · Ethnology · Latin Americans · Literature · Performing arts · Poetry · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Anthropology · Caribbean history, culture, and politics · Cuban History and Society · Gender Studies · History · Latin American and Latino Studies · Law

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