Cuba in Soviet and American Cold War cinema. Comparative analysis

The article presents the results of a study of Cuba's cinema images in Soviet and American cold war cinema. The study aimed to compare the ways of representing Cuba in the Soviet and American cinema of this period. Materials for the study were Soviet and American films made in the period 1945-1991. It is shown that in the American cinema of the cold war, Cuba can be positioned as an enemy, as an arena of confrontation in the struggle of two superpowers, or as a victim of this struggle. In Soviet cinema, accordingly, Cuba is positioned as a fraternal country, or as a victim of American imperialism. There is a similarity in the representation of Cuba in Soviet and American cinema: images of Cuba are involved in constructing the image of the enemy to strengthen the threat emanating from it and perform a mobilization function. Besides, the image of Cuba in distress serves to legitimize the fight against the invaders, Soviet or American. The feminization of Cuba is used as an ideological device for constructing the image of the enemy. At the same time, the images of Cuba in American cinema are more diverse, due to the long history of relations between the two countries based on geographical proximity.

Keywords

Cuba, Image of the Enemy, Cold War, cinema

Acknowledgment

This article is financially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, grant 18–18–00233 “Cinematographic Images of the Soviet and American Enemies in the Symbolic Politics of the Cold War: Comparative Analysis”.

Received

02.12.2020

Publication date

02.08.2021

Number of characters

19421

Cite

GOST	Kleshchenko L. Cuba in Soviet and American Cold War cinema. Comparative analysis // Latin America – 2021. – Issue 8 C. 92-101 [Electronic resource]. URL: https://latamerica-journal.ru/S0044748X0012853-7-1 (circulation date: 23.04.2024). DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0012853-7
MLA	Kleshchenko, Lyudmila "Cuba in Soviet and American Cold War cinema. Comparative analysis." Latin America 8 (2021):92-101. DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0012853-7
APA	Kleshchenko L. (2021). Cuba in Soviet and American Cold War cinema. Comparative analysis. Latin America (8), pp.92-101 DOI: 10.31857/S0044748X0012853-7

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