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Nicolás Guillén

ニコラス・ギジェン

Nicolas Guillen

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1902-07-10 （Camagüey, Cuba）
Died
1989-07-16 （Havana, Cuba） age 87
Nationality
Cuban
Languages
Spanish
Residence History
Camagüey (birthplace) → Havana (long-term residence) → Chile (1953–1958: exile) → Various countries in South America, China and Europe (travels)

Career

Occupations
poet, journalist, political activist
Active Years
1920-1989
Affiliations
Popular Socialist Party (Communist Party), National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (president from 1961)
Memberships
Popular Socialist Party (Cuba), National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba
Influenced By
Langston Hughes, Afro-Cuban musical traditions (son, rumba), Marxist/socialist thought
Influenced
Later Cuban poets such as Nancy Morejón, The movement of Afro-Latin American poetry

Education

University of Havana
Faculty of Law / Law
Period: 1920年代（在学・学業中断）
Country: Cuba
Studied law but did not pursue a legal career; moved into typography, journalism and poetry.

Awards

Stalin Peace Prize
1954
Organization: Stalin Peace Prize (USSR)
Result: 受賞
Musgrave Medal (literature)
1974
Organization: Institute of Jamaica
Result: 受賞
International Botev Prize
1976
Organization: International Botev Prize committee
Result: 受賞
National Prize for Literature (Cuba)
1983
Organization: Cuban cultural institutions
Result: 初代受賞者

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Motivos de son

1930 Poetry

A collection of short poems incorporating Afro-Cuban speech and the rhythms of son; established Guillén's reputation and foregrounded Afro-Cuban culture.

Afro-Cuban cultureraceracial and cultural mestizaje

Sóngoro cosongo

1931 Poetry

Uses the rhythm of son and onomatopoeia to depict Afro-Cuban life and struggles; a major poetic statement by Guillén.

music and poetryracial tensionseveryday expression
Adaptations
  • [Music (symphonic composition)] Sensemayá (symphonic composition)

West Indies, Ltd.

1934 Poetry (political)

A volume with overt political implications, critiquing imperialism and social injustice.

anti-imperialismsocial critiquepolitical poetry

España: poema en cuatro angustias y una esperanza

1937 Poetry

Poems related to the Spanish Civil War addressing themes of war, solidarity and hope.

Spanish Civil Warsolidaritywar and hope

Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas

1937 Poetry (political/social)

A series of poems reflecting Guillén's growing political commitment.

political protestsocial injustice

El son entero

1947 Poetry

A collection that continues the exploration of son as a poetic form and Afro-Cuban identity.

music and identitycultural exploration

Bibliography

  • Motivos de son (1930)
  • Sóngoro cosongo (1931)
  • West Indies, Ltd. (1934)
  • España: poema en cuatro angustias y una esperanza (1937)
  • Cantos para soldados y sones para turistas (1937)
  • El son entero (1947)
  • Elegías (1948–1958)
  • Tengo (1964)
  • Poemas de amor (1964)
  • El gran zoo (1967)

Adaptations

  • Sensemayá, a symphonic work by Silvestre Revueltas, is based on Guillén's poem of the same name.

Translations of Works

  • Cuba libré (in English, translated by Langston Hughes and Ben Frederic Carruthers)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Musical, oral poetic style incorporating son rhythms and onomatopoeiaFusion of negrista (black poetry) expression and political messaging
Recurring Motifs
Afro-Cuban music and rhythmrace and mestizajeworkers' and people's lives

Health

  • Parkinson's disease
    晩年（1980年代）
    Condition progressed in later years and was a contributing factor to his death in 1989.

Legacy

Regarded as Cuba's national poet for foregrounding Afro-Cuban culture in literature; a leading figure in Afro-Latin American poetry known for blending political commitment with musical poetic forms.

Museums

  • Fundación Guillén Havana, Cuba (details unspecified)

Academic Societies

  • National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba (Unión Nacional de Escritores de Cuba)

Archives

  • Nicolás Guillén Papers (University of Miami, Cuban Heritage Collection)

In Popular Culture

  • The poem 'Sensemayá' was set as a symphonic work by Silvestre Revueltas and became widely known.

Quotes

  • “The son is the expression of the national spirit.”
    Source: Angel Aguier, commentary in Man-Making Words: Selected Poems of Nicolás Guillén (1972)

Trivia

  • His father, a printer and journalist, was assassinated for protesting electoral fraud.
  • Contact with Langston Hughes in 1930 strongly influenced Guillén's poetic use of son rhythms.
  • Was refused re-entry to Cuba in 1953 and spent about five years in exile.
  • Inaugural winner of Cuba's National Prize for Literature in 1983.
  • His nephew was documentary/experimental filmmaker Nicolás Guillén Landrián.