Political, Racial, and Cultural Emancipation: Caribbean Periodicals of the 1930s and 40s

Authors

  • María Elena Oliva Universidad de Chile
  • Thomas Rothe Universidad de Playa Ancha

Keywords:

Caribbean press, El Combate, The Atlantic Voice, The Beacon, Adelante

Abstract

Periodicals offer a useful space to study developments and ruptures of written production at a specific historical moment of the cultural field. In this article, we are interested in analyzing four editorial projects (two newspapers and two magazines) that circulated in the Anglophone and Spanish-speaking Caribbean during the 1930s and 1940s, to identify the discourses and positions Black intellectuals occupied in the literary space. The corpus includes El Combate (Caguas, 1925-1967), The Atlantic Voice (Puerto Limón, 1934-1946), The Beacon (Port of Spain, 1931-1933/1939), and
Adelante (Havana, 1935-1939), publications quite different in and of themselves, but which, analyzed together help outline common topics dealt with during the period. Specifically, we focus on three main aspects: the debates over political emancipation, racial consciousness, and the growing sense of regional belonging. Our discussion seeks to locate each publication within the Caribbean cultural field and analyze how these shared aspects are presented in their pages.

Author Biographies

María Elena Oliva, Universidad de Chile

PhD in Latin American Studies from the University of Chile, where she currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the Center for Latin American Cultural Studies (CECLA). Her research focuses on Afro-Latin American studies, particularly on intellectual production and Afro thought, as well as on Caribbean history and thought. She is the author of Escrituras de la afrodescendencia. Debates y trayectorias de la intelectualidad negra/afrodescendiente en el siglo XX latinoamericano (Ediciones Universidad Alberto Hurtado, 2024). She recently completed the Fondecyt Initiation Research Project No. 11220150, titled “Black/Afro Press in Latin America during the 20th Century: Racial, Diasporic, and Political Dimensions of Publications in Newspapers and Magazines by Afrodescendant Intellectuals.”

Thomas Rothe, Universidad de Playa Ancha

PhD in Literature from the University of Chile. Currently an associate professor at the University of Playa Ancha in Valparaíso, Chile. His research areas include Latin American and Caribbean literature, with a focus on translation, periodical publications, and cultural history. He is the principal investigator of the FONDECYT Postdoctoral Project No. 3230185, “Insular and Cosmopolitan: Translation in Cultural Magazines of the Hispanic Caribbean during the First Half of the 20th Century.” Member of the Research Group on Thought, Memory, Gender, and Human Rights.

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Periódicos

El Combate, Caguas, Puerto Rico: Valentín Castrillo, 1925-1967

La Voz del Atlántico/The Atlantic Voice, Puerto Limón, Costa Rica: Publicidad Panamericana, S.A., 1934-1946

Revistas

Adelante, La Habana, Cuba: Asociación Adelante, 1935-1939.

The Beacon, Port of Spain, Trinidad: Albert Gomes, 1931-1933/1939.

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Published

2025-06-17

Issue

No. 44 (2025): July-December

Section

Monographic: Afro-Caribbean Sea Letters

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