Arts and Literature of Cuba

son was an infant, and Carpentier always identified as a Cuban. He received a first- rate education in private schools and graduated from the University of Havana. Carpentier would spend most of the rest of his life over- seas. In 1928, after being jailed for his opposition to the dicta- torship of Gerardo Machado, Carpentier fled to France. He spent more than a decade in Paris before moving back to Havana in 1939. He lived in

Alejo Carpentier had a strong influence on the literature of Latin America during the 20th century.

Venezuela from 1945 until 1959, when the Cuban Revolution— of which he was an enthusiastic supporter—swept away the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista. And, from 1966 until his death in 1980, Carpentier again lived in Paris, serving Fidel Castro’s government as Cuba’s ambassador to France. Carpentier was a man of great intellect and wide interests. He was fascinated by Afro-Cuban culture, which he incorporat- ed into opera librettos and ballet pieces he created. He wrote plays, essays, and literary criticism. His meticulous study of Cuban music, La música en Cuba (1946), is considered a mas- terpiece of musical scholarship. But Carpentier is best known for his works of fiction, which deal with themes like violence and revolution; history, time, and the nature of reality; and modern versus traditional worldviews.

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