Dirty money? The politics of representation in Cuban revolutionary banknotes. Issue 2 (26th May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cabrera Arús, María A.
• Is Part Of: Visual studies. Volume 35:Issue 2/3(2020)
• Page Start: 124
• Page End: 135
• Publication Date: 2020-05-26
• Subjects: Visual perception -- Periodicals; Visual anthropology -- Periodicals; Visual sociology -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1080/1472586X.2020.1770624
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1472-586X

Abstract

Abstract : This article examines the visual politics of Cuban postrevolutionary banknotes, focusing on the series minted in 1961. It is argued that the iconography of this series – which stresses the revolutionary merits of Fidel Castro and his movement, and associates the latter with the independence wars – portrays the Castro-led Cuban Revolution as the fulfilment of the nation's aspiration to sovereignty. The article maintains that the design of the 1961 banknote series articulates tropes that convey a fidelista imaginary, presenting the visual rhetoric of currencies as a mechanism of propaganda and persuasion.