To Die in Cuba

To Die in Cuba
By:Louis A. Pérez Jr.
Published on 2012-12-01 by UNC Press Books

For much of the nineteenth century and all of the twentieth, the per capita rate of suicide in Cuba was the highest in Latin America and among the highest in the world--a condition made all the more extraordinary in light of Cuba's historic ties to the Catholic church. In this richly illustrated social and cultural history of suicide in Cuba, Louis A. Perez Jr. explores the way suicide passed from the unthinkable to the unremarkable in Cuban society. In a study that spans the experiences of enslaved Africans and indentured Chinese in the colony, nationalists of the twentieth-century republic, and emigrants from Cuba to Florida following the 1959 revolution, Perez finds that the act of suicide was loaded with meanings that changed over time. Analyzing the social context of suicide, he argues that in addition to confirming despair, suicide sometimes served as a way to consecrate patriotism, affirm personal agency, or protest injustice. The act was often seen by suicidal persons and their contemporaries as an entirely reasonable response to circumstances of affliction, whether economic, political, or social. Bringing an important historical perspective to the study of suicide, Perez offers a valuable new understanding of the strategies with which vast numbers of people made their way through life--if only to choose to end it. To Die in Cuba ultimately tells as much about Cubans' lives, culture, and society as it does about their self-inflicted deaths.

This Book was ranked at 8 by Google Books for keyword Leverage in Death.

Book ID of To Die in Cuba's Books is h74EAwAAQBAJ, Book which was written byLouis A. Pérez Jr.

Book which was published by UNC Press Books since 2012-12-01 have ISBNs, ISBN 13 Code is 9781469608747 and ISBN 10 Code is 146960874X

Book which have "480 Pages" is Printed at BOOK under CategorySocial Science

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