Desde El lado frío de la almohada: la izquierda española imagina la revolución cubana

Abstract

This article analyses the controversial role that the Cuban revolution plays in the imaginary of some sectors of the Spanish radical left, through a contextualized reading of El lado frío de la almohada, by Belén Gopegui (b. Barcelona, 1963). In a historical process that begins before the Spanish Civil War, the repression, neutralization, and trivialization of the extreme left have given Cuba a central role in locating utopian desire in a remote country that arguably has a strong kinship with Spain. The publishing boom of Cuban books in Spain, aided by political and economic factors, as well as the tradition and popularity of detective and spy novels in both countries, have caused Belén Gopegui's novel to be a great success. However, one can question whether the author achieves her stated political objectives; note her difficulties in spinning a narrative driven almost exclusively by ideology; and wonder whether the appropriate approach to the Cuban revolution on the part of Spanish intellectuals should emanate from their own collective imaginary, especially if the latter enacts a self-projection approximating to a neocolonial fantasy.