SEÑORAS DE LA TRADICIÓN. MUJERES FOLKLORISTAS EN CUBA.

Abstract

In the history of Cuban anthropology, little attention has been paid to several women who have, nevertheless, obtained professional recognition from the international academic community. Calixta Guiteras Holmes is one such case, with her unique characters. Another less known but equally relevant woman was Carolina Poncet de Cárdenas, who formed a generation of highly active female pedagogues and folklorists. A different place is required to situate the life and work of a person who could be considered the modern founder of studies on Afro-Cuban religions, the writer and anthropologist Lydia Cabrera, who has only recently begun to be acknowledged by intellectual circles in official Cuban culture. An examination of these three figures is undertaken, and their contributions to anthropology are analyzed, opposing the hegemonic account of the history of science where the role of founders has generally been attributed to men. Likewise, the issues of institutional visibility and continuity and the lines of research in the Cuban academic world dedicated to anthropology and folklore are discussed, with the ultimate goal of bringing the contributions of these women researchers to the fore.