The Rhetoric of Fidel Castro: Ideographs in the Service of Revolutionaries

Abstract

This article discusses the rhetoric of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. Examining Castro's 1961 address to the writers and artists of Cuba "Words to the Intellectuals," the author argues that Castro can be understood as developing ideographs in support of an ideology, identified by others as Castroism. Castro's use of ideographs and efforts at constituting a revolutionary identity for artists and writers is argued to be a rhetorical ideology fusing nationalism, Marxism-Leninism, and a revolutionary spirit. This article also demonstrates how, in an unsettled moment, a rhetor can emerge to provide a new cultural and political identity while articulating a new ideology. Castro's text operates as a key element in his efforts to craft a new revolutionary identity for Cubans in the postrevolution phase.