Introduction

Abstract

The introduction sets up two of the book’s primary objectives. First, it establishes the concept of diversión as a necessary affective complement to Cuban American Studies and Latina/o Studies more broadly in its emphasis on the vital role of laughter and play in quotidian life. Diversión is both a popular culture form and a means to describe its enactment—the performative repertoire of cubanía captured in gesticulation, word choice, tone, and speech patterns. Instead of focusing solely on the pain, anger, and sadness usually used to describe the Cuban diaspora in the United States, the introduction lays out the critical possibilities in ludic popular culture forms like standup comedy, festivals, television, and social media. Also included is a discussion of how diversión can be a means to reify and challenge normative discourse around race and sexuality. Second, it details how the Cuban diaspora has undergone massive demographic, political, and generational shifts since the 1990s and how the concept of diversión is especially useful for understanding these changes. Though the book focuses primarily on the twenty-first century, the introduction details an extensive archive of Cuban diasporic diversión extending back to the late nineteenth century.

Landscape Routes as an Infrastructural Core of Cultural Landscapes; Their Distinctive Role for The Character of Region

“…It is inscribed in the image of places no less clearly than villages or towns [3]. Undoubtedly, the strongest tradition of landscape roads originates in the United States, where the system of National Scenic Byways is developed [4].…”

“…Presence of greens is always perceived as pleasant and relaxing [9]. However, the most positive response is given to the types of views that combine culture and nature: the characteristic for the place elements introduced by man into the natural environment, including the mid-field stone walls in the New England [5] or roadside avenues, complemented with regional architecture in Warmia and Masuria [3,14,15,16] Although the views seen from the road are fundamental in assessment of scenic route, this is not the only aspect to consider when experiencing and evaluating the specific road by its participant. Recreational infrastructure along the route, including the location of cafes, toilets, campgrounds and viewpoints [1], the quality of road itself: the condition of care and surface [13], the quality of the road itself, the condition of the road and care, but also its composition, course and correlation with surroundings also allows for the full appreciation of the landscape route.…”