THE RELEVANT QUEER: Severo Sarduy, Writer, Artist and Critic

“I write in an attempt to become normal, to be like everybody else, even though it’s obvious I am not.”

TRQ: Severo Sarduy, Born February 25, 1937

Writer and critic Severo Sarduy, regarded as one of the 20th Century’s most brilliant writers, was born in Camagüey, Cuba. Interested in science at an early age, Sarduy was top of his class in high school. 

Sarduy moved to Havana to study medicine but chose instead to pursue a career in the arts. He wrote poetry, painted, and his social circle included writers José Rodríguez Feo and José Lezama Lima. In 1960, the Cuban government awarded Sarduy a scholarship to study art in Paris at the École du Louvre. 

Because of Castro’s persecution of homosexuality and censorship of Cuban writers, however, Sarduy never returned to Cuba. In Paris, Sarduy connected himself to intellectuals responsible for publishing the magazine Tel Quel. He also began a relationship with one of the group’s philosophers, François Wahl. At the College de France, Roland Barthes held seminars on language and structuralism, which Sarduy appropriated into his writing approach. 

Sarduy’s work evidences his passion for both the arts and science, the creative and the analytical. In his poetry and novels, Sarduy often writes about male homosexuality and transvestism. 

Sarduy’s first novel, Gestos, was published in 1963. In 1967, he published De Donde Son los Cantantes?, which was praised by Barthes as an entirely new form of novel in which Sarduy had developed a new of way of handling words. Unfortunately, Sarduy’s work did not appeal to the general public. His novels are described as difficult and require close attention. 

At the same time, Sarduy remained actively interested in genetics, astronomy, and chaos theory. For Radio France Internationale he wrote science essays and radio programmes. Sarduy was one the first the first to introduce the Big Bang to the general public. 

In 1991, Sarduy published his last novel, Para que Nadie Sepa que Tengo Miedo (“So that No One May Know I am Afraid”). Here, he deploys his characteristic humour and fantasy to write about his long struggle against AIDS. Sarduy used his writing as therapy to “to make myself well.” 

Severo Sarduy died on June 8, 1993. Able to reunite only twice outside of the country, his family relate that Sarduy longed to see Cuba again. Sarduy remained in contact with his family throughout his life, telling them of his writing and art exhibits in Paris. Sadly, they only learned of his death when a cousin living in the United States called to offer condolences, two days later. 

Posthumously, Sarduy’s autobiography was published in 1993. In Pájaros de la Playa (“Beach Fowl”), Sarduy writes about a sanatorium for those suffering with AIDS. 

About the Authors

Troy Wise is currently a PhD student at UAL Central St Martins and teaches fashion and graphic design at London College of Contemporary Arts. His background is in marketing and is founder and co-editor of Image Amplified. He lives in, and is continually fascinated by, the city of London.

Rick Guzman earned his most recent MA at UAL Central St Martins in Applied Imagination in the Creative Industries. He currently holds two MA’s and an MBA in the New Media, Journalism and International Business fields. Co-editor at Image Amplified since its start, he lives in London, is fascinated by history and is motivated by continuing to learn and explore. 

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Sources:

Britannica

Gay Cuban Nation

The Independent

Letras Libres