656
PARTISAN REVIEW
1961). Scott Nearing, another steady supporter of the Soviet Union, also
professed to be very favorably impressed by Cuba in his book,
Making ofa
Radical.
Corliss Lamont, one of the most persistent pro-Soviet fellow
travellers, and incidentally also a political activist of sorts, subsequently came
to admire China; Anna Louis Strong relocated from the Soviet Union to
China in a most tangible demonstration of her shift in loyalties. The list could
easily be extended. It is also relevant here to point out that the younger
generation of committed new left activists whom Caute differentiate from the
old-style fellow travellers were in many instances "red diaper babies,"
children of old-left, pro-Soviet parents. Thus, if it was the discontinuity
between old and new left that dissuaded Caute in the first place from
discussing pro-Cuban (and other, non-Soviet) forms offellow travelling, it was
in many ways a questionable distinction. But, on the other hand, if he still
believes that the classical fellow traveller was a distinct species, then why
add the new breed of sympathizers?
It
would seem that the omission of Cuba from the first edition of the
book may have had more tangible reasons: the ambivalent sympathies of
the author himself. While not in the same class as other favorably predis–
posed Western political tourists, Caute too had a soft spot for Cuba which
self-irony could not obliterate: "For how many years have I sworn to make
this holy pilgrimage to the new Mecca of permanent revolution....."and so
on, he wrote facetiously in a book about his own tour of the island
ambiguously entitled
Cuba, Yes?
(1974). This book goes unmentioned in the
new edition of
The Fellow Travellers;
neither in the preface, nor in the
chapter on Cuba is there any reference to the author's own experiences and
earlier views of that country, or to their revision, and if so, the grounds for
the reassessment. The only reference to
Cuba, Yes?
is buried in a note
constituting the source of the views of a Cuban academic official quoted in the
text.
Although while touring Cuba Caute did not suffer the total suspension
of disbelief and even argued with the official guides, his skepticism often fal–
tered. For example, he recalled his feelings after witnessing a gigantic
demonstration organized by the government: "For us, Cuba has suddenly
fulfilled her promise and we too are happy." The "we too" was made in ref–
erence to the Cuban participants in the demonstration who were described as
"euphorically happy and proud." While he noted that the mass spectacle in
question was organized by the government, he still saw it as a bona fide
"demonstration of solidarity," "dreamlike and elusive." He was also
persuaded that "almost every Cuban regards himself as Fidel's
companero.".
and totally identifies with the political system-an observation hardly better
informed than many of those he justifiably ridiculed in
The Fellow Travellers.
