Nicolas Guillen English Translation: El Apellido
The struggle to translate "El apellido" is a direct reflection of the struggle within the poem for self-definition. The act of naming—or refusing to be named by others—is the central political and existential act. The question “What is your name?” is not a simple one; it is a mandate imposed by society. Guillén’s speaker has been given a name that represents only half of his heritage, and he demands to know the other half that was stolen.
This story is a prose adaptation by Guillén of the themes in his famous poem "El apellido" (from the collection El son entero , 1947), where he explores the loss of African identity and surnames due to slavery. The version above reflects Guillén's narrative style and central message.
The search for is not just a linguistic query—it is a search for identity. Guillén’s poem transcends Cuba. It speaks to every descendant of the African diaspora who carries a colonizer’s name in Brazil, the United States, Jamaica, or Haiti.
By searching for his own name, Guillén speaks for millions of descendants of the transatlantic slave trade. The "family elegy" expands from a personal lament into a collective mourning for an entire uprooted diaspora. Famous Excerpts: Spanish vs. English el apellido nicolas guillen english translation
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Guillén once wrote: "El negro en Cuba… tiene un apellido español. Eso es violento. Esa es una herida abierta." ("The Black person in Cuba… has a Spanish last name. That is violent. That is an open wound.") This poem is the suturing of that wound through language.
The poem is structured around a series of urgent, unanswerable questions. This technique forces the reader—and the translator—to sit with the discomfort of historical amnesia. The English version maintains this interrogative tone to preserve the poem's confrontational nature. 3. Imagery of Nature vs. Colonization The struggle to translate "El apellido" is a
"Do you know my other last name, the one that comes from that immense land, the bloody, captured last name that crossed the sea in chains?"
"El Apellido" by Nicolás Guillén: English Translation, Context, and Analysis
Guillén compares his last name to a scar and a stolen ring. For English readers, think of Native American renaming or African slaves given English/Portuguese names. The poem universalizes the trauma of forced naming. Guillén’s speaker has been given a name that
“Will it return from the root of fallen trees? / ...from nothingness?”
Guillén uses powerful imagery to connect his family history to both Africa and Spain. He speaks of his "geography filled with dark mountains", a direct allusion to the African ancestry that was suppressed. He reconciles this with the European, Spanish side of his bloodline, creating a new, combined identity. 2.3. Transculturation and Identity
Words related to Cuban history, racial mixing ( mestizaje ), and African religious traditions do not always have direct English equivalents.