El Apellido Nicolas Guillen English Translation
Before diving into the English translation of "El apellido," we must understand the poet. Nicolás Guillén (1902–1989) was born in Camagüey, Cuba, a nation with a massive population of African descent. Despite Cuba’s mixed-race identity, systemic racism pushed Black Cubans to the margins.
Guillén’s genius was in blending European poetic forms (like the sonnet) with African rhythms and vernacular speech. "El apellido" belongs to his 1964 collection Tengo ("I Have"), a book written after the Cuban Revolution. In this poem, Guillén tackles a deeply personal yet collective wound: the loss of African ancestry through the brutal erasure of slavery.
The poem’s central conflict: Guillén knows his Spanish surname (given to his ancestors by colonizers), but he does not know his true African surname. This absence becomes a symbol of cultural genocide.
When diving into the rich waters of Afro-Cuban poetry, one name stands as a titan: Nicolás Guillén. A central figure of the Negrismo movement, Guillén used sonorous rhythms, onomatopoeia, and sharp social critique to give a voice to the African diaspora in the Caribbean. el apellido nicolas guillen english translation
Among his most referenced and studied works is the poem "El apellido" (translated as "The Last Name" or "The Surname"). For students, scholars, and poetry lovers searching for the "el apellido nicolas guillen english translation," this article provides a complete, side-by-side translation, a breakdown of its historical context, and an analysis of why this poem remains a cornerstone of post-colonial literature.
If you are looking for a published version of “el apellido” in English, note that several exist. The most respected are by Roberto Márquez (in The Great Zoo / El gran zoo) and David Frye. Márquez tends to keep line breaks intact, while Frye prioritizes natural English syntax. The translation above is original to this article but follows the Márquez school of thought: respect the original’s breath and repetition.
Pro tip for citation: Always credit the translator. If you use this article’s translation, cite as “Anonymous translation, 2024” or seek permission for academic publication. Before diving into the English translation of "El
Not knowing his African surname means not knowing his lineage, his tribe, his history. The poem is an elegy for a specific loss but also a metaphor for the destruction of African family structures under slavery.
Before examining the translation, one must understand the weight of a "last name" in the context of the African slave trade.
Nicolás Guillén was born in Camagüey, Cuba, in 1902. His mixed-race heritage (African and Spanish) placed him in the complex racial hierarchy of early 20th-century Cuba. While Cuba had officially abolished slavery in 1886, systemic racism, cultural erasure, and economic disparity persisted. When diving into the rich waters of Afro-Cuban
"El apellido" is a lament. The speaker (presumably Guillén himself, or a persona representing the disenfranchised Black Cuban) realizes that his surname—Guillén—comes from a Spanish slave owner, not from his African ancestors. He has no way of knowing his true last name: the one from the Yoruba, Kongo, or Arará tribes his great-grandparents were ripped from.
The poem asks a devastating question: What is my real name?
