Literature in the Construction of ‘Cuban Identity’, 1823-1845

Abstract

The main aim of this article is to discuss some of the characteristics of the identity project constructed by the Cuban liberal autonomists’ group during the transition from the Ancien Régime to liberalism. This faction was made up of both intellectuals and members of the Havana sugar oligarchy. Their purpose was to work for a better position for the island within the framework of the Spanish liberal state in construction throughout the first decades of the nineteenth century. Due to censorship, the faction could not use political speech making to achieve its aims. This meant that the group had to look for an alternative way to express its ideas, and literature became the weapon.