Introduction

The character of the history of Cuba was fixed early in the nineteenth century, at the about moment that Cubans imagined the need for a proper history of their own. From that time forward, historical knowledge of Cuba has hewed to a well-defined narrative arc, one shaped discursively around the formation of nation, something of a chronicle of national liberation given principally to the celebration of collective resolve and commemoration of individual valor. Much of the historical literature has been given to the heroic, an account of a people to whom is ascribed indomitable will confronting adversaries possessed of unyielding determination, from which are derived two principal narrative subsets of struggle: against colonialism (Spain) and against imperialism (the United States)....

Prologue to Perdition

Chapter five explores the societal backlash against the social and moral changes occurring in Cuban society, especially as it related to the growing presence and agency of women. The traditional value systems had fallen into disarray, and as a result, as Pérez writes, “A misogynist mood settled over the body social.” The chapter shows how those resistant to women’s agency deployed the concept of the coquetería, or coquet, to rebuke and decry the modern woman. The narrative of the coquet was used as a means of retaining social control. The chapter goes on to explore how new leisure pastimes, such as music, dancing, and time spent in salons and cafes, revealed social tensions, often creating public uproars and consternation. The chapter ends with an analysis of how gender distinctions, including conceptions of masculinity, began to unravel, leading to new freedoms and deepening anxieties.

Epilogue

Middle-class Cubans in the nineteenth century had developed the capacity to admire themselves, a self-assurance inscribed in the very ethos by which an emerging social class advanced its claim to ascendancy. These developments implied a heightened confidence in the authority to act in common in the pursuit of collective interests: developments occurring at a time when the propriety of Cuban was gaining currency as a matter of cultural displacement and moral deportment, when pretensions to being a separate people were enacted through multiple forms of social differentiation. Successive generations of Cubans had crossed into new realms of self-awareness, in part political, to be sure, but also moral and cultural, reaching deeply into those interior spaces where a people accept as a matter of a shared conviction the need to exert their claim to agency and exercise the prerogative of choice as a way to situate themselves as subjects of history in narratives of their own making. The habit of volition had taken hold as a facet of far-reaching cultural shifts, a deepening consciousness of the authority of agency within an emerging moral system formed to accommodate the cosmology of Cuban....

Mellow Effulgence

This chapter explores the changes created by market forces, economic expansion, and increased consumption that impacted the daily lives of Cubans all across the island. The chapter shows how the increasing sense of Cuban identity led to a growing estrangement with Spain that would result in the inevitable dissolution of colonial rule. The chapter also highlights the increasing presence of women in public life, along with their growing sense of agency. The chapter specifically looks at the increase of women as writers and readers, a means through which new social concepts were spread. The chapter ends by returning to the fan and its role in the evolving social structures and changing gender norms.

To Advance the Course of Progress Forward

This chapter continues to explore the effects of economic growth and modernisation on Cuban society. Increased social mobility, especially among the Creole population, is one consequence. Physical mobility also improved, allowing Cubans to travel more easily within and beyond their country. The more Cubans saw of Europe and America, they more they became discontent with the limitations of colonial rule. Many Cubans of this period sent their children abroad to be educated, often in America, because Spain could not meet their needs when it came to new fields of learning and new bodies of knowledge. The chapter discusses how this, as well as consumer culture and an influx of good from outside the country, led to an evolving, less Spain-centric, Cuban identity.

The Perfection of Acting

This chapter explores the abanico, or fan, in Cuban culture. This fans, popular in much of the world, became ubiquitous fashion accessories for women during this period in Cuba. In part, the suffocating heat of Cuban summers lead to the fan’s popularity. What a tourist might consider a quaint souvenir proved indispensable for many Cubans. Havana had several abanciquerías: speciality shops devoted exclusively to the sale of fans. The chapter also notes how these fans allowed women a means through which to create privacy—a shield of sorts—behind which women could come together, share secrets, and create a sense of community.

To Diffuse the Light of Civilization

This chapter describes the rapid modernization of Cuba, which resulted from increased production and trade following the Haitian revolution and Spain’s authorization of free trade. Drawing on a variety of sources, the chapter explores the emergence of Havana as one of the world’s most important and active ports of trade, and the economic boom’s consequences for the city and country as a whole. From technological advancements, including the telephone, gas street lights, and steam powered machinery, to cultural enrichments of literary, artistic, and social dimensions, Cuba entered modernity well of ahead of its colonial overseers in Spain. The chapter comes alive with first-hand accounts of Havana’s thronging port, bustling streets, and thriving social scene.