Intimations of Modernity

Civil Culture in Nineteenth-Century Cuba

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, Caribbean & West Indian, Nonfiction, History, Americas, Latin America, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science
Cover of the book Intimations of Modernity by Louis A. Pérez, The University of North Carolina Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Louis A. Pérez ISBN: 9781469631318
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press Publication: January 11, 2017
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press Language: English
Author: Louis A. Pérez
ISBN: 9781469631318
Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
Publication: January 11, 2017
Imprint: The University of North Carolina Press
Language: English

Louis A. Perez Jr.'s new history of nineteenth-century Cuba chronicles in fascinating detail the emergence of an urban middle class that was imbued with new knowledge and moral systems. Fostering innovative skills and technologies, these Cubans became deeply implicated in an expanding market culture during the boom in sugar production and prior to independence. Contributing to the cultural history of capitalism in Latin America, Perez argues that such creoles were cosmopolitans with powerful transnational affinities and an abiding identification with modernity. This period of Cuban history is usually viewed through a political lens, but Perez, here emphasizing the character of everyday life within the increasingly fraught colonial system, shows how moral, social, and cultural change that resulted from market forces also contributed to conditions leading to the collapse of the Spanish colonial administration.

Perez highlights women's centrality in this process, showing how criollas adapted to new modes of self-representation as a means of self-fulfillment. Increasing opportunities for middle-class women's public presence and social participation was both cause and consequence of expanding consumerism and of women's challenges to prevailing gender hierarchies. Seemingly simple actions--riding a bicycle, for example, or deploying the abanico, the fan, in different ways--exposed how traditional systems of power and privilege clashed with norms of modernity and progress.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Louis A. Perez Jr.'s new history of nineteenth-century Cuba chronicles in fascinating detail the emergence of an urban middle class that was imbued with new knowledge and moral systems. Fostering innovative skills and technologies, these Cubans became deeply implicated in an expanding market culture during the boom in sugar production and prior to independence. Contributing to the cultural history of capitalism in Latin America, Perez argues that such creoles were cosmopolitans with powerful transnational affinities and an abiding identification with modernity. This period of Cuban history is usually viewed through a political lens, but Perez, here emphasizing the character of everyday life within the increasingly fraught colonial system, shows how moral, social, and cultural change that resulted from market forces also contributed to conditions leading to the collapse of the Spanish colonial administration.

Perez highlights women's centrality in this process, showing how criollas adapted to new modes of self-representation as a means of self-fulfillment. Increasing opportunities for middle-class women's public presence and social participation was both cause and consequence of expanding consumerism and of women's challenges to prevailing gender hierarchies. Seemingly simple actions--riding a bicycle, for example, or deploying the abanico, the fan, in different ways--exposed how traditional systems of power and privilege clashed with norms of modernity and progress.

More books from The University of North Carolina Press

Cover of the book Sherman's Civil War by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Building Houses out of Chicken Legs by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Revolutions Revisited by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Islam without Europe by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Vergil's Eclogues by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Freedom Farmers by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Modern Food, Moral Food by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Who Is Allah? by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Sexuality, Politics, and Social Control in Virginia, 1920-1945 by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Burying the Dead but Not the Past by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Quantitative Methods for Historians by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book And Muhammad Is His Messenger by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book Southscapes by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book More of Roy Underhill’s The Woodwright’s Shop Classic Collection, Omnibus Ebook by Louis A. Pérez
Cover of the book American Opinion and the Russian Alliance, 1939-1945 by Louis A. Pérez
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy