ABSTRACT
The literary movement of the nineteenth century made astounding advances in laying the foundations for a national literary tradition, despite the agonizing history of the literary journals and the tremendous effort involved in publication. It is important to bear in mind that until the end of the century, Cuban literary culture could not be openly manifested on the island and in fact had few direct legal channels to society. A Spaniard by birth, Varela became one of the most influential figures in the cultural life of the colony due to his accessibility to a wide audience and popularity as an educator, philosopher and advocate of the colonies’ right to independence. Over the course of the nineteenth century the battle for Cuban culture was waged among the literate minority, a minority distributed between the literati, the university and the sugar elite.
