Cuentos de La Habana Elegante

Cuentos de La Habana Elegante rescues the first short‑story collection ever published in Cuba (1887), originally issued by the literary magazine La Habana Elegante. Nineteen authors contribute one narrative each, including major figures such as Cirilo Villaverde (author of Cecilia Valdés), Justo de Lara, Ramón Meza, and Enrique Hernández Miyares.

The volume is both **literary and historical**: it captures the emergence of a new narrative form and a new sensitivity—linked to late Romanticism and early **modernismo**—while reflecting a society marked by **colonial tensions, the aftermath of the Ten Years’ War, and the approach of the 1895 independence struggle**.

The introduction by Jorge Camacho situates these stories within the broader field of nineteenth‑century Cuban literature and journalism. He highlights:

• The role of La Habana Elegante as a key modernista magazine and forum for writers like Casal and Martí.
• The foundational status of this 1887 collection in the history of the Cuban short story.
• The interplay between aesthetics (color, rhythm, art, myth) and politics (honor, duels, slavery, independence).

For classroom use, Cuentos de La Habana Elegante is an excellent primary text for introductory courses on Cuban culture and literature, nineteenth‑century Latin American narrative, and the transition from Romanticism to modernismo.