Hispanicism and Early US Literature: Spain, Mexico, Cuba, and the Origins of US National Identity

Contends that representations of Spain, Spanish America, Spanishness, and Spanish Americanness are integral elements in the evolution of early national and antebellum US literature. John C. Havard argues that Spanish-speaking countries have long held a broad fascination for Americans and that stock narratives regarding these peoples were central to the period's US literature.