Novelas originales y americanas

Relationships between literary texts, identity constitution, and genre are explored in this digital analysis of 19th century Spanish American novels from Mexico, Argentina, and Cuba, of their subgenres, and their function in the formation of collective identities, starting from references to identity which were found in the subtitles of the novels. In particular, the label “novela original”, as well as identity references that can be subsumed under the terms “novela americana”, “novela mexicana”, “novela argentina”, and “novela cubana” are analyzed. It is found that each type of identity novel, that is, novels with explicit references to a linguistic, cultural, or national context in their subtitle, has its own characteristics. There is not the one genre, theme, or style that serves to represent and constitute identity, but there are forms that are specific for each case, a result which corresponds with findings from memory studies on group-defining stories.