In an essay written in 1928, the Peruvian radical intellectual José Carlos Maríategui reflected on literary nationalism:

In recent decades the concept of the nation has been under scrutiny in ways similar to Mariátegui’s critique. But in Spanish America, the creation of nations is inextricably intertwined with literarydevelopment, and no single historical narrative can account for the multiple developments in the literary sphere. National political projects shaped historiography as well as the history and concept of literature because, despite similarities of language and formation within the Spanish heritage, vast geographic extensions and striking cultural differences made Spanish America difficult to conceive without national categories. The dominance of the national framework did not, however, preclude other visions of the future. From the early years of the nineteenth century, independence leaders like Francisco de Miranda and Simón Bolívar envisioned a unified Spanish America joined together by a common linguistic and occidental cultural heritage.