Essay

Since their arrival in the late 19th century until its momentum in the 20th century, essays, particularly historical essays, have been very popular among readers in the Dominican Republic. Novels and essays are the most commonly read narratives in the country. Since Dominican intellectuals started publishing political essays written by promoters of the independent movement, supporters of the conservative agenda and the restoration advocates, essay, as a narrative form, has benefitted from a large educated audience and renowned international scholars such as don Pedro Henríquez Ureña, founder of both, the Dominican and the Hispanic American modernist essay. Other exceptional essayists were his brother and sister, Max and Camila. And in their company, we also find Américo Lugo, Federico García Godoy, Manuel Matos Moquete, Antonio Fernández Spencer, Peña Batlle, José Ramón López, Moscoso Puello, Juan Bosch, Joaquín Balaguer and Jimenes Grullón, with their sociological, literary, political and historical themes. At present, we have a number a essayists who generate  positive feedback from the critics, such as Manuel Núñez, Federico Henríquez Gratereaux, Andrés L. Mateo, Enriquillo Sánchez, José Alcántara Almánzar, Carlos Esteban Deive, Bruno Rosario Candelier, Diógenes Céspedes, Odalís G. Pérez, José Mármol and Plinio Chahín, to name a few.

The prevailing themes of present-day essayists are historical and sociological, related to identity, the Nation, racial conflicts at the border and those of cultural content.