Literature

Literature

The first recorded literary text written on the island is the navigation diary of Christopher Columbus in which the admiral describes the landscape and inhabitants of the New World. Beginning from this text, others follow in diverse genres and various historical moments. Cristóbal de Llerena wrote the first drama of the country, entitled El entremés, and during colonial times, Leonor de Ovando wrote various sonnets, for which she is considered to be the first woman to write poetry in the New World.

Poetry, the novel, the short story, the essay and the history have described the political, social and economic events of the country that, since its discovery, has been infused with multiple currents of thought, above all those of Europe and the United States.

Poetry has enjoyed prominent writers. The 19th century strengthened the genre, though the 20th century was more prolific and signified the evolution toward poetry's maturity with the emergence of the vanguardias (groups that called for a poetic renaissance).

Though it developed later, the novel has had and has important authors in the country, though they have not reached the same level of development as other literary genres. It arose under the influence of the French romanticism of Victor Hugo and has three important moments according to its theme: the "novela de la caña", the biblical novel and the folk novel.

The short story has enjoyed wider recognition than the novel. The support of Juan Bosch, teacher of the genre in Latin American, has been fundamental. The writer and politician wrote three significant collections of stories entitled Cuentos escritos antes del exilio (Stories Written before the Exile), Cuentos escritos en el exilio (Stories written in Exile), Más cuentos escritos en el exilio (More stories written in exile). The modern short story began in the second half of the 19th century, that is, later than in other countries.

Over decades, Dominican intellectuals have had the essay as a genre that they have widened and developed with skill. The political essays of those for independence, the conservatives and those for restoration should be noted. One of the best writers of the genre in the international arena was Pedro Henríquez Ureña.

The local passion for historical subjects, especially those that speak of the dictatorship of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo and other transcendental political events, has influenced the development of historians of importance in the various eras of the Republic.

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