Dominican Literature and Dominicanness from a European Perspective

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This article addresses the question of how “peripheral” literature is perceived in Europe. The case study concentrates on the publication (mostly in translation) and reception (via interviews and reviews) in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium, and Holland since 2000 of narrative prose in Spanish and English by authors of Dominican literature. Analysis reveals that Dominican literature is not a clearly defined category from a European perspective. Besides identifying a number of stereotypical markers, such as merengue or trujillato, European reviewers tend to locate the Dominicanness that informs this literature within broader categories of Caribbeanness, Latinoness or Latinamericanness, while emphasizing machismo and magical realism. Consequently, this article calls into question the relation between language and nation, challenging the concept of Spanish American literature as a whole. It poses general questions about center and periphery in the context of the World Republic of Letters.