Synopses & Reviews
Despite its significance in the history of Spanish colonialism, the Dominican Republic is familiar to most outsiders through only a few elements of its past and culture. Non-Dominicans may be aware that the country shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti and that it is where Christopher Columbus chose to build a colony. Some may know that the country produces talented baseball players and musicians; others that it is a prime destination for beach vacations. Little else about the Dominican Republic is common knowledge outside its borders. This Reader seeks to change that. It provides an introduction to the history, politics, and culture of the country, from precolonial times into the early twenty-first century. Among the volume's 118 selections are essays, speeches, journalism, songs, poems, legal documents, testimonials, and short stories, as well as several interviews conducted especially for this Reader. Many of the selections have been translated into English for the first time. All of them are preceded by brief introductions written by the editors. The volume's eighty-five illustrations, ten of which appear in color, include maps, paintings, and photos of architecture, statues, famous figures, and Dominicans going about their everyday lives.
Review
andquot;A splendid introduction to an often-misrepresented nation, tracing its history from the pre-Columbus era through the Trujillo dictatorship to the ever-increasing influenceandmdash;demographic, musical, literary, and sportingandmdash;of contemporary Dominicans in U.S. life. An excellent choice of brief texts makes this an attractive reader for undergraduate courses on the Caribbean.andquot;
Review
andquot;This is a unique reader that brings together essential historical documents with insightful essays and studies by a select group of outstanding scholars at the frontline of Dominican studies, a recent special field in contemporary Latin American studies. A very welcome arrival for college and graduate courses. Congratulations!andquot;
Review
andquot;The best available collection of writing in English for anyone wanting a broad and varied introduction to Dominican history, politics and culture. Very much a book for dipping into, which works well for the appealingly diverse sections on religion, popular culture and the Dominican diaspora but means the history sections, necessarily lacking a consistent narrative, work better for those with some prior knowledge of the countryand#39;s past.andquot;
Review
andldquo;Roorda, Derby, and Gonzandaacute;lez use source materials from onsite actors/observers, government officials, writers, and intellectuals (Dominican and otherwise) to add an intimacy and sense of familiarity to the bookand#39;s narrative. They blend and merge important and formative events and actors that make up the formal history of the Dominican Republic with accounts designed to help readers understand the Dominican character and bases for social norms. The dozens of essays and accounts (some from contributors more familiar to casual readers, some less familiar), with an appropriate apportioning of emphases on nations influential in Dominican affairs (such as the US), complete a historiography that is both challenging and insightful. and#160;In a collection of different tiles in the Dominican mosaic, nothing is really trivial here. Highly Recommended. Upper-level undergraduates and above.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Curious travelers, study-abroad students and faculty, and Latinamericanists generally will find this book to be a solid departure point to understand issues of race, religion (the Virgen of Altagracia, syncreticism), music, gendered roles (machismo and marianismo), and the turbulent imprint of caudillos on the evolution of the Dominican Republic. Over 150 suggested readings point the way to further explore an island in the Caribbean whose history, culture and politics have much to say about the human condition there and elsewhere.andrdquo;
About the Author
Eric Paul Roorda is Professor of History at Bellarmine University in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the author of The Dictator Next Door: The Good Neighbor Policy and the Trujillo Regime in the Dominican Republic, 1930andndash;1945, published by Duke University Press.
Lauren Derby is Associate Professor of History at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is the author of The Dictator's Seduction: Politics and the Popular Imagination in the Era of Trujillo, also published by Duke University Press.
Raymundo Gonzandaacute;lez is a researcher at the Dominican National Archives and Social Science Coordinator for the Dominican Ministry of Education. He teaches at the Universidad Iberoamericana and the Instituto Filosandoacute;fico Pedro Francisco Bonandoacute;, both in Santo Domingo.