Dominican Republic / All works
Essay
Six Essays in Search of Our Expression
Seis ensayos en busca de nuestra expresión
Pedro Henríquez Ureña · 1928
Synopsis
Nine essays written between 1913 and 1927 and arranged in four parts. The "Orientations" open with "El descontento y la promesa", which seeks what a literary expression of Spanish America's own might be, far from Americanist excesses as from European imitation; the "Figures" deal with three Mexicans, Juan Ruiz de Alarcón, Enrique González Martínez and Alfonso Reyes; then come two Argentine notes and a survey of the literature of the United States.
Context
The book came out in Buenos Aires in 1928 from Babel, run by Samuel Glusberg, the same year as José Carlos Mariátegui's Seven Essays; Mariátegui reviewed it in 1929 and judged its first two texts the most essential. It argues for a literary history attentive to cultural and educational projects, in implicit dialogue with Menéndez Pelayo. Shortly after its release the author said he was discouraged, according to Alfonso Reyes's diary; the book did not appear in the Dominican Republic until 2007.
Who it is for
For understanding how Spanish America sought its own literary voice, between Spanish heritage and invention.
Prizes and reception
Little noticed on publication, except by Mariátegui, it is now regarded as a fundamental work by the man Borges called a master of the Americas.