<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>This article explores the political dimension of Junot Díaz’s work, focusing on the figure of the dictator as depicted in the footnotes to <italic>The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</italic>, in an attempt to analyze his view of the “dangers of dictatorship” in both literature and politics and to prove that the political attitudes of writers influence the way their literature “does” politics. Thus, a thorough analysis of the footnotes exposes <italic>The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</italic> as a story about a nerd in New Jersey “dictated” by the narrator, which is challenged by the story of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo who “dictated” the recent history of the Dominican Republic.</p>
</abstract>

This article explores the political dimension of Junot Díaz’s work, focusing on the figure of the dictator as depicted in the footnotes to The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, in an attempt to analyze his view of the “dangers of dictatorship” in both literature and politics and to prove that the political attitudes of writers influence the way their literature “does” politics. Thus, a thorough analysis of the footnotes exposes The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao as a story about a nerd in New Jersey “dictated” by the narrator, which is challenged by the story of Rafael Leonidas Trujillo who “dictated” the recent history of the Dominican Republic.

Politics and Literature: Dictatorship in Junot Díaz’s <italic>The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao</italic>

East-West Cultural Passage

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Politics and Literature: Dictatorship in Junot Díaz’s 

This article explores the political dimension of Junot Díaz’s work, focusing on the figure of the dictator as depicted in the footnotes to The Brief Wondrous...

Politics and Literature: Dictatorship in Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Published Online: Mar 13, 2024

Page range: 37 - 50

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2023-0004

Keywords
politics and literature, Junot Díaz, dictatorship, Trujillo, footnotes, Dominican Republic

© 2023 Ovidiu Matiu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Politics and Literature: Dictatorship in Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Published Online: Mar 13, 2024

Page range: 37 - 50

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ewcp-2023-0004

Keywordspolitics and literature, Junot Díaz, dictatorship, Trujillo, footnotes, Dominican Republic

© 2023 Ovidiu Matiu, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
politics and literature, Junot Díaz, dictatorship, Trujillo, footnotes, Dominican Republic