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Sixth in a series of articles that focus on research of Dominican history and society.

The year 2020 has been transformative for both the Dominican Republic and the United States with the electoral defeat of Danilo Medina —which ended the two decades reign of the Dominican Liberation Party (PLD)— as well as the electoral defeat of Donald Trump and the racist far-right. Those are reasons enough to celebrate the end of a rough year. Meanwhile, we at ESENDOM came up with fourth research ideas on a wide range of themes that illustrate the present moment, the evolution of Dominican society in the past two decades as well as those understudied aspects of society that generate more questions than answers.

Note: At the time of editing, the pandemic continues to spread. We encourage those interested in research and study to use online academic sources for the time being.

1. Dominicanidad, Social Media and El Viejo Liopo

This is a study on Leopordo Severino (popurlaly known as El Viejo Liopo), a heavy-drinker, septuagenarian social media celebrity whose charming personality, sense of humor and street wit has turned him into a viral sensation. Liopo is the sidekick of a younger man named Yompy who plays absurdist—and at times, mean—pranks on him while roaming the streets of San Pedro de Macorís province while driving a car. In spite of their generational gap, this odd couple has some things in common: Afro-Dominican working-class background, hedonist lifestyles and sexist worldviews. They both embody a déclassé and lumpen-like outlook of life. In other words, they are reflection of a sector of Dominican society. And their interaction, which produces “content”, represents a microcosm of a society in decline, stuck between tradition and modernity, a consequence of dependence capitalism and underdevelopment.

Although Liopo constantly takes offence at Yompy’s juvenile humor—always saying that he will sever his ties with his younger counterpart— the opposite occurs as Liopo continues to hang out with Yompy. It is obvious that both Yompy, a sort of Quixotian character, and Liopo, his Sancho Panza, maintain and cultivate their ties because of self-interest: apparently Yompy launched a campaign to build Liopo’s house. Meanwhile, Liopo’s presence and spontaneous comedic act builds Yompy’s social media profile in Instagram, providing him with thousands of likes, comments (mainly of people expressing love for Liopo and gratitude for a laugh) as well as a steady flow of cash from advertisers. While self-interests is a factor that glues these two together, a genuine friendship has developed between them.

In this study, researchers will explore a wide range of themes including social media and popular culture, social media personalities, humor, popular culture, lumpen culture, alcoholism, sexism, machismo, Dominican masculinity, social mobility, precariousness and poverty among the elderly, class, gender, race, aging among others. 

2. Casave, pan de agua y pan sobao: The Politics of Bread in Dominican Republic

A study on bread production and consumption in Dominican society. Researchers will delve into the history of bread production from the colonial era to the present by looking at Taino and African heritage as well as regional food diets and class divisions.  Researchers will also study the contemporary history of bread by looking at the introduction of processed bread and pastries; Christmas bread (telera) and imported bread from the United States such as white and multigrain bread.

3. A History of Dominican Baha'i

To outsiders not entirely familiar with the dynamics of Latin America and Caribbean societies, the Dominican Republic might appear as just another homogeneous Roman Catholic nation in the Spanish-speaking Caribbean. In recent years, however, religious diversity has become more visible. Established on Dominican soil in the 1960s, the Baha'i Faith (a religion with roots in Persia and the Middle East) has a small but considerable following in the country given the political dominance of Catholicism. Researchers will look at the first Baha'i followers, the trajectory and expansion of the religion, proselytism and class compositions.

4. Diógenes Céspedes and the Machista Literary Canon

Last year, an article written by Diógenes Céspedes caused a stir when he insinuated that the latest book by poet Rosa Silverio was a reflection of mental illness. In Céspedes ’s view, what he was doing was simple “literary criticism” since he was writing about Silverio’s poetry. In the views of feminists and progressive intellectuals, Céspedes was engaging in sexist rhetoric by retorting to conservative and traditional views on literature written by women.  His machista attack on Silverio met with widespread disapproval. It was a sign of the times. Truth is, a decade ago no one would have dared challenge the male-dominated literary Dominican establishment but this time around, the irruption of the #MeToo movement cracked the silence around machismo and male superiority. Céspedes never apologized for his sexist remarks.

A self-declared follower of French poet and theorist Henri Meschonnic, Céspedes belongs to a group of old male writers whose sexist behavior proves once again the uselessness of an academic degree and command of literary theory.

Researchers will explore themes of gender and class as well as male literary canons and notions of literature, women and madness that gradually, are being discarded into the dustbin of history.