Otilio Andrés Marcelino Celestino Vigil Díaz, commonly known as Vigil Díaz (1880–1961) was a Dominican poet and writer, remembered as an initiator of modern Dominican poetry and the creator of the vanguard literary tendency, Vedrinismo.
His travels and association with avant-garde writers in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, and New York compelled him to reinvigorate the Dominican poetic sensibility by rejecting formal models and rhyme, being the first poet to introduce
free verse
Free verse is an open form of poetry, which in its modern form arose through the French '' vers libre'' form. It does not use consistent meter patterns, rhyme, or any musical pattern. It thus tends to follow the rhythm of natural speech.
Defi ...
in Dominican letters with his poem, ''Arabesco'' (1917).
Early life
Diaz was born in
Santo Domingo
, total_type = Total
, population_density_km2 = auto
, timezone = AST (UTC −4)
, area_code_type = Area codes
, area_code = 809, 829, 849
, postal_code_type = Postal codes
, postal_code = 10100–10699 ( Distrito Nacional)
, webs ...
on April 6, 1880, the son of Francisco Vigil and Isabel Díaz. He studied in primary and secondary school in Santo Domingo, but did not continue to university. He was seen as capricious, eccentric, perhaps lonely and self-centered, though little is known about his life.
Literary career
Greatly influenced by the French literature of that era, Diaz’s travels to Paris, New York, and Cuba in the early years of the twentieth century marked his literary production. He was 32 years old when he published his first book, ''Góndolas'', of prose poetry. Since the beginning of his literary career, Diaz was tied to the '' postumismo'' literary movement, however aesthetic differences led him to outright reject any association with the Dominican literary trend also developing at this time.
Díaz's poems and essays were published in a multitude of journals, including ''
Cromos
''Cromos'' is a Colombian varieties and photojournalism magazine, known for widely covering the Miss Colombia pageant on editions called ''Mini Cromos''. The magazine was founded in 1916 by Miguel Santiago Valencia and Abelardo Arboleda, both fro ...
'', ''Letras'', ''La Cuna de América'', ''Renacimiento'', ''Cosmopolita'', ''Bahoruco'', ''El día ético'' and '' Blanco y Negro''. For many years, he wrote the "Fatamorgana" column, which first appeared in the
Listín Diario
''Listín Diario'' (Lit. ''Small Daily List'') is one of the leading newspapers in the Dominican Republic, and the oldest still being published.
As the story goes, after the death of Jules Vedrines, the French aviator who had acquired fame on his Paris-Madrid flight for having created the dangerous aerial pirouettes of 'looping the loop', Vigil Díaz, pursuing more experimental forms and the total liberation of the verse named his new sensibility ''vedrinismo;'' In this sense, his verses were verbal pirouettes, referring to the phonic game he was looking for in his writings. But vedrinismo only managed to win over a single follower, Zacarías Espinal, who never published anything in life, though after his death some of his sonnets were published in 1961. In fact, some literary critics doubt as to, if ever, Diaz used the word vedrinismo to formally designate any trend or literary avant-garde headed by him.Mármol, José (28 November 2019). "Tradición y ruptura en la poesía dominicana de los siglos XX y XXI. Dinámica de sus movimientos". Ciencia y Sociedad. 44 (4): 71–91. doi:10.22206/CYS.2019.V44I4.PP71-91. His most famous work, ''Arabesco'', published in November of 1917 in the literary journal ''La Primada de América'', is remembered as the first introduction of free verse poetry in Dominican poetry .
Diaz died in Santo Domingo on January 20, 1961.
Works
* Góndolas (1912)
* Miserere patricio (1915)
* Arabesco (1917)
* Jonondio (1919)
* Galeras de pafos (1921)
* Del sena al ozama (1922)
* Música del ayer (1925)
* Orégano (1949)
* Lilis y Alejandrito (1956)
* Juan Daniel (1957)
* Profesión de fe
* Cándido Espuela
* Rapsodia