The article by the famous Ibero-American cultural studies scholar, writer and essayist offers an unusual approach to the essay as a genre. Belonging to the Latin American literary mainstream this genre became a means of identity quest, self-understanding and self-realization in verbal art. The article traces the origins of the genre to the chronicles of the first pioneers and conquistadors and compares the essay to the chronicles typical for the poetics of SpanishAmerican Modernism in order to emphasize the importance of the essay for contemporary Latin American letters.