What is the significance of the footnotes in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao?

When asked about the importance and role of the footnotes in his book, author Junot Diaz said that he first wanted to create a double narrative, meaning two stories carried on simultaneously. The main text is considered the higher narrative, and the footnotes are considered the lower narrative; the footnotes challenge and inform the main text. They also provide a bit of historical and cultural background to help the reader understand the legacy of pain and suffering that was left to the Dominican people as a result of the dictatorship. The footnotes provide a platform for the character of the "jester," a humorous voice created by Diaz which contests the statements made by the king. Diaz claims that his purpose for doing this was to use a literary device to prove his assertions about the dangers of not only dictatorships, but of presenting a single voice, a single viewpoint.