Culture of Argentina
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The culture of Argentina is as varied as the country's geography and mix of ethnic groups. Modern Argentine culture has been largely influenced by European immigration although there are also some Amerindian and African influences, particularly in the fields of music and art. Buenos Aires and other cities show a mixture of architectural styles imported from Europe but in the case of older settlements, and of older preserved neighborhoods within cities, modern styles appear mixed with colonial features, relics from the Spanish-ruled past. Museums, cinemas and galleries are abundant in all the large urban centers, as well as traditional establishments such as literary bars, or bars offering live music of a variety of genres.
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[edit] Cinema and theatre
- See also: Cinema of Argentina
Argentine cinema has achieved international recognition with films such as The Official Story and 9 Queens, though it has only rarely been taken into account by mainstream popular viewers who prefer Hollywood-type movies. Even low-budget productions, however, have obtained prizes in cinema festivals (such as Cannes). The city of Mar del Plata organizes its own festival dedicated to this art.
[edit] Music
The best-known element of Argentine culture is the tango dance. In modern Argentina, tango music is enjoyed in its own right, especially since the radical Ástor Piazzolla redefined the music of Carlos Gardel. It must be noted that while tango refers mostly to a particular dance music for foreigners, the music together with the lyrics (often containing words and phrases in lunfardo, a local slang) are what most Argentines primarily mean by tango. Tango lyrics are a form of poetry.
Folk music and dance are popular in provincial Argentina and are blends of various native and European styles. Examples include the chamamé of Mesopotamia and the chacarera of Santiago del Estero.
Since the 1970s Rock Music has been widely appreciated in Argentina. First during the 1970s and then again in the mid 1980s and the beginning of the 1990s, national rock music and pop music experienced bursts of popularity, with many new bands (such as Soda Stereo and Sumo) and composers (like Charly García and Fito Páez) becoming important exponents of national culture. National Rock and Pop then gave way to other genres, like Ska, Techno, Eurodance, Electronica and Argentine Cumbia. The wide variety of music to be heard in Argentina today is impossible to summarize in a short article; the opening up of the Argentine economy to international trade and the ready access to music downloaded from the Internet (most often illegally, through peer-to-peer networks) provide listeners with a diversity of choices. Rock music is currently the most popular form of music among younger Argentines.
European classical music is also popular in Argentina. Buenos Aires is home to the Teatro Colón; its exquisite acoustics give it the reputation of one of the best opera houses in the world. Musicians such as Martha Argerich and composers like Lalo Schifrin have become internationally famous.
[edit] Sports
Many Argentines are involved in sports. Fútbol (soccer) is more of a national obsession than a game. Argentina won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986 and the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics for men's soccer, and the exploits of Diego Maradona have kept fans, paparazzi and columnists busy for the past 20 years. Recently, Lionel Messi has drawn comparisons to Maradona, and indeed Maradona himself named Messi his "successor".[1] Tennis, rugby union and field hockey are also important and Argentina won a gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens for men's basketball. The legendary Formula One driver, Juan Manuel Fangio, was Argentinian. The rich, heavily influenced by English customs, have traditionally enjoyed polo and Argentina dominates this sport on the world scene. In recent times, the international polo player Adolfo Cambiasso has tried to broaden the appeal of polo by introducung several football traditions to polo, like celebrating goals and the like. Cambiasso's strategy has had some success when different football fans went to see the final of the Argentinean Open, but has been critiziced by the traditional supporters of Polo.
The official national sport of Argentina, though rarely played, is the polo-like pato. Pato literally translates to duck.
More than half of the population practices some sport or at least performs some physical exercise, such as walking or jogging. Regular practice of football, going to the gym and cycling are the three most common activities of this kind.
[edit] Language
Argentina's official language is Spanish (here usually named castellano). There are many variations of Spanish in Argentina and every province has its own accent.
Rio de la Plata Spanish is the variation used in all cities near the Rio de la Plata river, the most well-known characteristic being the use of "vos" instead of "tu" ("Voceo"). Some immigrant communities retain their own language as a badge of identity and languages such as Italian, German, English and French are spoken. The Welsh community of Patagonia have held an Eisteddfod, as well as the Basques, Arabs and Ukrainians. Recent immigrants from China and South Korea, who have established themselves in large cities like Buenos Aires and Rosario, also speak their own language among themselves, and some communities publish small-circulation newspapers in them.
Most Argentines can understand some words of simple spoken Italian and Portuguese, due to their similarity to Spanish.
There are about 23 native languages spoken in different parts of the country, including Quechua, Mapuche, Guaraní, Toba and Wichí.
[edit] Food
Argentine cuisine is typically European. Due to the heavy influence of Italian, Spanish, French and other European cuisines the typical Argentine diet is a variation the Mediterranean diet. Argentina is known for its asado or grilled beef where meat, including entrails, is placed on a grill and barbecued over charcoal fire. There are restaurants that serve only asado and many local restaurants always have asado on the menu.
Argentines consume large amounts of beef. While the recent economic crisis has made meat expensive for many, its price is still relatively low given its outstanding quality. Meat exports are usually regulated and the European Community has set up a quota of frozen meat imports that cannot be exceeded.
Traditional foods of the provinces such as locro hark back to the pre-Columbian period, with a reliance on maize, beans and squashes (in many places, locro is traditionally consumed only on national patriotic holidays). Another traditional food is the empanada, a circular piece of pastry folded in two around a filling (including chopped meat, olives, hard-boiled egg, potato cubes, ham and cheese, and many other variants), which can be baked or fried.
Italian staple dishes like pizza and pasta are common and many Argentines choose a simple pizza with tomato, cheese and ham, although many combinations are available. Pasta is extremely common, either simple unadorned pasta with butter or oil, or accompanied by tomato or bechamel-based sauce.
Sweets, especially dulce de leche, are popular. Dulce de leche (a dark brown fluid paste, made from milk and sugar stirred at high temperature) is an essential ingredient of cakes, and shares the place of jelly and jam at breakfast. It is used to top desserts and to fill alfajores and facturas (an alfajor consists of two round biscuits, often flavored, optionally coated with chocolate, joined by a layer of jelly; factura is the generic name for sweet baked pastry of different kinds, including but not limited to croissants and donuts.
Argentina is famous for its beer, most notably the red wine from the province of Mendoza, where weather conditions (dry, warm summers) are optimal.
[edit] Literature
In terms of literature, Argentina's most famous authors are Jorge Luis Borges, considered to be one of the world's greatest 20th century writers, (he wrote poems, short stories and non-fiction essays and some people say that he was the best short story writer ever), Adolfo Bioy Casares and Julio Cortázar. Bioy Casares wrote some books in collaboration with Borges. Cortázar was voluntarily exiled in Europe during the rule of Juan Domingo Perón; Borges had problems with Peronism too, and celebrated its fall in 1955 with joy, though he later became disillusioned with the military dictators. Both Borges and Cortázar died abroad: Borges in Geneva in 1986, and Cortázar in Paris in 1984.
Argentine comics are best represented by Mafalda, a cartoon by Quino (Joaquín Lavado), which became a world-recognized Argentine icon soon after its first publication. The series of comic strips shows the world's troubles through the eyes of a small girl, Mafalda, and her relatives and friends.
[edit] Spare time
A cultural survey found that the most important spare time activity for almost 80% of Argentines is visiting friends and relatives. Playing team sports and attending sports venues is also quite common. For younger people clubbing is prevalent, while older ones prefer dining out.
An example of sociability can be found during the annual celebration of Friend's Day on 20 July. This informal holiday originated in Argentina and in recent years has gained such popularity, especially among the young, that the entertainment centers of the cities (bars, discos, cinemas, etc.) become crowded until dawn of the following day, as on Christmas and New Year's Eve.
[edit] See also
- Cuisine of Argentina
- Music of Argentina
- Football in Argentina
- Rugby union in Argentina
- Architecture of Argentina
- Argentine humour
[edit] References
- ^ Reuters. "Maradona proclaims Messi as his successor", China Daily, 2006-02-25. Retrieved on 2006-10-08.
- Sistema Nacional de Consumos Culturales ("National System of Cultural Consumption") - Official website. It contains a report of a comprehensive, nationwide statistical study of cultural mores, undertaken in August 2005.
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