Skip to main content icon/video/no-internet
icon backReturn to Entries

Argentina

Argentina is a nation with an estimated 2007 population of 39.4 million people and is located at the southernmost tip of South America. According to the CIA World Factbook, 97% of Argentines are ethnically “White.” However, this seemingly homogeneous population is constantly debating the essence of argentinidad—caught between its European roots and its uniquely “American” experience.

None

Before colonization, the land that is now Argentina was sparsely populated by groups of nomadic indigenous people, such as the Mapuche and the Tehuelche, and by more sedentary groups, such as the Kolla and the Guaraní, in the mountainous forested north. Of these, only the last two constitute a significant presence in present-day Argentina. When Argentines look back to the past for the roots of their national identity, therefore, they look not to the indigenous past but rather to the gaucho—the legendary protagonist of Argentina's rural origins.

The Gaucho

The gaucho was often, but not always, a mestizo or an Indian who sold his knife, horsemanship, and tracking skills to the highest bidder. Much like the North American cowboy, the gaucho is a rural figure, living nomadically, owning only what he carried on his horse's back. Mercenary gauchos made up the cavalries of armies on both sides of the civil wars of the 19th century. In 1872, the gaucho was immortalized in José Hernández's epic poem Martín Fierro, which is the first instance in which the gaucho is invoked not as a marginal societal element but rather as a symbol of national identity.

Immigration: Assimilation and Isolation

With the success of the “Conquest of the Desert” campaigns, which effectively wiped out indigenous presence in the southern regions, immigration was encouraged with the goal of populating these newly open spaces with people from “civilized”—that is, European—societies. This influence, the reasoning was, would help to make Argentina into a modern nation and erase any mark of the aboriginal or gaucho “barbarism” of the past. The result was that by the early 20th century, nearly 30% of the population was newly arrived immigrants. The effect, ironically, was a turn back to the gaucho as national icon in the face of the changes brought on by this massive wave of newcomers.

Italian Argentines: Assimilation Brings a New Nationalism

In today's Buenos Aires, Italian ethnicity is everywhere—from the food, to slang words of Italian origin, to the newsstands where Italian newspapers are sold. A glance through a phonebook shows as many surnames of Italian origin as of Spanish or other European origin. With the 2001 economic crisis, many Italian Argentines reclaimed their dual citizenship and voted in the Italian elections in 2006.

During the early years of the 20th century, however, these newcomers were not yet assimilated, and many feared the changes they had brought to language and culture. During this period, young writers returned to the gauchesca poetry founded by the epic poem Martín Fierro. The gaucho, once a feared and marginalized outlaw, had become a figure of national pride now that his actual cultural presence had diminished.

By the middle of the century, the immigrants had established themselves as the industrial workforce that would form the basis of the labor movement and the populist movement of Peronism.

...

  • Loading...
locked icon

Sign in to access this content

Get a 30 day FREE TRIAL

  • Watch videos from a variety of sources bringing classroom topics to life
  • Read modern, diverse business cases
  • Explore hundreds of books and reference titles

Read next

More like this

Sage Recommends

We found other relevant content for you on other Sage platforms.

close

Have you created a personal profile? Login or create a profile so that you can save clips, playlists and searches

close
close
close Signed In to profile You are signed in as:
close
Logged in Institution Institution