The culture of

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

reflects the population and the geographic isolation of the country in relation to the rest of South America. Since colonial times, the Chilean culture has been a mix of

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

colonial elements with elements of

indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

(mostly

Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who s ...

) culture, as well as that of other immigrant cultures. The Huasos of Central Chile and their native or folk music and dance are central to Chilean folk culture. Even though the folk traditions of Central Chile are central to Chilean cultural and national identity, Chile is both geographically and culturally diverse with both the North and the South having their own folk music and dance due to different indigenous peoples and different immigrant groups settling there. Additionally, while some regions of Chile have very strong indigenous heritage, such as

Araucanía Region The Araucanía ( ), La Araucanía Region ( es, Región de La Araucanía ) is one of Chile's 16 first-order administrative divisions, and comprises two provinces: Malleco in the north and Cautín in the south. Its capital and largest city is Te ...

Easter Island Easter Island ( rap, Rapa Nui; es, Isla de Pascua) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is most famous for its ne ...

, and

Arica y Parinacota Region The Arica y Parinacota Region ( es, link=no, Región de Arica y Parinacota ) is one of Chile's 16 first order administrative divisions. It comprises two provinces, Arica and Parinacota. It borders Peru's Department of Tacna to the north, Boliv ...

, some regions lack considerable indigenous communities and a few other regions have noteworthy non-Spanish European immigrant heritage.

National identity

The term ''Chilenidad'' describes the Chilean National identity. Hernán Godoy describes the psychological characteristics of the Chilean, and hence part of the Chilean national identity, with following words: roto, madness, sober, serious, prudent, sense of humor, great fear to the ridicule, servile, cruel, and lack of foresight, among other qualities. Jorge Larraín criticized these older descriptions as "overgeneralized abstractions" impossible to apply to a whole nation.Larraín, Jorge. ''Identidad chilena. 2001. Editorial LOM.

Cultural expressions

Music

The national dance of Chile is the cueca (short for ''Zamacueca'') and first appeared in 1824. Another form of traditional Chilean song, though not a dance, is the '' tonada''. Arising imported by the Spanish colonists, it is distinguished from the cueca by an intermediate melodic section and a more prominent melody. The cueca was promoted by the

Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (, , , ; 25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean general who ruled Chile from 1973 to 1990, first as the leader of the Military Junta of Chile from 1973 to 1981, being declared President of ...

regime in the 1970s and 1980s for political reasons to promote Chilean nationalism, cultural pride and conservative patriotic fervor. In the period from 1930 to 1970, a rebirth in the interest and popularity in

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

in Chile appeared, carried out initially by groups such as Los Cuatro Huasos, who took folk songs from the Chilean country and arranged them vocally and with musical instruments. They gave several recitals in Chile, and in Latin America that contributed with its diffusion. Later appeared other groups such as Los de Ramon, Los Huasos Quincheros, Los Cuatro Cuartos, and others who continued with this diffusion. Also appeared several Chilean folk composers such as Raul de Ramon, Margot Loyola, Luis Aguirre Pinto, Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara, and others that carried out folk investigation and composed folk music that is still sung up to this day. In the mid-1960s native musical forms were revitalized by the Parra family with the

Nueva Canción Chilena Nueva is the Spanish feminine form of the word for "new" and may refer to: * Isla Nueva, an uninhabited island in Chile * The Nueva School The Nueva School is a private school, with two campuses—the lower and middle school in Hillsborough, ...

, which became associated with political activism and reformers like Chilean socialist

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

and his Popular Unity government. Violeta Parra, Víctor Jara,

Los Jaivas Los Jaivas is a Chilean musical group who perform in folk, rock, psychedelic, and progressive rock styles formed in 1963 in Viña Del Mar, Chile. They are considered one of the most important and influential artists of all time in Latin America. ...

, Inti-Illimani, Illapu and Quilapayún perform of this music. During the military rule in the 1970s, all forms of public expression contrary to the junta were repressed, and

protest song A protest song is a song that is associated with a movement for social change and hence part of the broader category of ''topical'' songs (or songs connected to current events). It may be folk, classical, or commercial in genre. Among social mov ...

s, which were played and circulated in a clandestine manner. In the late 1980s and after the return of democracy in the 1990s, new musical bands like La Ley,

Los Tres Los Tres also known as The Tr3s or The 3, is a Chilean rock band. The band was formed in 1987 in Concepción by Álvaro Henríquez, Roberto Lindl, Francisco Molina and later Ángel Parra Jr. joined. They are one of the most influential roc ...

and

Los Prisioneros Los Prisioneros ("The Prisoners") were a Chilean rock/pop band formed in San Miguel, Santiago, in 1983. They are considered one of the most important Chilean bands, and arguably the strongest musical influences that Chile has made to Latin Ame ...

, began to appear, and the rise of heavy metal and

alternative rock Alternative rock, or alt-rock, is a category of rock music that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1970s and became widely popular in the 1990s. "Alternative" refers to the genre's distinction from mainstream or commerci ...

there. Even 1970s Chilean rock bands like the Los Ángeles Negros regained popularity across Latin America.

Literature

Chile's most famous contributions to literature have come from

Nobel Prize The Nobel Prizes ( ; sv, Nobelpriset ; no, Nobelprisen ) are five separate prizes that, according to Alfred Nobel's will of 1895, are awarded to "those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind." Alfr ...

poets Pablo Neruda and

Gabriela Mistral Lucila Godoy Alcayaga (; 7 April 1889 – 10 January 1957), known by her pseudonym Gabriela Mistral (), was a Chilean poet-diplomat, educator and humanist. In 1945 she became the first Latin American author to receive a Nobel Prize in Li ...

, whose homes and birthplaces are now museums that attract literary pilgrims to Chile. The majority of Neruda's poetry, as individual books o
collections of selected poems
as well as his memoirs, are widely available in English, however Mistral's works are harder to find, thoug
collected editions
are available. Contemporary Chilean authors have earned an international reputation in the literary world. The most famous is novelist

Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...

, whose ''House of the Spirits'', ''Of Love and Shadows'', and ''Eva Luna'' have all been international bestsellers. She is the niece of president

. The increasingly popular

Luis Sepúlveda Luis Sepúlveda Calfucura (October 4, 1949 – April 16, 2020) was a Chilean writer and journalist. A communist militant and fervent opponent of Augusto Pinochet's regime, he was imprisoned and tortured by the military dictatorship during the ...

wrote stylish short novels like ''The Old Man Who Read Love Stories'', and combined travel writing with imaginative fiction in ''Full Circle: a South American Journey''.

José Donoso José Manuel Donoso Yáñez (5 October 1924 – 7 December 1996), known as José Donoso, was a Chilean writer, journalist and professor. He lived most of his life in Chile, although he spent many years in self-imposed exile in Mexico, the United ...

's novel ''Curfew'' recalls the latter days of the recent military dictatorship, while Antonio Skármeta's novel ''Burning Patience'' (drawing on Neruda's life as a Chilean icon) was the inspiration for the Oscar-winning Italian film, Il Postino (The Postman).

Arts

Established in 1849, the Academy of Painting (Santiago, Chile) has helped foster fine painting and inspire young artists.

Roberto Matta Roberto Sebastián Antonio Matta Echaurren (; November 11, 1911 – November 23, 2002), better known as Roberto Matta, was one of Chile's best-known painters and a seminal figure in 20th century abstract expressionist and surrealist art. Bio ...

, a 20th-century painter, is a world known artist who used abstract and surrealist technique in his work. Carlos Sotomayor (1911–1988) is considered one of the main exponents of cubism from South America. Camilo Mori (1896–1973) was the founder of the Group Montparnasse.

Claudio Bravo Claudio Andrés Bravo Muñoz (; born 13 April 1983) is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Real Betis and captains the Chile national team. He started playing with Colo-Colo and moved to Real Sociedad ...

(1936–2011) was a hyper realist who lived and worked in

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria t ...

since 1972. Sculpture has also been prominent in Chile's culture. In the 19th century, sculptor Rebeca Matte (1875–1929) was the first Chilean woman to embrace the art. She was commissioned to produce a piece by the government of Chile as a gift to the government of Brazil which she called ''"Icarus and Daedalus"'' (United in Glory and Peace). In 1930, her husband donated a bronze copy to the Museum of Fine Arts in Santiago which is recognized as a leading masterpiece. Matte also created a battle monument as a tribute to the heroes of Concepción. In the 20th century, Marta Colvin (1907–1995) gained international status by exhibiting her work in cities around the world

Cuisine

Chilean cuisine Chilean cuisine stems mainly from the combination of traditional Spanish cuisine, Chilean Mapuche culture and local ingredients, with later important influences from other European cuisines, particularly from Germany, the United Kingdom and ...

uses a variety of products due to Chile's location and long coastline. The cuisine arose from the fusion of traditional indigenous ingredients with Spanish culture and traditions. Further European immigration also brought various styles and traditions in cooking were heavily influenced by the

Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...

and the

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

. In the 20th century,

French cuisine French cuisine () is the cooking traditions and practices from France. It has been influenced over the centuries by the many surrounding cultures of Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium, in addition to the food traditions of the re ...

marked an important turning point influencing culinary methods and creating a type of

Criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

style that has been implemented now in Chilean cooking. British cooking influences include the ''onces'' or

tea Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by pouring hot or boiling water over cured or fresh leaves of ''Camellia sinensis'', an evergreen shrub native to East Asia which probably originated in the borderlands of southwestern China and north ...

breaks usually taken in the afternoon among Chileans of all classes and backgrounds. Many Chilean recipes are enhanced and accompanied by

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

and Chilean ''

pisco Pisco is a colorless or yellowish-to-amber colored brandy produced in winemaking regions of Peru and Chile. Made by distilling fermented grape juice into a high-proof spirit, it was developed by 16th-century Spanish settlers as an alternative ...

'', a type of grape brandy produced in Chile, Pisco is also consumed in neighbouring Peru. Throughout Chile each region spanning from north to south contain a variety of culinary recipes special to each location.

Notable Chilean dishes

* * Asado * *

Cazuela Cazuela ( or ) is the common name given to a variety of dishes, especially from South America. It receives its name from the ''cazuela'' (Spanish for cooking pot) – traditionally, an often shallow pot made of unglazed earthenware used for c ...

* Charquicán * Chilean salad * * Churrasco * Cola de mono * Curanto * Empanada *

Humita Humita (from Quechua ''humint'a'') is a Native South American dish from pre-Hispanic times, a traditional food from the Andes and it can be found in Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Peru, and Northwest Argentina. It consists of fresh choclo (Peruvian m ...

* Manjar Blanco *

Marraqueta A marraqueta, also known as pan francés ('French bread' in Spanish) and other names, is a bread roll made with wheat flour, salt, water and yeast. This type of roll has a crunchy texture, and is very popular in South America (Bolivia, Brazil, C ...

* Milcao * Mote con huesillo * Pan de Pascua * Pastel de choclo *

Pebre Pebre is a Chilean condiment made of coriander and/or parsley, chopped onion, vinegar, a neutral oil, ground or pureed spicy aji peppers, and usually chopped tomatoes. Pebre is most commonly used on bread. It is also used on meat, or when meat su ...

* Porotos granados * Sopaipilla * Terremoto

Cinema

Domestic film production in Chile is still small but dynamic, it has been steadily growing since 1990 and the country now produces about 20 motion pictures annually. The most important filmmakers include Raúl Ruiz ('' Palomita Blanca''),

Miguel Littín Miguel Ernesto Littin Cucumides (born 9 August 1942) is a Chilean film director, screenwriter, film producer and novelist. He was born to a Palestinian people, Palestinian father, Hernán Littin and a Greeks, Greek mother, Cristina Cucumides. C ...

(''

El chacal de Nahueltoro ''Jackal of Nahueltoro'' ( es, El Chacal de Nahueltoro) is a 1969 Chilean drama film directed by Miguel Littín, based on the true story of Jorge Valenzuela Torres, a poor farmer who, during a drunken rampage in 1960, murdered his partner and fi ...

''), Silvio Caiozzi ('' Julio comienza en julio''),

Andrés Wood Andrés Wood Montt (born 14 September 1965) is a Chilean film director, producer and writer. Some of his most popular films include ''Machuca'', '' Violeta se fue a los cielos'', and ''Historias de Futbol''. He created his own production company ...

(''

Machuca ''Machuca'' is a 2004 internationally co-produced film co-written and directed by Andrés Wood. It stars Matías Quer, Ariel Mateluna, Manuela Martelli, and Aline Küppenheim alongside Federico Luppi. Set in Santiago during the months leadi ...

''), Pablo Larrain ('' No'') and

Sebastián Lelio Sebastián Lelio Watt (born 8 March 1974) is a Chilean director, screenwriter, editor and producer. He received critical acclaim for directing the films ''Gloria'' (2013) and ''A Fantastic Woman'' (2017), the latter of which won an Academy Award ...

('' A Fantastic Woman''). In short animation, Gabriel Osorio ('' Bear Story''). Other entertainment includes

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmi ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

with TVN (Television Nacional de Chile) owned but not paid by the government but funding comes from commercial sponsors by private companies and media productions. Chile's small and steadily growing film industry has had some hard time filming compared to countries like the United States. A lot of the most successful films before the 1960s were imported form the U.S, Europe, and other Latin American countries. With Chile's film industry really not having as much funding, technology, and education to keep up with some of the bigger filmmakers. Despite the small start, in the recent years Chile's filming industry continues to grow. In the early 2000s things started to take a better turn for the industry as a whole. With the Universidad de Valparaíso, Universidad de Chile and Universidad Católica offer careers in cinematography, which means the expansion and establishment of formal instruction in this field after 2004. Also after 2004, Chile's film industry stated the use of digital cameras, which lowered the cost of production. Chilean cinema has won an Academy Award on two occasions, Bear Story for Best Animated Short Film and A Fantastic Woman for Best Foreign Language Film.

Sports

Fútbol (soccer)

Football is the most popular sport in Chile, and practiced by Chileans from all economic backgrounds, it is the one sport that appeals to both young and old that is the most accessible. The

Federación de Fútbol de Chile The Football Federation of Chile ( es, Federación de Fútbol de Chile or ) is the governing body of football in Chile. It was founded 19 June 1895, making it the second oldest South American association football federation, and is a founding mem ...

is the governing body of "fútbol" in Chile. Practices such as "baby fútbol", which is a street level scrimmage match, is played on areas made of concrete. Located throughout Chile are football stadiums such as Estadio Nacional de Chile located in Santiago, and where the final of the 1962 FIFA World Cup was held. Chile was banned in FIFA participation in the early 1990s due to a faked player injury on the field during a 1989 playoff game and could not appear in the 1990 and 1994 FIFA World Cup events as a result.

Skiing

Chile practices a host of sporting events, and because of its geographical location that is situated between the Andes Mountains and the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

skiing Skiing is the use of skis to glide on snow. Variations of purpose include basic transport, a recreational activity, or a competitive winter sport. Many types of competitive skiing events are recognized by the International Olympic Committee ( ...

and snowboarding are done in between those two locations. With more than of mountains, Chile is known internationally as one of the world's best skiing destinations and the best in South America. This is a very popular sport in Chile among the wealthier classes (considering that this is an expensive sport in this country). This recognition is based on the excellent quality of the slopes, a beautiful landscape, accessibility and proximity to urban centers. Santiago de Chile is interested in hosting the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

in the future, destined to be the second site in the southern hemisphere. The main ski centers are located in Central Chile right in the middle of the Andes, at heights that vary from up to above sea level. These centers are the ones with the biggest skiing surfaces as well as the best supporting infrastructure. The centers of Southern Chile are located at lower altitudes and most of them are on volcano slopes. The scenery is notable, including scenic forests and panoramic views.

Surfing

Chile is a great surfing destination, and from the Northern region to the Central region there are many beaches with the right conditions for the sport. It is possible to surf almost all year round except for the middle of the winter (July and August) when weather conditions are non-conducive to surfing. The water temperature fluctuates between 10 °C to 20 °C (50° and 68 °F). In northern Chile, the waves are smaller, but very forceful, and between

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the capita ...

and

Iquique Iquique () is a port city and commune in northern Chile, capital of both the Iquique Province and Tarapacá Region. It lies on the Pacific coast, west of the Pampa del Tamarugal, which is part of the Atacama Desert. It has a population of 191, ...

, ''tubes'' are common. The temperature of the water fluctuates between 15 °C to 20 °C (59° and 68 °F). Due to the difficult conditions of the

Atacama Desert The Atacama Desert ( es, Desierto de Atacama) is a desert plateau in South America covering a 1,600 km (990 mi) strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes Mountains. The Atacama Desert is the driest nonpolar desert in th ...

, there are many unexplored, quiet beaches in that area. In the Central Region, the water is a little bit colder, and there are steeper shores and bigger waves.

Basketball

In addition to football (soccer),

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

is particularly popular in southern Chile, where it as an indoor sport can be played all year round despite Southern Chile's cold and rainy winters. The ''NCBAOC'' is the official league. It stands for the National Chile Basketball Association of Chile.

Rodeo

Rodeo is the second most popular sport in Chile. It was declared the national sport in 1962. It has since thrived, especially in the more rural areas of the country. Chilean rodeo is different from the rodeo found in North America. In Chilean rodeo, a team (called a ''collera'') consisting of two riders (called Huasos) and two horses rides laps around an arena trying to stop a calf, pinning him against massive cushions. Points are earned for every time the steer is properly driven around the corral, with deductions for faults. Rodeos are conducted in a crescent-shaped corral called a medialuna. Unlike rodeos in other countries, there is no bull riding or using ropes to tie up cattle. And the idea behind the point system in the game is to get a high number of points. Getting these points takes a high amount of skill. Deductions for faults may included, incorrect maneuvering or the cow escaping. Each pair of Huasos start with 13 points then the deduction system comes into play. Every official rodeo is held over two days, normally Saturdays and Sundays, though occasionally it will be held on Chilean Public holidays.“Rodeo.” Rodeos in Chile - Traditional Huaso Sport Photos, www.southamerica.cl/Chile/Sport/Rodeos.htm.

References

External links

Catalogue cultural of Chile

Arts and Literature – Chile Cultural Society

Marian Schlotterbeck "Artists Pursue the Disappeared"
'' The Nation,'' July 12, 2007.
Art and Culture – this is Chile
{{Latin America topic, Culture of, Latin American culture