The Gaucho Archetype in the Artistic Culture of Latin America

Abstract

The article examines the role of representatives of a specific ethnic group of inhabitants of the South American steppes-Pampas — pastoralists-Gaucho nomads in the formation, formation and development of national Spanish-American literature based on its genres such as oral folk art, lyrical and epic poetry, drama, realistic and psychological novel. The existence of this ethnic type can be traced back to 1775, but the process of turning a Spanish shepherd into a half-breed Gaucho is still largely unclear. The formation of Gaucho literature can serve as an example of the emergence of folk literature in the countries of Spanish America. Gaucho poetry reached the culmination point of its development with «Martin Fierro» by H. Hernandez, however, it did not take much time for the gaucho theme to turn into prose: drama, short story and novel. The transition from poetry to prose, as well as the transition from oral to written poetry, did not take place immediately. Gaucho poetry continued to develop and gained prominence for the reworking of the legend of Santos Vega, but new forms of Gaucho literature were already supplanting poetry. The novel about the gaucho arose from a primitive popular print, but the popularity gained by the very first attempts to create a novel about the gaucho testified to the prospects of this genre, which soon attracted the attention of truly talented authors. Thus, the Gaucho gave his native land a regional literature, which became a model of cultural and spiritual independence for all countries of Spanish America. Having formed a whole trend in literature, the Gaucho archetype has left a noticeable mark in other forms of art and, perhaps, will serve as an example to national forces called upon to make the transition from imitation of European models to literary Americanism.