Culture of South America

South Americans are culturally influenced by its indigenous peoples, the historic connection with Iberian Peninsula and Africa, and waves of immigrants from around the globe.

The literature of South America has attracted considerable critical and popular acclaim, especially with the Latin American Boom of the 1960s and 1970s, and the rise of authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa,Gabriel García Márquez in novels, and Pablo Nerudaand Jorge Luis Borges in other genres. The BrazilianMachado de Assis, a 19th-century realist writer, is widely regarded as the greatest Brazilian writer. His admirers include José Saramago, Carlos Fuentes, Susan Sontag and Harold Bloom.South American nations have a rich variety of music. Some of the most famous genres include vallenato andcumbia from Colombia, pasillo from Ecuador, sambaand bossa nova from Brazil, and tango from Argentina and Uruguay. Also well known is the non-commercial folk genre Nueva Canción movement which was founded in Argentina and Chile and quickly spread to the rest of the Latin America. People on the Peruvian coast created the fine guitar and cajon duos or trios in the most mestizo (mixed) of South American rhythms such as the Marinera (from Lima), the Tondero (from Piura), the 19th century popular Creole Valse or Peruvian Valse, the soulful Arequipan Yaravi, and the early 20th century Paraguayan Guarania. In the late 20th century,Spanish rock emerged by young hipsters influenced by British pop and American rock. Brazil has a Portuguese-language pop rock industry as well a great variety of other music genres.

Nowadays Paulo Coelho is one of the most read and translated authors. His bestseller The Alchemist has been translated into 73 languages and is one of the most read books in the world.

Because of South America's broad ethnic mix, South American cuisine has African, American Indian, Asian, and European influences. Bahia, Brazil, is especially well known for its West African–influenced cuisine. Argentines, Chileans, Uruguayans, Brazilians and Venezuelans regularly consume wine. Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay, and people in southern Chile and Brazil drink mate, a herb which is brewed. The Paraguayan version, terere, differs from other forms of mate in that it is served cold.Pisco is a liquor distilled from grapes in Peru and Chile. Peruvian cuisine mixes elements from Chinese, Japanese, Spanish, African, Andean, and Amazonic food.

Language


Indigenous languages of South America include Quechua in Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Colombia, and Bolivia; Wayuunaiki in northern Colombia (La Guajira); Guaraní in Paraguay and, to a much lesser extent, in Bolivia; Aymara in Bolivia, Peru, and less often in Chile; and Mapudungun is spoken in certain pockets of southern Chile and, more rarely, Argentina. At least three South American indigenous languages (Quechua, Aymara, and Guarani) are recognized along with Spanish as national languages.Spanish and Portuguese are the most spoken languages in South America, with approximately 200 million speakers each. Spanish is the official language of most countries, along with other native languages in some countries. Portuguese is the official language ofBrazil. Dutch is the official language of Suriname;English is the official language of Guyana, although there are at least twelve other languages spoken in the country, including Hindi and Arabic. English is also spoken in the Falkland Islands. French is the official language of French Guiana and the second language inAmapá, Brazil.

Other languages found in South America include, Hindi and Javanese in Suriname; Italian in Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Uruguay, Venezuela, Peru and Chile; and German in certain pockets of Argentina, Brazil, and Chile. German is also spoken in many regions of the southern states of Brazil, Riograndenser Hunsrückisch being the most widely spoken German dialect in the country; among other Germanic dialects, a Brazilian form of Pomeranian is also well represented and is experiencing a revival. Welsh remains spoken and written in the historic towns of Trelew andRawson in the Argentine Patagonia. There are also small clusters of Japanese-speakers in Brazil, Colombia and Peru. Arabic speakers, often of Lebanese, Syrian, or Palestinian descent, can be found in Arab communities in Colombia, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and less frequently in Paraguay