Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
22
Impressions
An Argentine is an Italian who speaks Spanish, acts like a French man, but secretly
wishes he were English.
—Argentine proverb
and then gushing o ver the photos of the
adorable ne wborn nephe w. E verything is
animated, including the exaggerated gr eet-
ings and far ewells when ev erybody rises to
cheek kiss and hug, including the men.
Argentines are a gregarious bunch, and they
would rather sit ar ound until 4am with
friends and drink
mate
tea than sit in silence
in front of a TV. It is therefore not surprising
that the most popular TV programs are chat
shows.
The country's psyche is somewhat schizo-
phrenic. D eep pride is counterbalanced b y
strong self-doubt. Famous on the r est of the
continent for being arr ogant and self-confi-
dent, Argentina 's brashness was some what
sullied after the economic crisis in 2001. An
identity crisis ensued where a period of navel
gazing saw the nation's intellectuals wonder-
ing whether they w ere First World or Third
World. Argentines will fr eely criticiz e the
politicians they keep electing or the system
they keep supporting but soon switch to the
defensive if a foreigner offers a negative opin-
ion. Such contradictions are evident in their
attitude to the B ritish. Argentines act
aggrieved regarding the Las Malvinas defeat,
triumphant regarding football victories, and
fawning regarding British culture, with ubiq-
uitous pop on ev ery radio station and the
middle class dr opping E nglish phrases at
every opportunity.
Of course it is danger ous to generaliz e a
whole race of people, especially when their
characteristics differ gr eatly depending on
class and location. The usual capital and
provincial rivalry exists here just as anywhere
else. Perhaps in Argentina it is a little mor e
pronounced as B uenos Air es is o verpopu-
lated and the v ast countr yside underpopu-
lated. Those fr om the pr ovinces r egard
Porteños as loud, brash, and untr ustworthy.
The capital dw ellers feel less str ongly about
their country cousins; but whatev er opinion
they have, it is usually twinged with disdain
and condescension. What they all hav e in
common is love of family, food, and football;
pride in their country's natural beauty; disre-
gard for watches and all kno wn timepieces;
and utter contempt for tax es. The famous
footballer M aradona illustrates Argentina
perfectly. Despite his many faults, he is like
his country, loved by everybody.
2
5
ARGENTINA IN POPULAR CULTURE
RECOMMENDED BOOKS
Fiction lo vers hav e a rich seam to mine
of his collections from a prolific career. Julio
Cortázar is another giant of letters who, like
Borges, was very much influenced by Euro-
pean ideas and lived abroad for many years
in Paris. His novel
Hopscotch
has an uncon-
ventional narrativ e that r equires r eading
twice to giv e two differ ent v ersions. H is
story
The Droolings of the Devil
was adapted
into the famous ar t-house movie
Blow Up
regarding Argentine writing. J orge L uis
Borges is the country's grandfather of litera-
ture, with his elegant shor t stories combin-
ing symbolism, fantasy, and reality to create
metaphysical narrativ es that hav e been
translated all over the world.
Labyrinths
and
A Universal History of I niquity
are just two
