CHILE &PABLO NERUDA

By Bruce Gordon

GEOGRAPHY

• Southern South America, bordering the South Pacific Ocean, between Argentina and Peru.

• Low coastal mountains, fertile central valley, rugged Andes in east.

• Significant volcanic activity due to more than three-dozen active volcanoes along the Andes Mountains.

• The longest north-south trending country in the world, extending across 38 degrees of latitude!

POPULATION• 17,508,260 (July 2015 est.)

• White and Non-Indigenous: 88.9%

• Mapuche: 9.1%,

• Aymara: 0.7%,

• Other indigenous groups 1% ; (includes Rapa Nui, Likan Antai, Quechua, Colla, Diaguita, Kawesqar, Yagan or Yamana), unspecified 0.3% (2012 est.)

RELIGION

• Roman Catholic 66.7%

• Evangelical or Protestant 16.4%

• Jehovah's Witnesses 1%

• Other 3.4%

• None 11.5%

• Unspecified 1.1% (2012 est.)

CULTURE

• FOOD • Caldillo de Congrio was immortalized by

Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda in his “Oda al Caldillo de Congrio”. This dish is a hearty soup made of conger, a type of eel, potato, carrots, cilantro, onion and garlic served with marinated boiled or fried conger. It is a classic soup of the Chilean coast.

• ART • Arpilleras are decorative wall pieces made of

burlap or other coarsely woven fabric such as sackcloth. During the Pinochet regime, women whose relatives disappeared or were jailed gathered to make arpilleras to protest against the regimes policies. These pieces of cloth tell the story of the lives of women in Chile.

HISTORY

• Spain conquered and colonized Chile in the mid-16th century, replacing Inca rule in northern and central Chile, but failing to conquer the independent Mapuche that inhabited south-central Chile.

• After declaring its independence from Spain in 1818, Chile emerged in the 1830s as a relatively stable authoritarian republic.

• In the 19th century, Chile saw significant economic and territorial growth, ending Mapuche resistance in the 1880s and gaining its current northern territory in the War of the Pacific (1879–83) after defeating Peru and Bolivia.

• In the 1960s and 1970s the country experienced severe left-right political polarization and turmoil. This development culminated with the 1973 Chilean coup d'état that overthrew Salvador Allende's democratically-elected left-wing government and instituted a 16-year-long right-wing military dictatorship that left more than 3,000 people dead or missing.

• The regime headed by Augusto Pinochet ended in 1990 after it lost a referendum in 1988 and was succeeded by a center-left coalition which ruled through four presidencies until 2010.

• Chile is today one of South America's most stable and prosperous nations. It leads Latin American nations in rankings of human development, competitiveness, income per capita, globalization, state of peace, economic freedom, and low perception of corruption.

• It is generally accepted that Chilean literature began with Alonso de Ercilla y Zuñiga, a Spanish conquistador who arrived in Chile in 1557. • He wrote an epic poem, La Araucana published in three parts in 1569, 1578 and 1589. • La Araucana is a major part of Chile’s cultural heritage depicting the heroism and bravery of both the

Spanish and the American Indian, two distinct cultures that molded a new nation. • Even though Ercilla y Zuñiga was fighting the Mapuches he recognized and appreciated their bravery

and strength. • The 20th century saw the development of four remarkable writers:

• Gabriela Mistral (1889-1957) who was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1945 • Vicente Huidobro (1893-1948) • Pablo de Rokha (1894-1968) • Pablo Neruda, who was awarded the Nobel Prize of Literature in 1971.

• By mid 20th century there was another generation of fine Chilean writers, among them: • Jose Donoso (1924-1966) • Jorge Edwards • Gonzalo Rojas • Isabel Allende • Antoni Skármeta • Ariel Dorfman

Literature

Rap Sheet• Artist Name: Pablo Neruda (Born: Ricardo Eliécer Neftalí Reyes Basoalto)

• DOB: July 12, 1904 (Died: September 23, 1973)

• Country/Place of Birth: Parral, Maule Region, Chile

• Religion: Atheist

• Education: Studied Education and French at the University of Chile, first Latin American to receive the title of Doctor Honoris Causa in Philosophy from Oxford University in 1966.

• Politics: Neruda occupied many diplomatic positions. Elected in 1945 as a Senator for the Chilean Communist Party. When President González Videla outlawed communism in Chile in 1948, a warrant was issued for Neruda's arrest. Hiding for months in a basement he eventually went into exile in Argentina. Friend and supporter of first socialist president elected in 1970, Salvador Allende.

• Relevant Literary Movement: Marxism, symbolism, surrealism

• Genre: Poetry, historical epics, political manifestos, a prose autobiography.

• Main Themes: Initial anarchism eventually converting to communism, against neo-imperialism and dictatorship, combined symbolism with surrealism, love and eroticism.

• Style: Poetic symbolism and surrealism fired with passion and love of country. Historical reinterpretations. Critical of religion.

• Examples: “When the trumpets had sounded and all was in readiness on the face of the earth, Jehovah divided his universe: Anaconda, Ford Motors, Coca-Cola Inc., and similar entities: the most succulent item of all, The United Fruit Company Incorporated reserved for itself:…”

• Other: On October 1971 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. The Nobel Prize Academy pointed out the poet’s persecution and his work for the world’s community and peace.

Sources• https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/

geos/ci.html • http://www.chileculture.org/arts-and-literature • http://www.chileculture.org/food-in-chile • http://www.chileculture.org/biography-of-pablo-neruda • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chile • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pablo_Neruda