Thursday 1 October 2009

C-H-I-L-E-A-N


Identity is a complex thing. There are different factors involved in it. But, in conclusion, it's basically a matter of Politics and Economy; the configuration of society, from its beginnings, needed to make networks to produce (to satisfy any kind of necessities) and to protect themselves, and later, to keep heritage. And that is, basically, the way it goes. The birth of the identity issue.

In a larger scale, I'm sure that nations (nation-states) don't involve a kind of substance or essence that makes them . We must know that there's not necessarily a common History (what is it?) between a Nation, nor an Heroic past nor anything like that.

The same goes for the case of Chile "my" country. "We" are not all the same; most of us are "of mixed race" (between native and Spanish), but anyway, we're not Spanish, and most mapuche people don't consider themselves as Chileans (and I agree with them: this Country has stolen their culture and lands). We're kind of orphans, maybe that's our identity all along the territory.

Anyway, I think of a specific term: the "Chile profundo" (deep Chile), which refers to the centre of the territory, between the south of Santiago and the Region VII; it's mostly agricultural,

If I have to choose something like a Chilean identity, I'd like to be this: being in an old bar, drinking chilean wine and eating empanadas, or pork sandwiches, or cazuela, listening to 'canto a lo poeta' (typical music of Central Chile); or being in the shore of the sea in a windy cold night, because Chile isn't a tropical country. Or maybe we just have to know Violeta Parra's life and work.
And don't we hate our neighbours.

5 comments:

  1. Hi Nacho... the last pharagraph sounds good.

    I'm so agree with you about people that doesn't feel part of the chilean culture: after all, they have a culture, and we haven't one.

    Kisses.

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  2. Hi Ignacio!, Again, I'm really agree with your way of think and see the wrong Chilean Identity... Well, we have to still living and ejoying that things that we love of this place.

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  3. The last part of your post sounds great jaja i was imaging you in this conditions. Well, but i think that this kind of things are only for the national holidays.

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  4. Why anybody talks about Pinochet???

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  5. I didn't know about that "Chile profundo" definition... but sounds like the ocean, which is the greatest thing in here.

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