Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Culture
Culture
Asunción, Paraguay
January 2010
Editorial:
CEPUC
Publication Center of the
Catholic University
Tel.: 334 650 ext. 173
Layout:
Mariana Barreto
Photography:
• Centro de Artes Visuales
(Center for Visual Arts)
• Museo del Barro ( Museum or
Clay)
Acknowledgment to: Lic. Lía
Colombino Chase.
• National Secretariat of Tourism
SENATUR. Visual Archives
January 2010
Asunción - Paraguay
I.S.B.N.: 99925-854-8-X
Preface to the English edition
The author
Index
CHAPTER I
1. Goal 5
2. Beneficiaries 5
3. Methodology 6
4. Contents 6
4.1. Culture 6
4.1.1. Education 6
4.2. Definitions of culture 7
5. Identity 21
6. Tangible and intangible cultural heritage 25
6.1 Tangible heritage 25
6.2. Intangible heritage 27
6.3. Museums and Historic Sites in Asunción 44
6.4. Sites and museums in the Paraguayan countryside 47
7. Sustainable Development 50
8. Law No 904 “Statute of Indigenous communities in
Paraguay” 53
CHAPTER II
1. Cultural Policies 58
1.1. Goals of cultural policies 59
1.2. Contents of cultural policies 60
2. Cultural Mercosur 66
2.1. History 66
CHAPTER III
1. The Paraguayan reality 81
1.1. Historical variables 81
1.2. Other elements to bear in mind in the analysis of
Paraguayan reality 89
1.2.1. The Guarani language 89
1.2.2. Economy 90
1.2.3. Society 91
2. Globalization 98
3. New approaches to the disciplines of history and geography 100
CHAPTER IV
1. The Guarani culture 103
Documentary Annex
Paraguay, nature and culture 127
A century and a half of the word «Folklore» 159
Chipa, Holy Bread and 70 recipes to prepare it 163
Ilex Paraguaiensis, a classic of the Cultural Mercosur 167
Conclusion 171
Bibliography 177
Culture in the Classroom
CHAPTER I
1. Goal
The Advisory Council on Culture, aware of the challenges posed
by globalization and by the regional integration into Mercosur, has
generated a program of cultural awareness raising and animation
with transversal content modules to aid in the formal education in
schools and teaching training centers, in order to strengthen the
educational reform and the axial role of the Vice- Ministry of Culture
aimed at the achievement of the goals of its cultural policies.
This projects comes from a need felt and expressed by secondary
and teacher training institutions and it gives special emphasis on the
three components of the reform: the fundamental component, the
academic component and, in a very special way, the local component
as the central axis in the appreciation of the rich Paraguayan cultural
inheritance and the strengthening of the national identity.
2. Beneficiaries
Secondary schools students and teacher training institutions.
3. Methodology
Group dynamic, workshops, exhibits by specialists, on site research,
audio visual courses (slides, “Tele Educación” videos, etc.)
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4. Contents
Modules on:
• Culture
• Identity
• Tangible and intangible cultural heritage
• Sustainable development
• Globalization
• Environment
• New approaches to history and geography in the framework
of regional integration
• Cultural Policies
• Cultural Mercosur
• Natural and Cultural Framework of Paraguay
4.1. Culture
Cultural identities and its dynamics as well as the cultural
integration processes acquire significant relevance in the current
international context.
Carefully, we must also bear in mind the conceptions or models of
culture that are in force and how they influence with the teaching-
learning process, be it explicitly or implicitly.
4.1.1. Education
Education is the best formal instrument to disseminate culture.
Quoting Susana Avolio de Cols: “education implies a socialization
process –language acquisition, values criteria, ideas, dominant
norms and customs of the society in which one lives”.
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Societies, through the people and the social groups that integrate
them, are receptacles and producers of culture.
It is not the State that creates culture, but humans as social beings
interacting within their respective communities.
Culture is not a service granted by the Administration. On the
contrary, the latter has to be at the service of culture.
Hence, in short, we say that:
Culture is something specifically human, acquired by inheritance
within a framework of reference. It is a learned behavior. It involves
biological, environmental, logical and historical components,
knowledge, habits, techniques and forms of social organization,
based upon a common history. Culture is the way of being, making,
thinking and feeling of a people. In culture there are material and
spiritual aspects linked to the needs of human beings.
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5. Identity
By identity we understand the set of factors that allows us to
distinguish an individual or group from others facing them; it is
how we perceive ourselves and how we perceive others. In the
words of María de los Ángeles Yannuzzi: “To raise the issue of
identity really means to raise the issue of the difference.”
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h. Literature
There is an abundance of oral and written tradition in
our society. Paraguayan literature as such comes with the
European teachers hired by Don Carlos Antonio López in
the second half of the 19th century. One of the peculiar
aspects of Paraguay constitutes the fact that the civilian
heroes who supported our cause in the War of 1870 were
almost all foreign authors: Juan Bautista Alberdi, Olegario
Andrade, Carlos Guido Spano, etc. Nowadays, we have
a mature Paraguayan literature. Augusto Roa Bastos, one
of our authors, won the Cervantes Award for Literature,
considered as the Nobel Prize of the Spanish Literature.
Oral tradition in Guarani is very important because this language
was more oral than written until the beginning of publications
in Guarani. Representatives of Guarani poetry are later
accompanied by music: Narciso R. Colmán, Félix Fernández,
Emiliano R. Fernández, Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, etc.
There are great authors in all the literary genres, including
poetry, essays, short stories, novels and theater.
One of the main aspects to be considered was the boom
movement in Paraguay in the aftermath of the founding of
NAPA (Paraguayan Narrative) by the late writer Juan Bautista
Rivarola Matto in the decades of the 80s.
Nowadays, Paraguayan writers find publishing houses that
are interested in publishing their work. Newspapers also
give space to literary creation and that also encourages its
practice.
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Work for the Students: Identify the myths and legends best
kown in the community. Identify the favorite myths and legends
in every family.
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k. Religion
Each culture has its beliefs
in the afterlife as well as
its original myths and
practical explanations
on everyday life. The
Guarani Indians had no
problems in accepting Pilgrimage in a rural zone in honor of
a spiritual god of all Saint Blaise. Different regions adhere
creation because they to religious festivities with their own
peculiar forms and modalities.
revered the equally
spiritual figure of the god Tupã. At the same time the
concept of rewards and punishments was known to them
because the Yvy Marae’y or the Earth without evil was the
paradise human beings expected after living a full life on
earth.
The Christian religion allowed a wide framework of
syncretism or incorporation of local pagan elements that
ultimately meant the respect and the survival of the ancestral
traditions. The Christian missionaries managed to impose
their rites such as the processions, pilgrimages, novena, saint
patron days festivities, the Semana Santa or Holy Week,
the Day of the Cross or “Kurusu Ára”, etc. And in their own
turn, the Indians preserved their language as the vehicle to
transmit these customs. Religions, as a vital aspect of life,
form part of the community everyday life and it is perceived
as the guiding element of daily coexistence.
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Work for the Students Casa Viola, the only remaining colonial
Conduct a research on the building in Asunción without grid
following historic architectural square system streets. Built in the
eighteenth century.
monuments of the city. Consult
the bibliography regarding:
• Government Palace • Church of Trinidad
• Chamber of Deputies • Church of The Encarnación
• National Congress • Railway Central Station
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• Jesuit towns
There are architectural
and iconographic
remains of what
were the 30 Guarani
Reductions. The
Reductions of San
Ignacio Guazú, Santa
Maria de Fe, Santa
Rosa, Santiago, San
Cosme and Damián,
J e s ú s , Tr i n i d a d
(Itapúa) remained
in the territory of
Paraguay.
Work for the Students
a. Add more data to the items above mentioned and add
other sites and museums in the countryside, giving brief
references about them.
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7. Sustainable Development
After the Second World War, the Austrian economic school is the
first to use the term “development” as the set of actions undertaken
by the States in order to improve and increase the standard of
living in a country or region.
This terminology and ideology was quickly incorporated in the
social sciences and in politics, especially in Latin America. At first,
economic development was mentioned, but later the term came
to have a wider scope.
In the General Assembly of the United Nations in 1975, a different
type of development was proposed linked to the process oriented
according to the needs. Its goal was to satisfy fundamental needs
and to promote the realization of the communities and their
members. That is, a development with a broader dimension was
called for, an economic and cultural development. The UNESCO
declared the “Decade for cultural development 1988-1997”
with four fundamental goals:
• To incorporate the cultural dimension in the development
policies.
• To revalue cultural identities.
• To provide access for everybody to participate in cultural life.
• To foster international cultural cooperation.
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CHAPTER II
Rigoberta Menchú
Nobel Peace Prize Winner
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CHAPTER II
1. Cultural policies
It is the set of operations, principles, practices, administrative and
budgetary management procedures that serves as the basis for the
cultural action of a government (UNESCO).
For Evangelina García Prince: “It is understood that cultural policies
are the rules, principles and orientations formally seeking a goal which
have explicit formulation and sanction by the State and which guide
the dynamics of the cultural sector toward goals and objectives of
collective betterment.” (Recondo Gregorio, op.cit.).
Cultural policies must express a mechanism which enables the
encounter between talent and opportunity.
A culture exists independent of a public administration. The
latter has the function of organizing a cultural policy, which
means:
• To exclude ideological authoritarianism.
• To exclude political interventionism.
• To exclude paternalism by the State.
Cultural policy is an administrative activity which seeks to
stimulate the interactive dynamism of the producers of culture.
This must:
• Build new bridges between artists and their public.
• Allow the creators to freely excercise their expressions.
• Consolidate the existing cultural trends and promote the
creation of others.
• Facilitate the broadening of public spaces and democratic
access to the benefits of all expressions of culture.
• Promote citizen critical awareness.
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• Cultural animation:
it is the promotion of
cultural goods.
• Preservation of the
national and regional
heritage: a priority aspect
of the educational and
cultural policies and
preservation.
• Artistic and intellectual
creative freedom: in a
democratic environment
this is taken for granted.
• Culture and work: Silversmith from the town of Luque. The
culture is a source of traditional making of filigree jewelry is
still maintained with the combination
employment, occupation of contemporary designs.
and production.
• Tradition and modernity: aspects that do not contradict
each other because they rather complement and enrich
each other.
• Culture and communication: care must be paid to the
cultural aspect in the mass media and a critical spirit must
be developed before the wave of foreign patterns and
models.
• Correlation between culture, science and technique:
science and technique have greater effectiveness where
cultural aspects related to an idiosyncrasy are respected.
• Culture and leisure time: this is very important nowadays
because of the accumulation of leisure time by the
citizens. Creativity during leisure time is a need and,
simultaneously, a great opportunity. A lack of choices
drives young people to the bad habits of alcohol and
tobacco.
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The ñandutí is a fine lace that imitates a spider web. Paraguay’s textile
art derived from the lace of Tenerife, Canary Islands. The material takes
varied forms such as star, flor de arasa (flower), mburukuja (passion
fruit flower), panambi (butterfly), avati (corn), etc.
The main center for making this lace is Itaguá. It is also made in
Altos, Carapeguá, Guarambaré and Ypacaraí. Gustavo González, a
physician and culture researcher was the first to study and write
about the ñandutí.
San Miguel in the Department of Misiones is a typical place for
woolen and cotton materials with geometric designs and floral
motifs. The products have a wide market.
Another example of craftsmanship is basket work, a heritage from
the Indians who were very skillful at weaving baskets and mats
of vegetable fibers and some tightly knitted earthen jars to store
water or honey.
Authentic is the piri, used as a bed or curtain. The Payaguá Indians
monopolized its making and trade.
The Spaniards also introduced their basket work. This craftsmanship
hardly survived the War of the Triple Alliance. Later, it experienced
a recovery. The sombrero piri (hat) is still made with caranday fiber.
Up to now, baskets, handbags and hand fans uncolored or died in
different colors are made.
Leather was an important product in colonial Paraguay. Work on
leather of Spanish origin and clear Moorish influence was used
for seats, back of seats, to cover large chests, and jugs as well
as horseback riding accessories. Largely, the craftsmanship was
interrupted by the War of the Triple Alliance. However, there is
some recovery at present.
In Atyrá we can see the tradition of phytomorphic leather
carving.
Paraguayan ceramics, that has Guarani roots, displayed only
elementary decorations. In terms of shapes, the Guarani showed
special skills at making water jugs, plates and large funerary urns.
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The chipa, the so’o josopy, the locro, the vori vori, the mbeju
and other dishes are characteristic elements of Paraguayan
gastronomy which has Guarani and Spanish origins. To prepare
a delicious mbeju we must mix 600 grams of starch plus one cup
of corn flour, a spoonful of lard, ½ teaspoon of salt, 200 grams of
fresh cheese (called “Queso Paraguay”) and ¾ cup of milk.
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2. Cultural Mercosur
2.1. History
On March 26th, 1991, the presidents of Brazil, Argentina,
Paraguay and Uruguay signed the Treaty of Asunción which
created the Southern Common Market - Mercosur, a regional
organization, expression of the political will to unite our
countries.
Its main goal is the promotion of the free movement of goods,
services and factors of production, through the elimination of
duties.
On August 5th, 1994, the four presidents approved a common
external tariff through which, from beginning on January 1st,
1995, the countries formalized the entry of Mercosur into a
customs union.
Mercosur comprises a population of 200 million people and
US$ 7,700 per capita GDP, making Mercosur the eighth world
economy. Chile signed an economic complementation that
establishes a free trade zone. Bolivia expressed the intention
to become a full member soon.
This bloc implies a different conception of what in the past
was a border-wall in order to become an open-door border, a
point of encounter and convergence (Recondo Gregorio, “Identidad,
integración y creación cultural en América Latina” (“Identity, integration and
cultural creation in Latin America”), Editorial Belgrano - UNESCO: 1997).
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76. Y aunque ese azar rubricó And, although that misfortune sealed
1
indeleblemente el alma in an indelible way the soul
de todos los paraguayos, of all Paraguayans,
hoy miramos al futuro today we look to the future
con esperanza y con calma. with hope and calm.
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18. Los lagos llevan sus nombres The lakes bear their names
2
en la lengua guaraní. in the Guarani language.
Ypoá que significa Ypoá that means
“agua que suerte da” “Water that gives luck”
o la leyenda que encierra or the legend that contains
esa magia singular that magic unique
de aquel indio temeroso of that fearful Indian
que talló la imagen santa. who carved the miraculous image.,
Y pa Karai sugiere : Y pa Karai suggests:
“agua que bendita está” “Water that is blessed.”
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255. Dejo así para otro día Thus I leave for another day
sobre costumbres y gente. tales of customs and people
y les invito a cantar and I invite you to sing
cerrando así la jornada to finish this day
una guarania de Flores a guarania by Flores
o bailemos esa polka or let us dance the polka
que es la Danza Paraguaya that is the “Danza Paraguaya”
del inmortal Mangoré. of the immortal Mangoré.
263. Que comiencen los rasguidos Let the sound of the music
de requintos y guitarras of requintos (small guitars)
and guitars begin
y apréstense para la farra and get ready for the fun
que luego vienen los ‘casos’. as the “cases” are still to come.
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CHAPTER III
1. Paraguayan reality
An effective cultural policy requires full knowledge of the different
periods of our history, our traditions, values, and the socio-political
process. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out a deep analysis of
the country’s historical, economic and institutional framework in
order to achieve cultural development.
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Yerba mate
The discovery of the yerba mate is due to Domingo Martínez de
Irala who, in 1554, led an expedition to the Guairá region where
he was received by thousans of Indians living there. The Spaniards
noted with interest their good height and strength physical
appearance, their friendly character and natural happiness. The
secret to such good qualities, according to the Indians themselves,
was due to an infusion made from the leaves of a tree called Ka’a.
The Jesuits often mentioned the yerba in the Annual Letters
(Cartas Anuas) and it was precisely one of them, José Sánchez
Labrador, the first to deal with the scientific aspect of the plant
in a study dated in 1774.
The yerba mate was a product with a wide market in Hispanic
and Portuguese America. The ilex paraguariensis became a
characteristic habit of the inhabitants of the region. Sometimes,
the yerba mate was considered an infusion with quasi-magical
virtues or an abominable and dirty vice that caused all kinds of
social stains. The yerba mate has been a subject for national
artists. Poet Eloy Fariña Nuñez tells us: “It grows healthy in your
regions/ the plant of yerba whose leaves/ give the mate, the native
tea/ glory both in the mornings as in the siestas (naps)/”.
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Independent Paraguay
The American independent movements began almost simultaneously
in all the Hispanic colonial territories, after Napoleon’s invasion of
the Iberian peninsula in 1808 and the abdication of the Spanish
King, Ferdinand VII. Paraguay was not an exception. Between
1810 and 1811, Paraguay severed the links with the two centers
of power: the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata,
Buenos Aires, and Spain, the European metropolis. On the night
between May 14th and 15th, 1811, the patriots, led by Captain
Pedro Juan Cavallero in absence of Brigadier Fulgencio Yegros, sent
an ultimatum to the last Spanish Governor, Bernardo de Velazco,
who offered no resistence. The Paraguayan independence was
achieved without any bloodshed.
The Congress of 1813 declared the constitution of a Republic in
Paraguay and approved Governmental Regulations which provides
for a government for two consuls. Finally, in 1814, Dr. Francia is
elected Dictator of the Republic, until his death in 1840.
After the conspiracy of 1820, the patriots of May suffered
persecution, imprisonment and death.
The government of Buenos Aires considered Paraguay a rebel
province and it would not allow free navigation of the ships through
the Paraná river.
A Congress was convened after Francia’s death which inaugurated
the second consulship in Paraguay held by two citizens. One of
them, Carlos Antonio López, became the constitutional president
of the Republic in 1844. He ruled three terms to office: 1844-54;
1854-57 and 1857-62, when he died.
On October 16th, 1862, an Assembly confirmed Vice President
Francisco Solano Lopez in power.
The essential and decisive aspect for the new Paraguayan President
Francisco Solano López, was his foreign policy, which eventually
led us to the War of the Triple Alliance. The agitated political scene
of the Río de la Plata finally influenced Paraguayan politics.
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Constitutional Paraguay
A decimated population, made up mostly of old men, women
and children, survived the hecatomb of the War of the Triple
Alliance. By 1870, Paraguay had lost eighty percent of its male
population and the situation presented a desolate picture of its
ruined economy, social and political structures. The generation
in charge of reconstruction of the country decided to create an
institutional framework.
A National Constituent Assembly was convened with representatives
from the capital city and the countryside, and it enacted the
Constitution of 1870, inspired in the Constitution of the United
States and Argentina, with liberal tenets. It forbade slavery, torture,
exile and the death penalty for political offences. This era marks
the beginning of close cultural links with the Río de la Plata, where
the adopted legal and educational systems came from.
Important education institutions helped in the formation of young
values who later became protagonists in the national life. The Colegio
Nacional (National School), the Universidad Nacional (National
University) and the incipient political partisan press will generate
public opinion that inaugurated the exercise of dissent in Paraguayan
society. The occupation armies left the country in 1876 (Brazil) and
1879 (Argentina) which favored a more autonomous political life.
The war for the control of the Chaco Boreal (Northern/Upper
Chaco) between Bolivia and Paraguay (1932-1935) was the
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Its first edition was published on May 1st, 1867 and it was printed
in the camps of Paso Pucú.The headline was accompanied by an
etching reproducing a beehive in reference to its name in Guarani.
The etchings of Cabichui constitute a chapter in the history of
Latin American art. The artists were Julián Aquino, Saturio Ríos,
Alejandro Ravizza, Francisco Velazco, and others.
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Authoritarian Paraguay
The 1870 Constitution was replaced by another imposed by
decree. It was the Constitution of 1840 which proposed large state
intervention and predominance of the executive branch.
The military garrison in Concepción and part of the garrison in
the Chaco rose in rebellion in March, 1947, beginning one of
the most tragic chapters in Paraguayan political history. It was a
military uprising that lasted six months where the revolutionaries
were harshly repressed with the victory of the counterrevolution.
An important sector of the population went into exile and suffering
another loss of its ruling class, a constant in its political life.
After a period of anarchy, General Alfredo Stroessner led a coup
d’état to become the ruler with more years in administration.
Stroessner started the system by which only members of the
Colorado Party could get public jobs including those linked to
education.
The final years of Stroessner’s regime were of sheer decadence
which motivated General Andrés Rodríguez, father-in-law of
Stroessner’s son and natural successor in the armed forces, to lead
the military coup that deposed Stroessner in February, 1989.
In 1992, the current Constitution was promulgated. Among other
things, it declares Paraguay as a multiethnic and multicultural
country, establishes the Guarani as an official language, protects
Indian communities and stresses the defense of the cutural
identity.
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1.2.2. Economy
The first economic organization was not based on land tenure,
but upon the encomienda system. Land was abundant, but
the encomiendas assured the presence of Indian labor to till the
land. In a pre-monetary economy where the barter system land
tenure becomes a critical problem only after the massive sale of
public property in the 1880s. Before, state property was rented at
affordable prices to farmers. Economy system based on agriculture
and cattle has been up to now the basis for the production of
wealth in Paraguay.
Most of the population was forced to resort to subsistence farming
in the first half of the twentieth century. With the building of roads
and the improvement in communications, the rural population
without access to agribusiness or to employment in small and
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1.2.3. Society
As we already mentioned, Paraguay is a landlocked, multiethnic and
multicultural country. It began with a process of miscegenation with
the Kario of the Tupí-Guaraní linguistic family. In the independent
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tekojoja: equality
tekoporã: quality of life
tekojoahu: love
tekomarangatu: dignity
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As very few of them were able to pay the tax, acquire the status
known as “amparo” or official decree that meant that blacks and
mulattoes were handed to wealthy people, ecclesiastics and to
the military. These people defended themselves by taking shelter
in towns in the countryside.
A liberation from the “amparo” system was the origin of the town
of Emboscada.
Carlos Pastore says that in Areguá, Emboscada and Tavapy the
Blacks were grouped and organized by Dominican and Franciscan
religious orders who had cattle and haciendas in those places. Tevegó
or Etevegó was a “Pueblo de Pardos” (a town of free blacks), founded
in 1813 by order of the Junta Superior Gubernativa (the governing
council) with the population of pardos from Tavapy. Later, it became
a penal colony, where mulattoes with misconduct problems were
sent until in 1843, when is renamed “Villa del Divino Salvador”.
Blacks communities of more recent origins and different nature
were the colonies for foreign residents who entered the country.
San Lorenzo del Campo Grande: Cambá Loma and Laurelty, where
Francia had granted land for fugitive slaves from Brazil and for
the Blacks in Artigas’s army.
As a cultural contribution from this African minority reflected
in the collective memory, among other things we can indicate
the celebration of Cambá la Mercé, under the direction of the
women in the capital city, which lasted until the beginning of the
century and it coincided with the festivities of the Virgin of the
Mercy, Patroness of the Order dedicated to the rescue of slaves,
on September 24th, or the festivity of St. Balthazar, on January
6th in San Lorenzo and Capiatá.
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The decade of the 20s was fruitful in Paraguay. It coincides with the
creation of the Guarania by composer José Asunción Flores, Professor
Ramón Indalecio Cardozo‘s education reform, the foundation of the
Paraguayan Scientific Society, of the Historical and Ethnographic
Museum with legacies given by Max Schmidt, Moisés Bertoni and
General Belaieff. The press played an important role with: El Diario,
El Liberal, La Tribuna and La Nación. Magazines such as Juventud
and Minerva agglutinated important poets such as Vicente Lamas,
Darío Gómez Serrato, José Concepción Ortiz and Alejandro Guanes.
Popular poets like Manuel Ortiz Guerrero and Emiliano R. Fernández
stood out.
Julio Correa and Félix Fernández’s theater in the Guarani language
and Narciso R. Colmán’s studies are from this era.
The defense of the Chaco was carried out with enthusiasm,
especially by Dr. Manuel Domínguez, Fulgencio R. Moreno, and
other intellectuals.
Dr. Eligio Ayala’s government, Paraguay’s great statesman, who
ruled from 1924 to 1928, corrected the country’s economy and was
able to reach a budgetary surplus. In that way, the defense of the
Chaco was possible without foreign debt.
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2. Globalization
We fear that globalization may disturb the genuineness of our local
cultural expressions. We are living a true technological revolution
of instant communication and that may be benefitial, but we need
to know how to manage it.
The matter of globalization was seen as a threat to the national
states and as the likelihood of cultural homogeneization.
Our profile as a developing country, permeable to the onslaught
of the mass media that favors hegemonic cultures, we run the real
risk of becoming a hybridization as it in fact happens with the fast
food culture, standard dressing codes and now celebrations such as
Halloween or Valentine’s Day (Northern hemisphere spring day),
which is in contrast with our Day of Youth on September 21st, to
name only a few examples. Without rejecting it, some aspects of
globalization are very positive such as the available and instant
information, the elimination of distances, etc. However, we must
be alert to avoid the absorption of our values and their replacement
by others different from our reality which may lead to a harmful
alienation as it is in fact already seen.
In a country abundant in citrus fruits of the best quality which
rot because of a lack of markets, our people spend their meager
income in soft drinks of international brands without nutritive
value.
Globalization at an economic level, on the other hand, compels
us to take safeguards to limit the invasion of Asian industrialized
products or from other origins which compete in prices though
not always in quality with the local production which means loss
of jobs, pauperization and rural migration to urban belts.
In summary, globalization means the elimination of geographic
and political borders, international trade facilitation and the fluid
exchange of people, knowledge and economic resources. It is an
inevitable reality from which it is imposible to escape. For that
reason, the idea is that societies must learn to defend their interests
and to accept only those which may benefit them. Obviously, some
cultures will be able to avoid this phenomenon better and others
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Sebastian Cabot
Born to John Cabot, navigator at the service of the King of England
who entered the Newfoundland Peninsula in North America only
five years after the discovery of America. Sebastian was born in
1469 and entered into the service of the King of Spain as the Piloto
Mayor del Reino (Pilot of the Kingdom) replacing Juan Díaz de
Solís after his death.
In March, 1525, he signed a capitulation with the crown to follow
the route of Magellan and Elcano as far as the Molucca, Cathay
and Cipango, in search for gold and precious stones.
On April 3rd, 1526, he left Sanlúcar with a fleet of three small ships:
the Santa María de la Concepción, the Santa María del Espinar
and the Trinidad. The expedition headed for the coast of Brazil,
veering from the road set in the capitulation. Cabot wanted to
reach the Río Solís or Fresh Sea, because the news of the White
King that had reached fame.
When he reached the coast of Santa Catalina, Cabot and his men
made contact with Enrique Montes and Melchor García, who ratified
Alejo García’s experience and showed samples of precious metals.
A council of captains confirmed the change of course. The flagship
wrecked in the Puerto de los Patos (Port of the Ducks) where they built
another ship to navigate the interior rivers. Before departing, captains
Francisco de Rojas, Martín Méndez and Miguel de Rodas remained on
the island because they had opposed to the change of course.
The fleet reached the Río de la Plata and Cabot founded the Puerto
de San Lázaro (Port of Saint Lazarus). Soon appeared Francisco del
Puerto, the cabin-boy who had survived the massacre of Solís and he
confirmed the news received in Pernambuco and Santa Catarina.
Cabot went up the Paraná river and arrived at the confluence of
the Carcañará where they built the fortress of Sancti Spiritu, first
Spanish settlement in the Plata. He sailed the Paraná river up
north and on March 31st, 1528, he reached the confluence of the
Paraná and Paraguay rivers. Later, they went on the Paraguay
river reaching the confluence with the Pilcomayo river. A scout
group was intercepted and killed by the Indians of the zone. Cabot,
with diminished resources, returned to Sancti Spiritu and upon his
return he met the fleet of Diego García de Moguer, a sailor who
had been in the Plata with Solís and who had circumnavigated
the globe with Magellan and Elcano.
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He had been hired for a voyage on the Río de la Plata by the Casa de
Contrataciones (House of Trade) of Seville, leaving to that end from
La Coruña in January, 1526. Both captains argued about their rights
for this exploration and conquest. But, after the disagreement, they
joined forces to embark in search of the White King. In August, 1528,
Cabot and Diego García left together northward. Cabot heard that
a group of Timbu Indians was planning to attack Sancti Spiritu for
which reason he decided to return.
Sancti Spiritu was ruled by Gregorio de Caro whose bad policies
cost him the enmity of the natives. The fort was destroyed and
pillaged. Disappointed, both captains returned to Spain. Cabot
reached Seville in July, 1530 and he had to face lawsuits and
sentences that led to imprisonment and indemnity claims. Later,
he left for England where he died at the age of 80.
Isabel de Guevara
She arrived at these lands with the fleet of the Adelantado Don
Pedro de Mendoza. In Asunción she married Captain Pedro de
Esquivel who arrived with the Second Adelantado, Alvar Núñez
Cabeza de Vaca.
Doña Isabel knew how to read and write which, at that time,
indicated an uncommon instruction.
The letter she wrote from Asunción on July 2nd, 1556, is famous
because in it she narrates to the Governing Princess (she refers
to the hapless Juana la Loca or Joan the Mad) the suffering
underwent in Buenos Aires and the solicitous work of the women.
This letter is recorded among those that indicated “probanzas de
méritos y servicios” (proof of merits and services) which would
mean that the settlers requested recognition from the King for
having served in these lands.
Her letter is moving because she details the vicissitudes and
famine endured by the explorers. “…The men came so skinny that
all the work was performed by the poor women, thus washing
their clothes, curing them, cooking for them what little they had,
wash them, take their place as guards, make rounds for the fires,
prepare the crossbow, whenever the Indians came warring, even
to undertake to put fire in the verses and to put the soldiers on
foot, those who were in condition of doing so, put the camp in alert
screaming, bossing around and putting in order the soldiers…”
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Ana Díaz
She accompanied the fifty-six mancebos de la tierra (mestizos of the
land) and ten Spaniards in the expedition led by Juan de Garay to found
the second Buenos Aires on June 11th, 1580. As indicated by Enrique
Larreta, “among the founders was one Paraguayan woman”. The place
chosen for the solemnities was the present Plaza de Mayo.
She was granted a house in 1583 and ¼ of a square of land for having
participated in the foundation. Josefina Cruz wrote that “the house
granted to Ana Díaz and where she probably erected a thatched
and clay hut, cultivated her orchard, fought, suffered and loved is
today one of the busiest corners in Buenos Aires”.
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María de Casati
She was the founder of the first national newspaper in defense
of women’s rights. Named “Por la mujer” (For the women), it was
published between May and October, 1936. Furthermore, she
created the Feminist Union of Paraguay on April 26th, 1936.
Casati and the other founding members of “Por la mujer” were
identified with the February revolt of 1936, led by Col. Rafael
Franco who ousted the Liberal Party from government. They called
themselves feminists. They had a critical view but were aware
of the limitations of women’s role. They struggled for the social
and political equality of women as well as their instruction and
cultural improvement. They urged the government to guarantee
justice and peace without gender distinctions.
This journalistic piece is considered the first newspaper in
defense of women, struggling for legal equality and against legal
discriminations.
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Rafael Barrett
He arrived in Paraguay in 1904 as correspondent for the Buenos
Aires newspaper “El Tiempo”. He becomes closely linked to
Paraguay where he saw the circumstances of this country.
He is associated with the national press and later founds the
newspaper “Germinal” in 1908, which although it was short-lived
–because the content was very controversial– he pens very critical
reflections about the reality of the country in its unforgettable
pages. His journalistic articles were later compiled and published
in “Lo que son los yerbales” (What the Paraguayan yerba fields
actually are) and “Dolor Paraguayo” (Paraguayan sorrow).
Josefina Plá
Se was born in Fuerteventura, Canary Islands (Spain) in 1903.
Paraguayan by adoption, she married the Paraguayan ceramist
Julián de la Herrería (Andrés Campos Cervera). She arrives in
Paraguay in 1927.
She had an outstanding career in journalism until 1937 becoming the
first woman journalist and chief editor in a newspaper. Josefina then
becomes a narrator, poet, playwright, historian, cultural researcher
and plastic artist, leaving behind an unique legacy.
She is considered the introducer of the new twentieth century
aesthetics into Paraguay, because, at the head of the Grupo
Arte Nuevo (New Art Group) at the beginning of the 1950s, she
organized the modern art exibition, along with Olga Blinder, Lilí
del Mónico, Edith Jiménez and others.
She died on January 11th, 1999 at the age of 95.
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of Ciudad Real and of Villa Rica joined by the Indians of the desolate
towns of Terecañy, Candelaria and Mbaracayú.
The Guairá people who were migrating set their eyes on the
Ybyturusú mountains where they settled on May 20th, 1682.
Later, Governor Bazán de Pedraza, who was by chance visiting the
region, approved in 1714 the foundation of a Spanish village in the
old seat of Villa Rica del Espíritu Santo, because of the advantages
of the site of Curuguaty for the production and trading of the yerba
mate and due to the navigability of the Curuguaty and Jejuí, part
of the Paraguay river basin.
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The Patron Saint Day Feasts evoke the Patron Saints of the towns,
“compañías” (townships) or family. There is a mixture of the religious
and profane. In general, the festivities begin with prayers, Masses
and processions during in which the image of a saint is shown on
the streets of the town. They aim at collective participation and it is
always around a karu guasu (great dinner) with dancing, gambling,
posts that sell religious stamps or candles and amusement parks.
There is playing of the diana mbaja (Mbaja reveille) which begins
the day with an early bell ringing and fireworks. During the
festivities, popular bands perfom and typical pieces are danced.
Sometimes, there are bull fights, toro candil (fake bull fight),
carrera pe, carrera sortija, sortija yvyrupi, bandera jere, carrera
vosa, etc. (all sorts of races). The closing of the feast is indicated
by the castillo-kái (burning of the castle) or Judas-kai (burning of
an effigy of Judas). Also, people engage in different games: yvyra
syi,(slippery pole) kambuchi jejoka (breaking the jar), tuna jekutu
(stick it to the cactus), paila jeheré (lick the pan), gallo jejuka (kill
the rooster), parallel to gambling, bingo, ruleta criolla (creole
roulette), target shooting, guessing cards and others.
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Ayvu Rapyta
The Theogony
The Origin of the Ñamandú
Text in Mby’a guaraní compiled
by León Cadogan
Yvára pypyte
The divine soles of the feet
apyka apu´a i,
The small round seat
pytü yma mbytére oguerojera ....
el apyka jaguar
In the heart of primeval darkness
Displays them in their display...
Yvara jechaka mba´e ekuaa
Divine reflection of the divine wisdom
yvára rendupa,
divine sonorous footboard of all things
yvára popyte, yvyrai
divine palms of their hands
with the stick as emblem
yvára popyte raka poty
divine palm trees with flowery branches
oguerojerá Ñamandu
pytü yma mbytére
He displays them in their own display
Ñamandú in the middle of the primeval darkness
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La Mujer
La Mujer de
de la
la Conquista
ConquistaWomen
(Womenand theConquest)
in the Conquest
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El largo bostezo de todas las huellas The long yawning of all the traces
sabe la amargura de su ingrato sino: knows the bitterness of its ungrateful fate
ir siempre arrastrando por todo camino of eternally dragging all the way
susu penas cual loco cazador de estrellas. its sorrows like a crazy star hunter.
Eres el pasado lejano y perdido, You are the remote and lost past
te aroma el encanto de lo fenecido, perfumed by the enchantment of the long gone
carreta romántica, dulce y patriarcal. Romantic, sweet and patriarchal cart.
Llorando te acercas a tu triste ocaso Crying you come close to your sad dusk
con la sacrosanta cruz de tu fracaso with the very sacrosanct cross of your failure
yo lloro contigo tu pena ancestral. I cry with your ancestral pain.
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Firme en el rojo suelo, sin desmayo Firm on the red soil without fainting
das frutas y hojas al menesteroso you give you fruits and leaves to the needy
y, al fin, el tenaz leño, ya en reposo: and at last, the tenacious log already resting:
tú pareces en todo paraguayo. you seem Paraguayan in everything.
Doblarte no podrá sino romperte Only the tempest would break you
más bien la tempestad, altivo y fuerte, but not bend you, haughty and strong
símbolo del terruño, mbocayá. symbol of the land, mbocayá.
Hoy y ayer, en la paz como en la guerra, Today and yesterday, in peace as in war
para hombres y bestias de esta tierra for men and beasts of this land
tú has sido de los pobres el maná. You have been the manna of the poor.
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Documentary Annex
1. Physical Aspects
The Republic of Paraguay is located in the central part of South
America. It sits on 19º 18º and 27º 3’ latitude south and longitude
54º 15º and 62º 38’ west of Greenwich. It is bordered to the north
with Brazil and Bolivia; to the east with Brazil and Argentina; to the
south with Argentina and to the west with Bolivia. It is a landlocked
country with access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Paraguay,
Paraná and Río de la Plata rivers.
It has an area of 406,752 square kilometers and it is divided by
the Paraguay river into two natural regions: the Western region or
Chaco with an area of 246,925 square kilometers, constituting 61%
of the country’s total area, and the Eastern region with 159,827
square kilometers, 39% of the total area. Both regions are divided
politically into departments, the Eastern has fourteen departments
and the Western, three.
Population is approximately 5,500,000 inhabitants of which only
3.5 to 4% correspond to the Chaco. The total population density
is very low as it is one of least populated countries in the Southern
hemisphere. In 1992, according to census data, it density was 10.1
inhabitants per square kilometer.
The country’s climate has characteristics that place it within
the continental subtropical, but it varies from region to region.
Summers are rainy and very hot while winters show low
temperatures and rainfalls diminishes. There is a marked difference
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2. Environmental Aspects
2.1. Region Oriental (The Eastern Region)
It is “characterized by a variety of physical aspects where alternate
plains with extended forested level areas, (...) mountain ranges, hills
and valleys and a network of rivers and streams.”2 In concentrates
most of the economic activity of the country and for that reason
it is one of the most densely populated regions.
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Jesuit Haciendas:
a) Paraguarí
b) San Lorenzo
Haciendas of the
Order of the Mercy:
a) Areguá
A household in San Lorenzo, originally
Dominican Haciendas a Jesuit hacienda, today it is one of the
fastest growing cities inthe metropolitan
a) Roque Gonzá- area.
lez de Santa Cruz.
The examples of monument heritage in Paraguay’s countryside
are limited to the zones where the Missions settled. Both the
Jesuit Ruins and some churches and other, Jesuit or Franciscan
buildings, are invaluable, not only for the architectural and artistic
value but because of the history told between the lines, as it was
explained before.
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Museums
In Paraguay, museum activity is relatively new. Asunción has the
largest museum concentration of the country and, although with
some limitations, it has interesting works of art.
Among them:
• National Museum of Fine Arts: created in 1902 but inaugurated
in 1909, first as a private initiative, it was acquired by the State
thirty years later. The original collection, collected in Buenos Aires
and Europe, and that belonged to Juansilvano Godoi, contains
samples of naturalism that comes from European and Río de la
Plata academies of the nineteenth century. It has works of art by
foreign painters such as Héctor Da Ponte, Guido Boggiani, and
Jules Mornet. It also has works of art by national artists such as
Pablo Alborno, Juan Samudio, Jaime Bestard, Andrés Campos
Cervera, Carlos Colombo, Julián Sánchez, Modesto Delgado
Rodas, among others. The museum’s collection mostly belongs to
the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Unfortunately, a bad
management during many years led to the disappearance and loss
of works of art which diminished noticeably its collection.
• Casa de la Independencia (House of the Independence): it is a
historical and documentary museum. It has samples of colonial
furniture, objects of personal use, portraits and letters.
• Centro de artes visuales / Museo del Barro (Center for Visual
Arts / Museum of Clay): structured over twenty years of work, it
is composed of three museums which exhibit Paraguay’s visual
expressions. Thus, the Museum of Clay contains collections of
Popular Art with more than 4,000 pieces from the beginning of
the seventeenth century and it includes carvings, textiles, laces,
ceramics, jewelry, and silverwork; the Museum of Indian Art
integrates the art of the 17 ethnic groups within the national territory,
with over 2,000 pieces, among them we find vases, carvings,
feather, textiles, masks and baskets; and the Paraguayan Museum
of Contemporary Art for the multiple expressions of Urban Art from
Paraguay and Ibero America, with a collection of over 1,000 works
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Craftsmanships
Popular craft is the set of
manifestations produced by
the people of different towns
as examples of their culture. It
is through this concept that we
associate always craftsmanship
with tradition and identity.
Here, it would be necessary Anthropomorfic water pitcher: created
by the famous pottery maker from the
t o d i f f e r e n t i a t e p o p u l a r town of Itá, Doña Rosa Brítez.
craftsmanship from popular
art which is a less lax concept.
The second term is used to cover such manifestations that reach a
certain level of aesthetic expressivity (quality of form, techniques,
and materials and density in the content).
At first, the Guarani craftsmanship was linked exclusively with strictly
ritual or utilitarian ends. Those related to ritual were eradicated by the
Spaniards upon their arrival in America but those linked to utilitarian
ends were reformulated in accordance with the new demands imposed
by the colony. Indian labor was organized twofold: the organization
in missions managed by the Society of Jesus where the organizational
structure was more complex and strict and, as a consequence, the
margin of creativity was limited, and other organizations, in this case,
civilian ones, and less rigorous than the former, with the help of a
religious order. The latter were established through workshops in the
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Indian towns (Táva) and as a consequence of the latter that arises the
mestizo expression that so characterizes Paraguay.
Once in the nineteenth century, during the government of the two
López, a commercial opening takes place after years of isolation,
and thereby refined aesthetic elements are imported from the Río
de la Plata and Europe. But these aesthetic criteria do not manage
to displace the craft models. Furthermore, there is a displacement of
this popular craft toward the uses and customs of the criollo upper
class. Thus, for example, the ñandutí, earlier an exclusive religious
item, starts being part of the criollo tousseau.
The problem that meant for Paraguay the War of the Triple Alliance
is also reflected in the craftsmanship. Some manifestations survived
because they had a functional feature, above all those linked to
women, since the male population was amply reduced.
From the half of the twentieth century “(...) the advance in the use
of industrialized consumer goods and acceleration in the rhythm
of urbanization provoke the weakening of peasant socio-cultural
patterns and a gradual and then speedy development of hybrid
craftmanship forms that incorporate new models, elements and
techniques.” But, at the same time, this type of manifestations
started to be valued giving them a non-utilitarian character, as
decorative pieces or collectibles.
Currently, the aesthetic quality of Paraguayan craftsmanship is seen
diminished in some cases because it adopts elements that have not
yet been reformulated as its own, especially in zones around the
capital city. In other cases, such a quality is growing since the products
of the same phenomenon and these reformulated elements, end up
creating a craftsmanship with a voice of its own.
Depending on the material and the technique used, the Paraguayan
craftsmanship have very representatives examples. We will cite
the most important.
Weaving made of woolen, cotton or palm fibers, is fundamentally
a female activity.
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Music
One of the most important expressions in cultural manifestations in
Paraguay is music. The Jesuits in the Reductions left clear testimony
that the Guarani Indian had a natural gift which made of him an
excellent composer and performer. Loyola’s order had brought many
renowned musicians like Domenico Zípoli and others. Likewise, the
Franciscans had created Indian bands and choirs whose performances
were highly praised by observers who left testimonies.
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6. Economy
Paraguay’s economy is based on agricultural and livestock.
Therefore, its production for export is based on the resources of the
soil. Its main products reflect the sharp contrasts of this society.
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was born Kuarahy (the sun), is not that distant from the biblical
explanations of the birth of Christ. On the other hand, among the
Guarani, every important event was accompanied by a banquet
or Karu Guasu, which Miró estimates is the precedent of the
Patron Saint Day whose primary goal was to attract the natives to
Christianity to make them abandon their pagan customs.
Religious celebrations are the subject of the fourth part of Miró’s
book. For her, four are the celebrations that still gather the whole
family: the Semana Santa (Holy Week), the Día de los Muertos
(Day of the Dead), Navidad (Christmas), and Año Nuevo (New
Year). Of all these, the Holy Week is the most traditional and in it
appear the gastronomic elements of celebration such as the chipa,
the Paraguayan soup, roasting of fowls, mutton, goat, pork and
beef, all cooked in the tatakua.
The other celebration with a specific element is that on May 3rd,
or Kurusú Ara. Formerly, chipa and other foods were hung on the
cross though lately it is exclusively done with chipa. In the Karaí
Octubre (Man of October), on the first of October one must
necessarily eat Jopara, a dish prepared with “porotos” (beans)
and “locro” (hominy) in order to appease Karaí Octubre who
threatens with lack of food.
For the Day of the Dead, the population must hand out chipas
and candies to children in cemeteries or in private houses in
the name of the dead ancestors. In the patron saint’s day, a
community dinner is celebrated in order to give thanks for favors
received or to ask for protection. In matters related to the worship
of the dead, food and drinks are given to honor the deceased,
whether it is in the vigil or in the Ñembo’e Paha, —which is the
community banquet the last day of the novena. On the other
hand, the worship to little angels is an occasion of joy because the
children’s innocence implies their safe salvation, for that reason
they are dressed in white and is a moderately celebrated occasion
for food and drinks.
Finally, the fifth part of the book refers to the chipa or holy bread.
The bread made with corn flour and manioc of the entire Latin
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CONCLUSIoN
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Teachers will find in this material the way to teach and approach
subjects that shall become a novelty in the classroom and that cross
into the content of distinct disciplines. Through this approach, it
can be dealt with myths, legends, traditions, gastronomy, values,
languages, references to music, dance and literature, anthropology
and diversity in general.
At the same time, students find out about their roots and notice
other valuable and different expressions beyond those shown by
the mass media.
In the globalized world, and facing the onslaught of the hegemonic
culture, may cause in our Latin American countries a feeling of
displacement or underestimation of our own cultures.
In the defense of our cultures, there should be no chauvinism nor
concessions.
This valorization process of what is Paraguayan, related to regional
integration and respectful of other cultures that give us the precious
gift of diversity, is what we consider of great importance and that is
what should be promoted in the framework of public policies.
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Bibliography
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