The native communities of Chile started to mix with the Spanish colonists at the beginning of the 16th Century, and since then with those who arrive from other nations in Europe and Asia. Together they formed a mestizo diversity that today amount to more than 16 million Chileans.
Language
The official language of Chile is Spanish. However mapudungún, the tongue of the Mapuches, is also spoken, along with Rapa nui on Easter Island, aimara, quechua and alacalufe (kawésqar).
Population
In 2002, the last year of the Census, the population totaled 15,116,435. The projection for 2009 is 16.9 million. 86.6% of the population lives in the urban areas and 6.8 million reside in the Metropolitan Region of Santiago, the country’s capital.
Religion
The Chilean State is secular and tolerant. Official information from the 2002 Census shows that almost 90 % of the Chileans older than 15 years declare themselves a believer, whereas the rest claimed to have no religion, to be atheistic or agnostic. Of the believers, 70 % of the Chileans are Catholic, 15.1 % evangelist, and remaining 4.4 % is split among various other creeds.
Ethnicities
4.6 % of the inhabitants of Chile, about 700,000 people, belongs to diverse ethnicities. The mapuche, the most prolific, lives in the south of the country and in Santiago. The ethnicities Aymara and atacameña are in the north, the rapanui on Easter Island, and the yámana in the far south.
Mapuche, Rapa Nui, Aymara Fotografía: Sernatur
Mapuche: 87,31%
Aymara: 7,01%
Atacameño: 3,04%
Quechua: 0,89%
Rapanui: 0,67%
Alacalufe (Kawesqar): 0,38%
Colla: 0,46%
Yámana: 0,24%
Inmigrants
The first Spaniards arrived to Chile in the middle of the 16th Century. Two centuries later, with the incentive and support of the State, German, Croatian, French, Italian and British immigrants arrived. The 20th century brought Asian immigrants and refugee Spanish refugees of the civil war. In the last decades, the economic growth of the country has attracted Argentineans, Peruvians and Ecuadorians.
The multicultural becomes obvious as one travels through Chile. In the extreme south, the Croatian traditions still continue today. Capitán Pastene, in the La Araucanía region, is a small Italian town, founded by the immigrants at the end of the 19th Century.
The Bavarian architecture and the gastronomy express the German influence in Frutillar and Puerto Varas. The world of sports is no stranger to this diversity, as noted by the professional soccer league. The soccer teams Palestino (Palestine), Audax Italiano and Unión Española (The Spanish Union), represent the immigrants from their respective colonies.
Chilean writers create and recreate the world from a country that was described for the first time by Alonso de Ercilla y Zuñiga, chronicler of the Spanish conquest in the 16th century. His principal work, the epic poem La Araucana, is in perfect pentameter: “Chile, fertile province and marked / in the famous Antarctic region / from remote respected nations / for strength, principal, and power.”
Four centuries later, the poets Gabriela Mistral and Pablo Neruda received the Nobel Prize in Literature. The global honor recognizes in the work of Chilean poets the voice of Latin America, and the deeper dreams and values of humanity.
From oral communication to writing
It is generally accepted that the country was invented by a poet, in reference to La Araucana, a work partially published for the first time in Madrid in 1569. The work describes the war between the Mapuche Indians and their conqueror, as well as, the appearance of the original village and the natural beauty encountered by the historian.
However, before this point, there was no writing. For the Mapuches that inhabited these areas before the arrival of the Spaniards, the language was of oral tradition, not written. Poetry was used to describe wars and religious rituals. Following the arrival of the Spaniards, colonial literature emerged from works by Spaniards, Creoles, or native Chileans.
Country of Poets
Chile, country of poets, is a popular saying. And, the two Nobel Prizes appear to confirm it. The wide array of other authors that contribute through their works erases any doubt. Vicente Huidobro, for example (1893-1948), was a part of the European vanguard in Paris in the beginning of the 20th century, and established with French poet Pierre Reverdy the Creationism. “Why do you sing rose, oh poets! / Por qué cantáis la rosa, ¡oh Poetas! / Make her bloom in the poem”, writes the Chilean in his poetry.
Among the diverse group of Chilean authors, it is important to highlight Nicanor Parra (1914), creator of the anti-poetry, who incorporates colloquial language, irony, and a distant solemn tone into the poetry. It is also important to highlight Gonzalo Rojas (1917), who incorporated sensuality and eroticism into his work. Both Parra and Rojas have achieved international recognition in recent decades.
The poets that began publishing their work in the second half of the 20th century occupy their own space. Enrique Lihn (1929-1988) and Jorge Teillier (1935-1996) are the two most often highlighted.
The poets of the 1960’s are a part of the “destroyed generation” by the state coup, some of whom suffered in prison or exile. In the 1980’s, under the military dictatorship, “Generation NN” emerged, a clear allusion to the anonymity and secrecy with which works were written and published in order to avoid political censure. Feminist poetry emerged as a potent political voice during those years. At the same time, Mapuche poetry arrived from the south of Chile written in a way that reflected the oral tradition of their ancestry.
Fiction
The books of Roberto Bolaño can be found in bookstores throughout the world. The work of the Chilean author who died in 2003 has been especially well received in Spain and the United States, places where he has recently received critical praise. Los detectives salvajes and 2666 are his most well known novels, which reflect an urban Latin American reality and thoughtfulness typically expressed by authors of magical realism.
- Isabel Allende
Fotografía: El Mercurio
Another famous author, Isabel Allende wrote, among others, La Casa de los Espíritus, Eva Luna and Retrato en Sepia, and she has sold more than 50 million copies of her books throughout the world. Presently, Bolaño and Allende are probably the two most recognized Chilean authors.
Chilean literature has developed considerably since the chroniclers first started writing about the country 400 years ago. In those first texts, the narratives of those early travelers and authors established a framework from which later Chilean fiction and nonfiction emerged. The first notable work in this genre was published in 1644 by a Jesuit priest named Alonso de Ovalle and was entitled Histórica relación del reino de Chile.
The book Cautiverio feliz, written by Creole Francisco Núñez de Pineda y Bascuñán in 1673, is considered the first Chilean novel.
If the book of memoirs by Vicente Pérez Rosales, Recuerdos del pasado, marks a milestone in the 19th century, the first generation of Chilean novelists is from a Creole or costumbrist background. The most notable example of this is Manuel Rojas (1896 – 1973), author of the novel Hijo de ladrón.
Later, beginning with the generation from the 1950’s, the “New Chilean Story” gains relevance. José Donoso and María Luisa Bombal are the two principal authors. Surrealistic themes run through their works, notably El obsceno pájaro de la noche by Donoso, and La última niebla by Bombal.
The decade of the 1960’s is the scene of a new generation of novelists. Authors grapple with themes of urbanism, cosmopolitanism, and social compromise and are introduced through characters. Antonio Skármeta and Poli Délano hallmark this group of writers.
Beginning in the 1970’s, Chilean novels and stories reflect political and social changes in the face of limitations and censorship. Fresh air blows in the most recent decade. New works and names unite with a long tradition of authors that began four hundred years ago.
Luis Sepúlveda, Ramón Díaz Eterovic, Gonzalo Contreras, Pedro Lemebel, Alejandro Zambra, Carla Guelfenbein, Marcela Serrano, Jaime Collyer, Pablo Azócar and Alejandra Costamagna are presently some of the Chilean authors.