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Paraguay The Culture
Paraguayan culture is a blend chiefly of Guaranian and Spanish elements, supplemented by more recent Argentine, German, and Italian influences. The culture of Paraguay has remained isolated and therefore has retained many features introduced in the 16th and 17th centuries by the Spanish conquerors, artisans, and Jesuit missionaries. The Ateneo Paraguayo, a leading cultural center, sponsors art exhibits, lectures, and concerts. Paraguayans are proud of their indigenous heritage, and institutions devoted to its study include the Academy of Guaraní Language and Culture, the Indian Association of Paraguay, and the Guaraní Theater.
Libraries and Museums
Among the notable libraries are the National Archives and American Library of the National Museum of Fine Arts, which also houses paintings and historical objects, and the library of the Paraguayan Scientific Society; all are in Asunción. Other important museums in Asunción include the Andres Barbero Ethnographical Museum and the Museum of Military History.
Literature and Music
Historical and legal writings occupy the leading place in Paraguayan literature; even poetry seldom loses touch with social realities. Among the foremost 20th-century Paraguayan writers are Juan Natalicio Gonzalez, Manuel Ortiz Guerrero, and Augusto Roa Bastos. Several works by Roa Bastos, considered the greatest of Paraguay’s 20th-century novelists, have been translated into English, including Hijo de hombre (1960; Son of Man, 1965) and Yo el Supremo (1974; I the Supreme, 1986). See Latin American Literature.
From remote times, the Guaraní have used simple wind and percussion instruments, mostly wooden flutes, whistles, rattles, and bells. Guitars and harps, introduced by early Spanish settlers, are basic instruments of contemporary Paraguayan music. One of the oldest forms of Paraguayan popular music is the polka, and ballads and songs preserve much of the country’s history and tradition. The Guarania, a song with a flowing lyric melody introduced by Paraguayan composer Juan Asunción Flores in the early 20th century, is the first distinctive variation of the Hispanic colonial tradition. Asunción Flores revived Guarani folk music and used its rhythms in composing symphonic music. See Latin American Music.
Art
Much Paraguayan art uses themes of native folklore and of religion, frequently expressed in church decoration. The earliest well-defined Paraguayan art dates from colonial times when Jesuit and Franciscan missions established art schools. Examples of early art, now extant, in both baroque Spanish and Native American styles, include pediments adorned with figures of saints, pulpits, seats carved in stone, and magnificent wood-carved altarpieces.
Among the greatest names in modern Paraguayan art are the painters Pablo Alborno and Juan Samudio. The most renowned Paraguayan craft is the production of the very delicate ñandutí lace. See Latin America Painting and Latin American Sculpture.
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