Argentina: campfire fables and contemporary poets

As you trail your fingers through the sun-bleached grasses of the Pampas, a thin trail of woodsmoke drifts across from the campfire. Tether your horse, uncork your wine and bite into the oozy, inch-thick slab of charcoal-tinged steak. Welcome to gaucho country.

It turns out that, as well as fat steaks, rural Argentina is rich in literature. For starters, grab a copy of Martín Fierro, the ultimate (and ancient) campfire story which is as authentically Argentinian as the tango. Author José Hernández lived alongside gauchos in the Pampas for decades before publishing his epic poem in 1872. So epic, in fact, that it’s often called ‘the epic of Argentina’; it tells the story of a poor pampas-dweller who is illegally drafted in to fight a war, then deserts, becoming an outlaw bound to wander the wilderness of the Pampas.

The poem captures the tradition of oral storytelling: it is modelled on a traditional payada – a rural ‘minstrel’ song or ballad – which is usually accompanied by a guitar. The rhyming verses of payadas were often improvised – which is impressive after all that steak and red wine – and were also used to settle disputes. Two singers would exchange verses in a musical duel which could last for hours, or even days, ending only when one singer fails to meet the beat.

There are no shortage of fables in this vast and complex country that stretches from the Amazon to the icy reaches of Antarctica. Among the recommendations in the Argentina issue of Words without Borders  (which showcases many of the country’s more contemporary offerings) I discovered Silvina Ocampo’s exquisite fable The Golden Hare – a gentle story which leans towards the mythical, magical worlds of Jorges Luis Borges. More on him next time when I’ll be delving deeper into Argentina’s literary past with some novel recommendations.

Meanwhile, do you have a favourite Argentine storyteller? Let me know via the ‘comments’ section below.