Culture
Contemporary Uruguayan culture is diverse in its nature since the nation's population is one of multicultural origins. The country has an impressive legacy of artistic and literary traditions, especially for its small size. The contribution of its alternating conquerors, Spain and Portugal, and diverse immigrants – Italians, Germans, Swiss, Russians, Jews and Armenians, among others- has resulted in traditions that integrate this diversity with Native American elements. Uruguay has centuries-old remains and fortresses of the colonial era. Its cities have a rich architectural heritage and an impressive number of writers, artists, and musicians. Carnival and candombe are the most important examples of African influence by slaves, as well as Umbanda religious beliefs and practices. Guarani traditions can be seen in mate, the national drink. The folk and popular music of Uruguay shares with Argentina not only its gaucho roots but also the tango.
Read more about this topic: Uruguayan People
Famous quotes containing the word culture:
“... good and evil appear to be joined in every culture at the spine.”
—Flannery O’Connor (1925–1964)
“A culture may be conceived as a network of beliefs and purposes in which any string in the net pulls and is pulled by the others, thus perpetually changing the configuration of the whole. If the cultural element called morals takes on a new shape, we must ask what other strings have pulled it out of line. It cannot be one solitary string, nor even the strings nearby, for the network is three-dimensional at least.”
—Jacques Barzun (b. 1907)
“The highest end of government is the culture of men.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)