Chilean culture

First of all I would like to say that I don’t feel good talking about the Chilean culture or the national holiday, because I think that at this time we just celebrate and commemorate the victories and legitimize costumes by the dominant class.

Now, if I have to define the things that I think that make people Chileans I would like to think about the popular costumes: like some kind of food (carbonada, cazuela, corn cake, empanadas, mote with huesillos, humitas, some kind of shellfish, etc.), country costumes related to the work on farms (like the traditional “party” named trilla where the people harvest chickpea, wheat or other kinds of vegetables and the neighbors and family go there to help in the harvest, but later everyone eats and drinks wine), some dances of the different cities around the country and the typical popular parties.

At the present I think that the most deeply rooted costumes are derivative of the popular parties and conserve things like eat a lot, drink so much, and dance. In the present most of the people makes barbecue, eat beer and other alcohols, dance modern kinds of music, and the most rooted traditional dance is the cueca, a dance that in my opinion is not much traditional.

I don’t know if I feel identify with some national element like nationalism or solidarity, I could say that I feel identify or angry about some injustice or about the domination that the most of the people in the country suffer, but I don’t know if that is a feeling promulgated these national days.

I don’t know what we should celebrate instead of the costumes imposed by the Chilean dominant class, the Spanish Conquistadors and the politic slogan imposed all these years. It’s difficult to say that we should celebrate Mapuche’s or aborigine cultures costumes because at this time we are not part of that and it could be a false commemoration with an exotic interest.