Literature

The influence of modernism was reflected in poetry and prose. Social concerns, the nature
and the Latin American culture became major issues. Authors such as Jos Mart, Jose
Asuncion Silva and Ruben Dario, led this trend, which in the twenties took character of
social criticism with Jose Carlos Mariategui and his Seven Interpretive Essays on Peruvian
Reality. Within this same line were Jose Enrique Rodo, Jose Engineers and Vargas Vila,
who warned and denounced, through his essays on the imperialist dangers. Accompanied
by this literary impulse, the publishing industry achieved great development in countries
such as Argentina, Mexico and Chile, where he translated the latest news from Europe and
the United States to Castilian. In the twenties and thirties appeared a trend related to the
land and the peasants' demands: the telluric novel, influenced by Spanish intellectuals who
began arriving in America exiled by the dictatorship in Spain. The authors of the telluric
novel and created a detailed story based on reality, the land, the people and regionalism
in Latin America. Among the writers of the telluric novel are: Jose Ortega y Gasset, Mariano
Azuela, Martin Luis Guzman, Gregorio Lpez, Jos Rivera Eustatius, Ricardo Giraldes,
Baldomero Lillo and Horacio Quiroga.

The painting
In this field, the most prominent manifestation of the era was the Mexican muralist. Since
1921 he identified this style painters such as Diego Rivera, Jose Clemente Orozco and
David Siqueiros. His style broke all boundaries in the world and influenced European and
American artists. Their topics focused on local traditions, indigenous, peasants and
Mexican popular classes, often taking the character of complaint against the oppressive
powers.

Daily life
In Latin American cities they appeared new places of socialization that tried to imitate, in
part, to European cities and their lifestyle. Clubs that emerged were frequently visited by
the elites and cafes where poets and artists gathered to revel in poems and rants. At the
same time, there were new forms of sports and leisure entertainment.

Clubs and cafes

In many large capital English-style private clubs were founded by the upper classes. These
clubs represented status and class differentiation and to them only accessible by name or
fortune. In the cafes, on the other hand, it was less restricted access. There they could get
intellectuals, poets, politicians and artists regardless of their social or geographical origin.
However, they were also an imitation of European models, mainly from France and cafes
where artists of the Surrealist movement gathered. In the case of Latin America, these

coffees were of great importance, because there major political decisions were made,
social movements were founded, and they came in intellectual exchange sites.

New forms of entertainment

Another change that brought the twentieth century was the arrival of the cinema, which
moved partway opera and theater. In the capitals of Latin America this invention captivated
millions of viewers and became one of the daily entertainment of the population. The
practice of sports became another form of distraction and leisure time. This influenced by
contact with foreigners. So, where European immigrants arrived, the emergence of football
was the predominant feature; in the Caribbean, by contact with the US Marines, baseball
became the pastime. The upper classes were inclined to other practices such as tennis,
hockey, polo and the first racing cars. A new social manifestation of Latin America was the
popular music. They emerged tango in Argentina and Uruguay, and corridos in Mexico.
These genres were in their lyrics, in the case of tangos, messages of rebellion and social
unrest, reflecting what was the social situation in the nascent urban societies. In the case
of Mexican corrido, his main theme was the Revolution and its characters. The letters
became odes to revolutionary leaders and the people that supported them.