CULTURE
In contrast to several of
its Central American neighbors, El Salvador is densely populated
and virtually all of its arable land is under cultivation. Although
the area was once a site of Mayan civilization, the vast majority
of Salvadorans are mestizo and Indian languages are rarely spoken.
The cultural wealth of El Salvador combines indigenous folk traditions,
some of which are linked to Mayan forebears, with those of the
Spanish colonialists. Since the mid-20th century political repression
has been responsible for a decline in the arts, but as part of
a recently initiated and ongoing peace process the Salvadoran
government has endorsed the work of such organizations as the
National Council for Art and Culture (CONCULTURA). CONCULTURA
has pledged to work toward peace and cultural rebirth by fomenting
new creative activities and putting authors of national importance
back into publication.
In a nation whose name means
"the Savior," the Catholic religion plays an important
role, but the Church was deeply divided during the years of war
and its efforts at conciliation have not always prospered. In
some cases, other modes of cultural expression have been more
successful in bringing Salvadorans together. Salvadoran artists
have been as important for their organizational talent as for
their art. Roberto Galicia, known for his abstract painting, has
also been the director of CONCULTURA. Another painter, Fernando
Llort, helped initiate an art school and workshops in La Palma,
where villagers have incorporated his designs in a craft industry
that produces brightly painted toys. This is in keeping with the
local nature of Salavadoran craft production, in which certain
areas specialize in different things--San Sebastian is known for
textiles and Ilobasco for ceramics, for example.
The modernist age in literature
was ushered into El Salvador by Francisco Gavidia (1863-1955),
a contemporary of Nicaragua's Ruben Dario. Roque Dalton is the
best-known Salvadoran poet, highly regarded throughout the Spanish-speaking
world. Dalton did much of his writing in exile, but he is emblematic
of El Salvador in such literary activities as the organization
of the University of El Salvador Literary Circle, as well as in
his tragic death during the civil war. More than this, his poetry
confronted the elements that have been at the center of all subsequent
national literature. These themes include metaphysics and Christianity,
love, and social justice. Given the duration of civil war in El
Salvador, more recent authors of both prose and poetry have tended
to explore these themes in the context of the war. Some novels,
like those of Manlio Argueta, portray the experience of common
villagers and common soldiers, while others, like the work of
Claribel Alegria, render the perspectives of more-privileged individuals
coming to grips with the war.
Although the ruins of two
Mayan ceremonial centers may be found in El Salvador, recent excavations
at Joya de Ceren may prove more instrumental to the world's knowledge
of the Mayan heritage. Often referred to as the Pompeii of the
Americas, Joya de Ceren was a farming settlement preserved in
its everyday existence by the sudden eruption of the Laguna Caldera
volcano, which buried it under 10 feet of ash 1,400 years ago.
This catastrophe has enabled archaeologists to learn about the
daily lives of the area's earlier residents through such evidence
as petrified beans left cooking in ceramic pots, utensils, furrowed
cornfields, painted books, and even a sauna bath. In the town
of Santa Ana, the art of the Spanish colonial period is well preserved,
not only in the town's imposing cathedral and municipal palace
but also in its baroque mansions, patios, and carved wooden doors.
The village of Suchitoto, with its cobbled streets and opulent
buildings painted in pastel hues, is the best example of colonial
El Salvador. These structures attest not only to the skill of
Spanish and indigenous artisans but to the utility of the thick-walled
construction that has outlasted the region's earthquakes.
[Source: Expedition
Earth]
