Overview
- Argentina marks November 10 in tribute to José Hernández, author of the gauchesca classic widely regarded as the country’s national poem.
- Published in 1872 with a continuation in 1879, Martín Fierro portrays rural customs and a yearning for freedom central to the notion of tradition.
- Current pieces revisit the celebrated payada in La Vuelta de Martín Fierro, highlighting verses that denounce how the law weighs heaviest on the poor.
- Coverage situates the gaucho within 19th‑century nation‑building tensions, including Sarmiento’s labeling of gauchos as “barbarous.”
- Schools and popular music have transmitted the legacy through dances and songs such as El Pala Pala, Rancherita de la Patria, and the tango Sentimiento Gaucho.