Literature

Main article: Argentine literature

Four of the most influential Argentine writers. Top-

left to bottom-right: Julio Cortázar, Victoria Ocampo, Jorge Luis Borges, and Adolfo
Bioy Casares.
Although Argentina's rich literary history began around 1550,[340] it reached full
independence with Esteban Echeverría's El Matadero, a romantic landmark that
played a significant role in the development of 19th century's Argentine
narrative,[341] split by the ideological divide between the popular, federalist epic
of José Hernández' Martín Fierro and the elitist and cultured discourse
of Sarmiento's masterpiece, Facundo.[342]

The Modernist movement advanced into the 20th century including exponents
such as Leopoldo Lugones and poet Alfonsina Storni;[343] it was followed
by Vanguardism, with Ricardo Güiraldes's Don Segundo Sombra as an
important reference.[344]

Jorge Luis Borges, Argentina's most acclaimed writer and one of the foremost
figures in the history of literature,[345] found new ways of looking at the modern
world in metaphor and philosophical debate and his influence has extended to
authors all over the globe. Short stories such as Ficciones and The Aleph are
among his most famous works. He was a friend and collaborator of Adolfo Bioy
Casares, who wrote one of the most praised science fiction novels, The
Invention of Morel.[346] Julio Cortázar, one of the leading members of the Latin
American Boom and a major name in 20th century literature,[347] influenced an
entire generation of writers in the Americas and Europe.[348]

A remarkable episode in Argentine literary history is the social and literarial

dialectica between the so-called Florida Group, named this way because its
members used to meet together at the Richmond Cafeteria at Florida street and
published in the Martin Fierro magazine, such as Jorge Luis Borges, Leopoldo
Marechal, Antonio Berni (artist), among others; versus the Boedo
Group of Roberto Arlt, Cesar Tiempo, Homero Manzi (tango composer), that
used to meet at the Japanese Cafe and published their works with the Editorial
Claridad, with both the cafe and the publisher located at Boedo Avenue.
Other highly regarded Argentine writers, poets and essayists include Estanislao
del Campo, Eugenio Cambaceres, Pedro Bonifacio Palacios, Hugo
Wast, Benito Lynch, Enrique Banchs, Oliverio Girondo, Ezequiel Martínez
Estrada, Victoria Ocampo, Leopoldo Marechal, Silvina Ocampo, Roberto
Arlt, Eduardo Mallea, Manuel Mujica Láinez, Ernesto Sábato, Silvina
Bullrich, Rodolfo Walsh, María Elena Walsh, Tomás Eloy Martínez, Manuel
Puig, Alejandra Pizarnik, and Osvaldo Soriano.[349]

Music
Main article: Music of Argentina

Photograph of Mercedes Sosa by Annemarie Heinrich

Tango, a Rioplatense musical genre with European and African influences,[350] is
one of Argentina's international cultural symbols.[351] The golden age of tango
(1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that of jazz and swing in the United States,
featuring large orchestras such as those of Osvaldo Pugliese, Aníbal
Troilo, Francisco Canaro, Julio de Caro and Juan d'Arienzo.[352] After 1955,
virtuoso Astor Piazzolla popularized Nuevo tango, a subtler and more
intellectual trend for the genre.[352] Tango enjoys worldwide popularity nowadays
with groups such as Gotan Project, Bajofondo and Tanghetto.

Argentina developed strong classical music and dance scenes that gave rise to
renowned artists such as Alberto Ginastera, composer; Alberto Lysy,
violinist; Martha Argerich and Eduardo Delgado, pianists; Daniel Barenboim,
pianist and symphonic orchestra director; José Cura and Marcelo Álvarez,
tenors; and to ballet dancers Jorge Donn, José Neglia, Norma
Fontenla, Maximiliano Guerra, Paloma Herrera, Marianela Núñez, Iñaki
Urlezaga and Julio Bocca.[352]

A national Argentine folk style emerged in the 1930s from dozens of regional
musical genres and went on to influence the entirety of Latin American music.
Some of its interpreters, such as Atahualpa Yupanqui and Mercedes Sosa,
achieved worldwide acclaim. The romantic ballad genre included singers of
international fame such as Sandro de América. Tenor saxophonist Leandro
"Gato" Barbieri and composer and big band conductor Lalo Schifrin are among
the most internationally successful Argentine jazz musicians.
Argentine rock developed as a distinct musical style in the mid-1960s, when
Buenos Aires and Rosario became cradles of aspiring musicians. Founding
bands such as Los Gatos, Sui Generis, Almendra and Manal were followed
by Seru Giran, Los Abuelos de la Nada, Soda Stereo and Patricio Rey y sus
Redonditos de Ricota, with prominent artists including Gustavo Cerati, Litto
Nebbia, Andrés Calamaro, Luis Alberto Spinetta, Charly García, Fito
Páez and León Gieco.[352]

A dance and a musical genre popular at present is Cachengue, a subgenre

of Argentine cumbia and reggaeton spreading in popularity in nearby countries
such as Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay, and Bolivia.[353]

Theatre and cinema

Main articles: Theatre in Argentina and Cinema of Argentina

Andy Muschietti, director of It, the highest-grossing horror

film of all-time [354][355]

Buenos Aires is one of the great theatre capitals of the world,[356] with a scene of
international caliber centered on Corrientes Avenue, "the street that never
sleeps", sometimes referred to as an intellectual Broadway in Buenos
Aires.[357] Teatro Colón is a global landmark for opera and classical
performances; its acoustics are considered among the world's top five.[358][T]

The Argentine film industry has historically been one of the three most
developed in Latin American cinema, along with those produced
in Mexico and Brazil.[359][360] Started in 1896; by the early 1930s it had already
become Latin America's leading film producer, a place it kept until the early
1950s.[361] The world's first animated feature films were made and released in
Argentina, by cartoonist Quirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.[362]