Going Creole in the Río de la Plata, 1880–1900

In January 1894, a writer for the local paper in Salto, Uruguay described a fascination with dramas criollos, or plays that followed the story of native sons (criollo, or Creole, heroes), that went far beyond attendance. He told of spectators imitating lines and gestures of the dramas’ namesake gaucho toughs and relating the smallest details of the protagonists’ bravery or outfits after the shows. And he emphasized the presence of the town’s “most distinguished men and women” engaging tradition through modern entertainment day after day. Born among traveling circus troupes the previous decade, the Creole drama phenomenon swept across Argentina and Uruguay and was at its apex in the 1890s, when audiences began including the region’s social elites. In small towns like Salto and capital cities, too, the plays were among the most attended entertainment options for more than a decade.

The enthusiasm of those play goers underscores the increasing strength and expanding reach of a Creole spirit in the region. Creole dramas not only promoted this spirit; they also engaged spectators, performers, entrepreneurs, theater owners, and a long list of other groups connected to the representation of the plays, in the process of “going Creole.” This process occurred during a moment of demographic change and social upheaval that accompanied the reorientation of the region’s economy and its opening to world economic flows.

The result was a newfound value in the Creole as representative of individual and collective struggle and a powerful embodiment of regional nativism. But what did the process of going Creole look like, and why was it so impactful? We will offer answers by examining manifestations of the Creole spirit in music and dance, and through observing how going Creole promoted forms of association and impressions of belonging across class and ethnic divisions.