Creative Becomings

Abstract

This article describes the presence of cultural traits of Basque tradition in the visual arts and Uruguayan literature of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Likewise, the research deconstructs the concept of “cultural legacy” applied in studies regarding multiculturalism in Uruguay. This approach implied a type of degradation at a cultural level, in which successive generations (first, second, third, and fourth) gradually lost their “original culture”. However, the cultural traits of the Basque ethnic group that appear in the visual arts and literature were shaped by the descendants of the first and second generations. The research demonstrates that certain cultural manifestations can re-emerge among the pieces created by the descendants of the second, third or fourth generation, rather than by the generation that arrived in the country for the first time. On the whole, the article analyses the continuum of the cultural legacy of Basque immigration in Uruguay from an anthropological point of view. As a result, the work presents a non-linear approach to the cultural contribution of Basque immigrants in this country.