Gaucho National Day Festival – Argentina. demotix.com. Novewmber 28, 2011. A festival celebrating ‘Gaucho’ National Day took place at Las Flores. Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas, and the event included horsemanship and displays of Gaucho culture. 4th December 2011. Gaucho is a term commonly used to describe residents of the South American pampas found principally in parts of Argentina. The gaucho plays an important symbolic role in the nationalist feelings of this region, especially that of Argentina. The epic poem Martín Fierro by José Hernández (considered by some the national epic of Argentina) used the gaucho as a symbol against corruption and of Argentine national tradition, pitted against Europeanising tendencies.

The founding work of literature Argentina
Martín Fierro is a 2,316 line epic poem by the Argentine writer José Hernández. The poem was originally published in two parts, El Gaucho Martín Fierro (1872) and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro (1879). The poem is, in part, a protest against the modernist tendencies of Argentine president Domingo Faustino Sarmiento. As well, the poem supplied a historical link to the gauchos’ contribution to the national development of Argentina, for the gaucho had played a major role in Argentina’s independence from Spain.[1] The poem, written in a Spanish that evokes rural Argentina, is widely seen as the pinnacle of the genre of "gauchesque" poetry (poems centered around the life of the gaucho, written in a style that evokes the rural Argentine ballads known as payadas) and a touchstone of Argentine national identity. It has appeared in literally hundreds of editions and has been translated into over 70 languages. It has earned major commentaries from, among others, Leopoldo Lugones, Miguel de Unamuno, Jorge Luis Borges (see Borges on Martín Fierro) and Rafael Squirru. The Martín Fierro Award, named for the poem, is the most respected award for Argentine television and radio programs.