Nicanor Parra

Fist I disagree with the concept of “the greatest Chilean of all time”, because I think that the history is not about a person, because that person is in relationships with other factors, like the family, teachers, and the ideology of the time, and also the history is writing for a group of people that make things that have consequence in a future, and we would choose since the present which one history is real or valid for us.

Most of the history is writing since the paradigm or view of victors and vanquished, the victors represent all the power of occident, represented in a hero that has always the same characteristics: is man, is white, is colonist and have political power. So the greatest Chilean of all time is naturally related of that concept, and you think immediately in names like: Andres Bello, Balmaceda, Pedro Aguirre Cerda include Salvador Allende. So, in politics I can`t say that someone was the greatest, because all the figure are related to the “perfect white”.

I think that some people can stand up because they contributed in their area or specialty like writing, arts, science, etc. In that way I would name some people that I consider that make interesting contribution to their area, but for the time, I just would refer to Nicanor Parra.

Nicanor Parra is a poet (yes, he is alive, although some people given up for dead XD) member of the Parra`s Family, a know family of Chillan that were artist, in things like music, writing and painting. He is distinguished in the poetry because he is a antipoetry, He won a lot prices, but I think that most destacated about his career is how he laugh of all the things, the politics, the capitalism, the love, etc. He is very ironic , and also have other way to write, that escape of all the formalism of the poetry, so is very free and sarcastic. I think that if I will know him, I would invite to drink a “vino en caja”. In his web site you can find some of his work, I hope that you will enjoy it. http://www.nicanorparra.uchile.cl/