The Paraguayan people who are the inheritor of two languages, Spanish and Guarani, have created another literature, other than Spanish, called the Guarani literature which is equally important. The Guarani literature is divided into three chapters like indigenous literature, refined literature and folk literature.
Indigenous Literature – Indigenous literature is also stated as traditional oral based literature, based on the fact that ancient Guarani people did not know the art of writing. The mythic poems of Guarani people were passed down from generations verbally. This was researched by Kurt Unkel Nimuendaju and brought to light during the start of 20th century. The first find was a compilation, titled Ayyu Raptya which is considered to be the most important mythological text of the indigenous Guarani literature. Ayyu Raptya, meaning 'The foundation of Words', was treated equal to the sacred texts such as the Popol Vuh of the aurther Maya. The collections like Carlos Martinez Gamba and Pierre Clastres are published in various books, available to researchers and students.
Refined Literature – Refined Literature in Guarani appeared in the second half of the 20th century. During this time, many poets and writers separated their ways from Spanish genres to express and experiment with new ideas. Carlos Martinez Gamba, Felix de Guarania and Carlos Federico Abente were the first to write redefined poetry. They had many followers like Ida Talavera, Lino Trinidad, Susy Alvarez and Miguel Angel Meza.
Folk literature – The folk literature developed in the start of 20th century witnessed the success of famous poets via music. The poets composed classical Spanish lyrical forms like romance, creating Paraguayan version in the composition. They put forth the stories of patriotism, epics, tragedy and love which have become the important factors in their composition. They clearly highlighted Guarani-Spanish miscegenation as most of the Paraguayan population speaks a mixture of Spanish and Guarani language. Teodoro S. Mongelos, Carlos Miguel Jimenez and Felix Fernandez are the well known poets of this era.
