In “Individualismo y nacionalidad,” Argentine journalist and writer Ricardo Rojas deconstructs the terms “race” and “nationality.” Rojas argues that a person can adopt a new race or nationality, replacing that of their native country. This concept allows Rojas to claim European émigré artists in Argentina as Argentinean by adopted nationality. Rojas provides examples from the colonial, revolutionary, and independent periods of Argentina’s history of foreigners from France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Germany, and Ireland that have advanced the Argentinean cause, and therefore should be considered Argentinean. He goes on to contend that the notion of adopted nationality has been applied in Europe to artists, such as El Greco, who was born in Greece, but is considered a Spanish artist, and to Carlos V, the Spanish emperor who was of German descent. Rojas presents examples of how culturally conditioned beliefs and practices can also be appropriated by new nations or cultures, and adapted to changed circumstances, citing the hellenization of Christian theology by Europeans, and the diffusion of Latin throughout Europe, from which the various romance languages were formed. He asserts that if a European artist can be adopted into Latin American culture, and a Latin American artist can be adopted into European culture, there exists a “raza del alma” [a race of the soul], which is the race or nationality selected by the artist. Rojas encourages artists who are Latin American, either by birth or by adoption, to find and express the unique character of South America in their art.