Cultural Production in Context

The Art of Transition, as its title indicates, offers an analysis of a broad scope of cultural production as it moves from conditions of dictatorship to democracy in the context of neoliberalism and globalization. It focuses primarily on the cultural production of Argentina and Chile, mainly in the fields of fictional narrative and poetry, though some references to the visual arts are included. Francine Masiello’s book, without any doubt, is a complex, inspiring, and a very timely piece of work.

In fact, it is undeniable that art—and the process of creation and creativity it involves—constitutes a key cultural artifact and form of cultural expression of any society. Also undeniable is the strong relationship between Latin American literary discourses and the socio-historical context in which they are produced. This is clear, for instance, in the literature produced under repressive conditions in South America, which could be considered as a cultural response to dictatorship and authoritarianism. Likewise, given the dramatic economic and cultural changes we are experiencing under the aegis of neoliberalism and globalization, it seems imperative, now more than ever, to consider the relationship between cultural production and the socio-historical context, as well as that between the dominant mode of production and the mode of production of a literary text or a piece of art. For instance, one can consider some of the more recent literary production which, in some cases, seems to be strongly conditioned by the market and cultural industry policies, becoming little more than rhetoric for mass consumption. However, along with this kind of cultural production, there is another kind of literary expressions that doesn’t forget that literature is a form of art and aesthetic experience, as much as it is a cultural expression of resistance to the market as the prevailing orientation.

The Art of Transition focuses mainly on this latter form of cultural production that doesn’t follow what the market dictates. Moreover, the book addresses, in one way or another, a number of empirical questions that come to mind when considering such complex conditions in which different artistic expressions are produced in our present times. For example, beyond the phenomena of the market and best-sellerism, it is clear that literary production of the last few decades also raises the question of the role of intellectuals and/or writers as critical public voices in interpreting Latin American history and reality. One may ask, then, what is the ongoing relationship between the writer/intellectual and the demand for and circulation of information under the aegis of globalization? To what extent is the role of the intellectual in the production of meaning and the interpretation of reality being displaced by that of the journalist or other form of quick production of information? How is the dialogue along the axis North/South affect the intellectual production and outcomes? In the same vein, one could ponder issues related to culture and identity, and its relationship to creativity. While culture and identity are indissolubly linked, creativity, on the other hand, is a concept that defines what is original in terms of social, cultural, political artifacts, according to a set of principles or standards which become, themselves, a disputed terrain. What is original? What is creative as opposed to merely repetition or reenactment of knowledge already known? What is an authentic cultural creation reflecting the dynamics of thought and lived experience of a given community, rather than making that process of creativity subject to international standards, fashions, or fads?

In The Art of Transition, Masiello shows in her analysis that the answers to some of theses questions are enmeshed in complex debates in the social sciences and humanities. This is so because the process of creation, and its adoption and assimilation in the world system, takes place in a cultural milieu impacted by domestic and international processes—which we call the dialectics of the local and global. Indeed, Masiello takes particular interest not only on the resistance offered by literature to the...