Transforming Modernity

Popular Culture in Mexico

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Anthropology
Cover of the book Transforming Modernity by Néstor  García Canclini, University of Texas Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Néstor García Canclini ISBN: 9780292789074
Publisher: University of Texas Press Publication: June 28, 2010
Imprint: University of Texas Press Language: English
Author: Néstor García Canclini
ISBN: 9780292789074
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Publication: June 28, 2010
Imprint: University of Texas Press
Language: English
Is popular culture merely a process of creating, marketing, and consuming a final product, or is it an expression of the artist's surroundings and an attempt to alter them? Noted Argentine/Mexican anthropologist Néstor García Canclini addresses these questions and more in Transforming Modernity, a translation of Las culturas populares en el capitalismo. Based on fieldwork among the Purépecha of Michoacán, Mexico, some of the most talented artisans of the New World, the book is not so much a work of ethnography as of philosophy—a cultural critique of modernism. García Canclini delineates three interpretations of popular culture: spontaneous creation, which posits that artistic expression is the realization of beauty and knowledge; "memory for sale," which holds that original products are created for sale in the imposed capitalist system; and the tourist outlook, whereby collectibles are created to justify development and to provide insight into what capitalism has achieved. Transforming Modernity argues strongly for popular culture as an instrument of understanding, reproducing, and transforming the social system in order to elaborate and construct class hegemony and to reflect the unequal appropriation and distribution of cultural capital. With its wide scope, this book should appeal to readers within and well beyond anthropology—those interested in cultural theory, social thought, and Mesoamerican culture.
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Is popular culture merely a process of creating, marketing, and consuming a final product, or is it an expression of the artist's surroundings and an attempt to alter them? Noted Argentine/Mexican anthropologist Néstor García Canclini addresses these questions and more in Transforming Modernity, a translation of Las culturas populares en el capitalismo. Based on fieldwork among the Purépecha of Michoacán, Mexico, some of the most talented artisans of the New World, the book is not so much a work of ethnography as of philosophy—a cultural critique of modernism. García Canclini delineates three interpretations of popular culture: spontaneous creation, which posits that artistic expression is the realization of beauty and knowledge; "memory for sale," which holds that original products are created for sale in the imposed capitalist system; and the tourist outlook, whereby collectibles are created to justify development and to provide insight into what capitalism has achieved. Transforming Modernity argues strongly for popular culture as an instrument of understanding, reproducing, and transforming the social system in order to elaborate and construct class hegemony and to reflect the unequal appropriation and distribution of cultural capital. With its wide scope, this book should appeal to readers within and well beyond anthropology—those interested in cultural theory, social thought, and Mesoamerican culture.

More books from University of Texas Press

Cover of the book Television Rewired by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Screening the Gothic by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book The Texas Cookbook by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Beyond Machismo by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Current Thought in Musicology by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Progressive Mothers, Better Babies by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book The Evolution of a State, or, Recollections of Old Texas Days by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Trillin on Texas by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Higher Education in Texas by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Foxboy by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book I Fought a Good Fight by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Politics, Gender, and the Mexican Novel, 1968-1988 by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book The Panza Monologues by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Accidental Activists by Néstor  García Canclini
Cover of the book Blues for Cannibals by Néstor  García Canclini
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy