The Popular in Néstor García Canclini: Between the Aesthetic, the Artistic and the Cultural (1976-1990)

Abstract

The ask of popular cultures in the work of the philosopher and anthropologist Néstor García Canclini acquired, between 1976 and 1990, a multiplicity of meanings and approaches. This article analyzes theoretically and epistemologically the interventions that García Canclini developed on the popular and inscribes them in the networks of sociability and exchange of ideas in which he participated, and in the academic, cultural and political debates in Argentina and Mexico, which were key in his formation and production. Rather than seeking the meaning of the popular, we aim to identify the persistences, ruptures and theoretical displacements in a broader framework linked to his intellectual concerns in relation to aesthetics, the arts and cultural policies.