Néstor García Canclini
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Néstor García Canclini (born 1939) is an Argentine-born academic and anthropologist known for his theorization of the concept of "
hybridity Hybridity, in its most basic sense, refers to mixture. The term originates from biology and was subsequently employed in linguistics and in racial theory in the nineteenth century. Young, Robert. ''Colonial Desire: Hybridity in Theory, Culture and R ...
."


Biography

García Canclini was born December 1, 1939 in
La Plata La Plata () is the capital city of Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. According to the , it has a population of 654,324 and its metropolitan area, the Greater La Plata, has 787,294 inhabitants. It is located 9 kilometers (6 miles) inland from th ...
, Argentina. Three years after receiving his PhD in philosophy at the
University of La Plata The La Plata National University ( es, Universidad Nacional de La Plata, UNLP) is one of the most important Argentine national universities and the biggest one situated in the city of La Plata, capital of Buenos Aires Province. It has over 90, ...
in 1975, thanks to a scholarship awarded from CONICET (The National Scientific and Technical Research Council), García Canclini also received another PhD in philosophy from the
Paris Nanterre University Paris Nanterre University (French: ''Université Paris Nanterre''), formerly Paris-X and commonly referred to as Nanterre, is a public research university based in Nanterre, Paris, France. It is one of the most prestigious French universities, ma ...
. He taught at the University of La Plata between 1966 and 1975 and at the
University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public university, public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one o ...
in 1974 and 1975. Throughout his academic career he has also served as a visiting professor at
University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II ( it, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II) is a public university in Naples, Italy. Founded in 1224, it is the oldest public non-sectarian university in the world, and is now organized into 26 depar ...
,
UT Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...
,
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
,
University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat de Barcelona, UB; ; es, link=no, Universidad de Barcelona) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, in Spain. With 63,000 students, it is one of the biggest universities i ...
and
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
. Since 1990 García Canclini has been working as a professor and researcher at the
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana The Metropolitan Autonomous University (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana'') also known as UAM, is a Mexican public university. Founded in 1974 with the support of then-President Luis Echeverria Alvarez, the institut ...
in
Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
and until 2007 he directed the university’s program studies on urban culture. He is also a researcher emeritus of the National System of Investigators under the
National Council of Science and Technology National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, ce ...
(Conacyt) of Mexico.


Lines of Investigation

In the text ''Comunicación y consumo en tiempos neoconservadores'' (Communication and Consumerism in Neoconservative Times), the theorist affirms that communications research, centered in the social sciences, has made areas of Latin American cultural development visible, in which the relationship between consumerism and citizenship is established. Consumerism, a product of globalization, has generated a new conception of the citizen, while the quantity of goods that a person can acquire determines the social status that they have and therefore the role of the common citizen, in terms of political participation (mainly) depends on how the consumer is. The principal cause of the aforementioned phenomenon is globalization. For Canclini, this concept does not have its own definition, rather, it depends on the circumstances and the contexts which are presented. In the Latin American case, globalization is not a perceptible fact, instead an imagined concept, that is to say, it constitutes a paradigm in Latin American society that governs the relations between different individuals (there is a notion that it “exists,” but in reality it is the product of a series of values that Latin American society has imposed upon itself to resemble the first world). The previous can be seen reflected in the critique of marketing studies that only counts the economic figures of Latin America’s entry into world trade, but do not take into account the symbolic-social change that this generates, in his book ''La globalización imaginada'' (The Imagined Globalization), chapter ‘Mercado e Interculturalidad: América Latina entre Europa y Estados Unidos’ (Market and Interculturality: Latin America between Europe and the United States). In respect to the last main idea of the investigation, Canclini suggests that the Latin American cultural space and transitional circuits are immersed in imagined constructions about the identity of us and of others; the Latin American elite constructs the city in resemblance to the great European and American metropolises, while the rest of the town seeks to survive with its traditions in the modernizing process.
"La industria cultural es analizada como matriz de desorganización y reorganización de una experiencia temporal mucho más compatible con las desterritorializaciones y relocalizaciones que implican las migraciones sociales y las fragmentaciones culturales de la vida urbana que la que configuran la cultura de élite o la cultura popular, ambas ligadas a una temporalidad “moderna”; esto es, una experiencia hecha de sedimentaciones, acumulaciones e innovaciones. Industria cultural y comunicaciones masivas designan los nuevos procesos de producción y circulación de la cultura, que corresponden no sólo a innovaciones tecnológicas sino a nuevas formas de la sensibilidad, a nuevos tipos de recepción, de disfrute y apropiación."
English Translation:
The cultural industry is analyzed like a matrix of disorganization and reorganization of a temporary experience much more compatible with the deterritorializations and relocations that imply social migrations and cultural fragmentations of urban life that configure the elite culture and popular culture, both bound to a temporary “modernity,” this is, an experience made of sedimentations, accumulations and innovations. Cultural industry and massive communications design new processes of production and circulation of culture, that correspond not only to technological innovations but also new forms of sensibility, new forms of reception, of enjoyment and appropriation.
In the book ''Lectores, espectadores e internautas'' (Readers, Spectators, and Internet Users), Canclini asks us: What does it mean to be a reader, spectator, and internet user? What are the cultural habits of a person that concurs in these three activities? Canclini speaks of the reader in two sentiments, the first making reference to the literary field like
Hans Robert Jauss Hans Robert Jauss (german: Jauß; 12 December 1921 – 1 March 1997) was a German academic, notable for his work in reception theory (especially his concept of horizon of expectation) and medieval and modern French literature. His approach was de ...
and the second through the editorial system like
Umberto Eco Umberto Eco (5 January 1932 – 19 February 2016) was an Italian medievalist, philosopher, semiotician, novelist, cultural critic, and political and social commentator. In English, he is best known for his popular 1980 novel ''The Name of the ...
does. Canclini accuses the system of wanting to generate new readers only through printed media, without taking into account digital media. The concept of the spectator is linked to the types of shows that they attend, cinema, television, recitals etc. And the internet-user is "un actor multimodal que lee, ve, escucha y combina materiales diversos, procedentes de la lectura y de los espectáculos" (a multimodal actor that reads, sees, listens, and combines diverse materials, from readings and entertainment). The book develops in the form of a dictionary, starting with A for ‘apertura’(aperture) and the Z for zipping. He describes new concepts that have brought the digital age. The reader - spectator - and internet user read more on the internet than on paper. This book shows us both the benefits of technology and its negative aspects that are familiar to us all.


Works


Overview

Canclini has been one of the principal anthropologists that has treated
Modernity Modernity, a topic in the humanities and social sciences, is both a historical period (the modern era) and the ensemble of particular socio-cultural norm (social), norms, attitudes and practices that arose in the wake of the Renaissancein the " ...
,
Postmodernity Postmodernity (post-modernity or the postmodern condition) is the economic or cultural state or condition of society which is said to exist ''after'' modernity. Some schools of thought hold that modernity ended in the late 20th century – in the ...
, and
Culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...
from the Latin American perspective. One of the principal terms he has coined is “cultural hybridization,” a phenomenon that “materializes in multi-determined scenarios where diverse systems intersect and interpenetrate.” An example of this is contemporary music groups that mix or juxtapose global trends such as pop with indigenous or traditional rhythms. One of his best-known works, ''Consumidores y ciudadanos'' (Consumers and Citizens) defines consumption as "the set of socio-cultural processes in which the appropriation and uses of products are carried out."


Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity

This text is foundational to Latin American
Cultural Studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...
and is now considered a classic. Canclini takes an
interdisciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...
approach to social thought to critically reimagine Latin American issues pertaining to modernity and
democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...
,
"Néstor García Canclini explores the tensions, verging on contradictions, between modernization and democratization in Latin American nation-states. These states regard themselves caught between traditions that have not yet gone and a modernity that has not yet arrived. From its hybrid position between tradition and modernity, the challenge for Latin America is to construct democratic culture and knowledge without succumbing either to the temptations of elite art and literature or to the coercive forces of mass media and marketing. In a work of committed scholarship the author both interrogates and advocates the development of democratic institutions and practices in Latin America."Rosaldo, R. (1995). Foreword. In CANCLINI N., Chiappari C., & López S. (Authors), Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity (pp. Xi-Xviii). University of Minnesota Press.
Canclini analyzes and synthesizes the theories of
Bourdieu Pierre Bourdieu (; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influence i ...
,
Gramsci Antonio Francesco Gramsci ( , , ; 22 January 1891 – 27 April 1937) was an Italian Marxist philosopher, journalist, linguist, writer, and politician. He wrote on philosophy, political theory, sociology, history, and linguistics. He was a fou ...
,
Weber Weber (, or ; German: ) is a surname of German origin, derived from the noun meaning " weaver". In some cases, following migration to English-speaking countries, it has been anglicised to the English surname 'Webber' or even 'Weaver'. Notable pe ...
, elite literary works and
popular culture Popular culture (also called mass culture or pop culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as, popular art or mass art) and objects that are dominant or prevalent in a ...
to envision a Latin American
praxis Praxis may refer to: Philosophy and religion * Praxis (process), the process by which a theory, lesson, or skill is enacted, practised, embodied, or realised * Praxis model, a way of doing theology * Praxis (Byzantine Rite), the practice of fai ...
that celebrates hybridization “as an ongoing condition of all human cultures, which contains no zones of purity because they undergo continuous processes of transculturation (two-way borrowing and lending between cultures)." Thereby imagined cultural borders are actually very porous.


List of works

* ''Arte popular y sociedad en América Latina'', Grijalbo, México, (1977) * ''La producción simbólica. Teoría y método en sociología del arte'', Siglo XXI, México, (1979) * ''Las culturas populares en el capitalismo'', Nueva Imagen, México, (1982) * ''¿De qué estamos hablando cuando hablamos de lo popular?'', CLAEH, Montevideo, 1986 * ''Cultura transnacional y culturas populares'' (ed. con R. Roncagliolo), Ipal, Lima, 1988 * ''Culturas híbridas: Estrategias para entrar y salir de la modernidad'', Grijalbo, México, 1990 * ''Cultura y Comunicación: entre lo global y lo local'', Ediciones de Periodismo y Comunicación. * ''Las industrias culturales y el desarrollo de México'', con Ernesto Piedras Feria 2008, México, DF, Siglo XXI Editores. * ''Las industrias culturales en la integración latinoamericana,'' 2002 * ''La globalización imaginada'', Paidós, Barcelona, 1999 * ''Latinoamericanos buscando lugar en este siglo'', Paidós, Buenos Aires, 2002 * ''Diferentes, desiguales y desconectados''. Mapas de la interculturalidad, Gedisa, Barcelona, 2004 * ''Lectores, espectadores e internautas'', Gedisa, Barcelona, 2007 * ''La sociedad sin relato: Antropología y estética de la inminencia'', Buenos Aires y Madrid, Katz editores, 2010,


English-translated Versions

* ''Transforming Modernity: Popular Culture in Mexico'', University of Texas Press, 1993 * ''Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity'', University of Minnesota Press, 1995 * ''Consumers and Citizens: Globalization and Multicultural Conflicts'', University of Minnesota Press, 2001 * ''Art beyond Itself: Anthropology for a Society without a Story Line'', Duke University Press, 2014 * ''Imagined Globalization'', Duke University Press, 2014


Awards/Accolades

In 1996 Canclini received a Diploma of Merit from the
Konex Foundation Konex Foundation (''Fundación Konex'')is an Argentine cultural non-profit organization created in 1980 ''to promote, stimulate, help, and participate in any form of cultural, educational, intellectual, artistic, social, philanthropic, scientific ...
in the category of «Aesthetic, Theory and Art History». He also received the Guggenheim Scholarship, the Essay Award granted by
Casa de las Américas Casa de las Américas is an organization that was founded by the Cuban Government in April 1959, four months after the Cuban Revolution, for the purpose of developing and extending the socio-cultural relations with the countries of Latin America, ...
and the Book Award from the
Latin American Studies Association The Latin American Studies Association (LASA) is the largest association for scholars of Latin American studies. Founded in 1966, it has over 12,000 members, 45 percent of whom reside outside the United States (36 percent in Latin America and the C ...
for his book ''Hybrid Cultures'' as the best book in Spanish about Latin America. In 2012 Canclini received from National University of Cordoba the University Prize for Culture “400 years” during the opening of the Third International Congress of the Argentine Association of Cinema and Audiovisual Studies of which he was inaugural speaker. In 2014 the Ministry of Public Education awarded him the National Prize for Science and Arts in the area of History, Social Sciences and Philosophy. In 2017 at the close of the VIII National and Latin American V: The University as an Object of Study "The University Reform between two centuries," Canclini received the 33rd Honoris Causa of the National University of the Coast.


References


Bibliography

García Canclini, Néstor (1995). Consumidores y ciudadanos: Conflictos multiculturales de la globalización. México: Grijalbo. Rosaldo, R. (1995). Foreword. In CANCLINI N., Chiappari C., & López S. (Authors), ''Hybrid Cultures: Strategies for Entering and Leaving Modernity'' (pp. Xi-Xviii). University of Minnesota Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garcia Canclini, Nestor 1939 births Living people Latin Americanists Cultural anthropologists Argentine anthropologists Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana faculty