The Labor of Literature: Democracy and Literary Culture in Modern Chile

This book studies amateur and non-commercial forms of literary production in Chile that originated in response to authoritarian state politics and have gained momentum throughout the postdictatorship period, arguing that such forms advance a model of cultural democracy that is different from and sometimes contradicts that endorsed by the state and market. By producing literature in non-traditional forms—such as books made out of cardboard trash, billboards in subway stations, digital books on the Internet, miniature shopping bags, and even as children’s toys—Chileans have made and circulated literary objects in defiance of state censorship and independent of capitalist definitions of value. Studying alternative literary publications recasts the dictatorship as a time of editorial experimentation rather than widespread cultural suppression, and it shows how grassroots cultural activism has challenged neoliberal hegemony throughout the postdictatorship period. This research also points to the growing importance of auto-gestión, or do-it-yourself cultural production on a global scale, where individuals increasingly combine new technologies with artisanal forms of making and sharing creative goods.