Les éditeurs indépendants au Chili (2000-2005) : un développement contemporain des industries culturelles

This thesis discusses the emergence of a new actor in the production of books in Chile. This actor arises in the late nineties as a group of independent publishers, and in the first few years of this decade, expands to include university publishing. The point of coincidence and action of these actors, organized in the association Editors of Chile, is the recuperation and assertion of a modern role for the figure of editor, in the sense of the Age of Enlightenment. We can confirm the articulation between the specific demands of publishers and the political position adopted on the symbolic value of cultural production and its role as an element of identity- and democracy-building, under the assumption that access to books should not be restricted to the rules of the market. The theoretical focus we suggest is that of the theory of cultural industries, including contributions from cultural studies. From the perspective of the political economy of cultural industries, we seek to redefine the concept of independence through an analysis of the strategies used by economic units (publishers) and the relationship between these units and their geographical, political and cultural context. We also take into account the macro-structural factors, but with the understanding that their influence is always relative and, in consequence, should be subject to re-evaluation in terms of the relationships of power and specific political, economic and social scenarios. We believe this is a phenomenon that is not exclusive to the field of books. We have corroborated that this also takes place in the field of music, audio-visual productions and the media, such as radio, and to a lesser extent, television. In terms of methodology, we suggest a mixed focus, one that combines quantitative and qualitative methods and instruments. These are the statistical analysis of the production of Chilean publishers (frequency of titles, genres and authors), semi-structured interviews and documents analysis. Before discussing the description and analysis of the production of books in Chile and the significance publishers give to independence along with their positions in the field of culture, we set forth a historical and industrial description of Chilean books. This description allows us to comprehend its creation and development in the political, economic and social context in Chile and Latin America, within the new conditions arising from the globalization process and local and international neoliberal transformations. This investigation then examines the nature of publishing in Chile from 2000-2005, taking into account titles, authors and genres. This analysis allows us to establish differences between organized independent publishers and the big transnational publishing houses. These differences are evident in terms of the number, diversity and cultural interest of the publications. In addition, this analysis allows us to establish specific ties between the production of Editors of Chile and the cultural and political objectives of their discourse. scenarios. We believe this is a phenomenon that is not exclusive to the field of books. We have corroborated that this also takes place in the field of music, audio-visual productions and the media, such as radio, and to a lesser extent, television. In terms of methodology, we suggest a mixed focus, one that combines quantitative and qualitative methods and instruments. These are the statistical analysis of the production of Chilean publishers (frequency of titles, genres and authors), semi-structured interviews and documents analysis. Before discussing the description and analysis of the production of books in Chile and the significance publishers give to independence along with their positions in the field of culture, we set forth a historical and industrial description of Chilean books. This description allows us to comprehend its creation and development in the political, economic and social context in Chile and Latin America, within the new conditions arising from the globalization process and local and international neoliberal transformations. This investigation then examines the nature of publishing in Chile from 2000-2005, taking into account titles, authors and genres. This analysis allows us to establish differences between organized independent publishers and the big transnational publishing houses. These differences are evident in terms of the number, diversity and cultural interest of the publications. In addition, this analysis allows us to establish specific ties between the production of Editors of Chile and the cultural and political objectives of their discourse.

Keyphrases: Independent publishers, cultural industries, book