Transforming modernity : popular culture in Mexico
Canclini is director of the Program of Studies on Urban Culture at the Universidad Autonoma Metropolitan in Mexico City.
From the Primitive to the Popular Theories about Inequality between Cultures
1
Introduction to the Study of Popular Cultures
21
Artisanal Production as a Capitalist Necessity
37
The Fractured Society
55
From the Market to the Boutique When Crafts Migrate
69
Fiesta and History To Celebrate to Remember to Sell
87
Toward a Popular Culture in Small Letters
105
Notes
115
Bibliography
121
Index
127
"Transfoming Modernity" tells the story of the popularization of Mexican culture and crafts. He shows how the desires and tastes of tourists have homogenized traditional Mexican crafts into the few forms favored by tourists (like those associated with death and skulls). He also talks of the folklorization of festivals. Festivals ostensibly in honor of saints have become huge tourist attractions, which have lead to their mutation into little more than a market to sell goods. Very, very interesting and theoretical look at how the global affects the local, and at culture change...something people often talk about but never demonstrate this effectively.