Knowing them by their words: The Argentine readers of the Fondo de Cultura Económica through their correspondence (1945–1955)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to outline the characteristics of the reading public of the Fondo de Cultura Económica in Argentina between 1945 and 1955. Based on the correspondence exchanged by various Argentine readers with the branch and headquarters of the publisher in Mexico, it analyzes both the social profile that characterized this community and the capacity for action they had to satisfy the requests they expressed through their letters and expectations regarding what the reading exercise represented for them, thereby seeking the consummation of different goals and purposes. It is concluded that these actors had some capacity to symbolically subvert the roles within the book circuit, especially when interests and purposes were combined between them and the publisher, in addition to the fact that reading acquired a social significance related to human progress within a civilizational development and the strengthening of identity relations between national communities.