Reading cultures, clipping and collaboration in Repertorio Americano and Babel cultural magazines

Abstract

This paper studies the concept of culture of reading in relation to the practice of clipping in two Latin American cultural journals: Chilean Babel (1939-1951) and Costa Rican magazine Repertorio Americano (1919-1958). During the 30s, both journals can be classified as what I call “revista de revistas”, a specific genre among periodicals of the first part of the 20th century, in which clipping from foreign magazines has an important impact in the composition of its contents. By studying the ways in which clipping as a practice gives form to a specific culture of reading, this paper explores the contexts of duplication and the meanings it assumes from the particular politics of promotion, exchange and collaboration of both journals.