Work and literature. Representations about the profession of writers in Argentina (2008-2021)

Abstract

In recent years, new university careers, emerging associations, public policies and reconfigurations in the dynamics of publishing markets force us to rethink the labor dimension of the literary profession. In this article we present the first results of the analysis of surveys carried out by two literary magazines, covering 182 Argentine writers, considering sociodemographic variables and key dimensions for the literary field as well as disputed representations about the figure of the writer as a worker. The analysis evidences the continuity of representations that oppose art and work, literary creation and formal education, the centrality of publication on behalf of a publishing house and the instances of awards for a literary career, something that allows identifying the persistence and sedimentation of both representations and practices in the Argentine literary field, and leads to question the scope of the new instances of circulation, recognition and literary sociability in the digital environment.

Keywords

• trabajo artístico
• escritores
• condiciones laborales
• campo literario