The figure of the popular reader in Quimantu: pleasure, work and revolution

Despite the fact that Quimantu is one of the most relevant cultural policies of the Unidad Popular, the figure of the popular reader has been scarcely studied. We propose to investigate the contours of this figure through the analysis of Quimantu's editorial production. This way, the boundaries of the reading experience designed by the publishing house are revealed. We will see the complex place that pleasure occupies in this experience and how the definition of the popular reader ranges between an individual conscience and belonging to a mass that is oriented towards revolutionary political action. The figure of the popular reader not only explains a series of decisions in different magazines and books published by the publishing house, but also suggests an explanation about the impossibility of articulating literature as a properly revolutionary discourse during the Unidad Popular.