In this essay Nelly Richard discusses the connection between writing and the reader, the implicit recipient of a text. In this review of the reader, she takes a sociological approach in describing and assessing the target of a text; counter to that verifiable reader, however, there is a potential one mediating what is legible or illegible. Richard refers to artistic writings produced in Chile in the mid-1970s that were deemed “illegible” because of the change in art criticism prompted by the passive mood of the time. This change came about as a result of “difficult works” that bewildered regular readers. Richard posits that, given the lack of socio-cultural support—during the dictatorship—there were three reactions: fear, rejection, and fetishization of the subject. She concludes that there are two standard criticisms: cripticism and self-referentiality. Richard claims that reception should be expanded via diversification that fosters a dialogue between social and cultural environments, a dynamic that is free of any association with academic writing or militant ideological inflexibility. 

The theorist and cultural critic Nelly Richard (b. 1948) wrote this essay for the introduction of two books: El fantasma de la sequía (The  Ghost of the Drought) by the curator and art critic Justo Pastor Mellado (b. 1949) about the work of Eugenio Dittborn (b. 1943) and El fulgor de lo obsceno (The Brilliance of the Obscene) by the Peruvian historian Gustavo Buntinx (b. 1957), the essayist Carlos Pérez (b. 1957), and Richard about the painting of  Juan Domingo Dávila (b. 1946); both books were edited by Francisco Zegers (1953–2012) in 1988. [See the following texts about El fulgor de lo obsceno in the ICAA Digital Archive: “De la pintada promiscuidad” (doc. no. 734854) by Pérez and “Love o la cita infectada” (doc. no. 734844) by Richard.]

In her essay “Tú, lector,” Richard refers to the criticism and discussions prompted by the Escena de Avanzada, though she does not mention the movement. The Avanzada—as it is also known—was the name she coined for the diverse group of artists who’s neo-avant-garde practices fostered a wave of renewal in the Chilean arts. In a nod beyond the visual artists to the writers, she also suggested the existence of an Escena de la escritura, as mentioned in this essay. Richard’s views were documented in her book Margins and Institutions. Art in Chile Since 1973 (1986), which was published in Australia and presented in Chile at Arte en Chile desde 1973. Escena de Avanzada y sociedad, a seminar attended by artists who were part of the Escena de Avanzada as well as writers, theorists, philosophers, and social scientists who were associated with the process. On that occasion the criticisms that Richard had mentioned were expressed, including the one made by José Joaquín Brunner (b. 1944), the Chilean researcher and academic, who pointed out that the Avanzada was out of touch with the mainstream and communicating with a limited audience. [On this matter, see “Campo artístico, escena de avanzada y autoritarismo en Chile” (doc. no. 738628).] The essayist Adriana Valdés (b. 1943), a member of the Escena, in her essay for the seminar, focused on the recipients of writing, which she described as “semi-underground” because of its marginal status. [See “La escritura crítica y su efecto: una reflexión preliminar” (doc. no. 738636) and, on the subject of the Avanzada, the “Introducción” (doc. no.738523) to the book mentioned above, Margins and Institutions. Art in Chile Since 1973.]     

At the end of her essay, Richard notes the need to expand the nature of reception based on combining a knowledge of the humanities with the relevant social and cultural environments. This was reflected in the Revista de Crítica Cultural, the magazine that appeared 36 times from 1990 to 2018 and was run by several editorial boards that included philosophers, theorists, writers, sociologists, and historians from a number of countries. Different artists contributed to the  design, giving the magazine its visual identity. See the following articles and essays published in the magazine: “Hoy como ayer” (doc. no. 740288) by Fernando Balcells; “Trama urbana y fugas utópicas” (doc. no. 740281) and “Brigadas muralistas” (doc. no. 739552) by Ana Longoni.]