Aesthetics of civility. The “good taste” in Buenos Aires press (1801- 1827)

Abstract

The aim of this papper is to analize the potential of the concept of "good taste" in the Buenos Aires newspaper between 1801 and 1827 to investigate the various aspects of sociability and sensitivity of the elite. The “good taste" is traced from the meanings associated with the concept of civility, in the sense of good manners and customs, to referring to the aesthetic judgments proper to theater and music. The hypothesis that guides the work is that the concept went through a double process of change: one, related to the scale and another to the semantic. However the concept always referred to identity as an oppositional frontier that allowed the elite to be constituted while legitimizing itself.