The gesture, the myth and the symbolic in the public-political sphere

Abstract

Much of political theory has sheltered the Ethics of discourse to theoretically legitimize the dialogical essence of democracies. But when pondering the word, gesture and symbolic manifestations have been dispensed with, aspects that are determinant in the social and public-political aspects.
To believe that the public-political world is the only ground for the "best arguments" (speeches) is to fall back on the modern nostalgia of the Western stamp. It is not taking into account that the public is also woven by the presence of feelings, passions and mythical-symbolic expressions. In Latin America (especially in Peru, context of this essay) the factual fact of multiculturalism determines a scenario marked by "deep diversity". This diversity is not only linguistic, but includes different rationalities and ethical visions. Therefore, to allude to ethics "from the myth" is to ponder the "other" perceptions that have not been taken into account when speaking of the public or of politics.