Public Pages: Reading Along the Latin American Streetscape (Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture)

Schwartz, Marcy

ISBN 10: 1477315187 / ISBN 13: 9781477315187

Edité par University of Texas Press, 2018

A propos de cet article

N° de réf. du vendeur 390920406

Détails bibliographiques

• Titre: Public Pages: Reading Along the Latin American Streetscape (Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Series in Latin American and Latino Art and Culture)
• Éditeur: University of Texas Press
• Date de parution: 2018
• Langue: anglais
• ISBN à 10 chiffres: 1477315187
• ISBN à 13 chiffres: 9781477315187
• Reliure: Couverture souple
• État de l'article: New

A propos de ce titre

Synopsis

Public reading programs are flourishing in many Latin American cities in the new millennium. They defy the conception of reading as solitary and private by literally taking literature to the streets to create new communities of readers. From institutional and official to informal and spontaneous, the reading programs all use public space, distribute creative writing to a mass public, foster collective rather than individual reading, and provide access to literature in unconventional arenas.

The first international study of contemporary print culture in the Americas, Public Pages reveals how recent cultural policy and collective literary reading intervene in public space to promote social integration in cities in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. Marcy Schwartz looks at broad institutional programs such as UNESCO World Book Capital campaigns and the distribution of free books on public transportation, as well as local initiatives that produce handmade books out of recycled materials (known as cartoneras) and display banned books at former military detention centers. She maps the connection between literary reading and the development of cultural citizenship in Latin America, with municipalities, cultural centers, and groups of ordinary citizens harnessing reading as an activity both social and literary. Along with other strategies for reclaiming democracy after decades of authoritarian regimes and political violence, as well as responding to neoliberal economic policies, these acts of reading collectively in public settings invite civic participation and affirm local belonging.

À propos de l?auteur

Marcy Schwartz is the chair of the Department of Spanish and Portuguese and affiliated with the Center for Latin American Studies at Rutgers University–New Brunswick. Her previous books include Writing Paris: Urban Topographies of Desire in Contemporary Latin American Fiction and Invenciones urbanas: ficciÓn y ciudad latinoamericanas.