1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910796989803321

Autore

Schwartz Marcy E. <1958->

Titolo

Public pages : reading along the Latin American streetscape / / Marcy Schwartz

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Austin, Texas : , : University of Texas Press, , 2018

©2018

ISBN

1-4773-1519-5

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (305 pages)

Disciplina

374/.0124098

Soggetti

Literacy programs - Latin America

Public spaces - Latin America

City and town life - Latin America

Literature and society - Latin America

Reading - Social aspects - Latin America

Literacy - Latin America

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Introduction : city reading: public space and cultural -- Citizenship in Latin America -- Campaigning for the capital : Bogotá and Buenos Aires as UNESCO world book capitals -- Reading on wheels : stories of convivencia in Bogotá and Santiago -- Cacerolazos y bibliotecas : solidarity, reading, and public space after the Argentine economic crisis (2001-2002) -- Recycled reading and the cartonera collectives : publishing from the ground up -- Books that bite : libraries of banned books in Argentina -- Conclusion : stories at the intersection.

Sommario/riassunto

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.