Reading Programs, Cultural Engagement, and Civic Participation in Latin America: A Comparative Approach

FAIN: FA-57862-14

Marcy Ellen Schwartz
Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ 08901-8559)

In Public Pages I study reading programs in Latin American cities that aim to redefine cultural engagement and civic participation and rely on urban infrastructure. My comparative approach examines programs in the last two decades in cities in Colombia, Argentina, Brazil and Chile. Public reading initiatives invest in reading for both social and literary value, use public space, distribute creative writing to a mass public, encourage collective reading, and provide access to literature in unconventional arenas. To enrich public space and human interactions, several cities distribute free books on public transit. Cartonera publishers bind books in recycled cardboard to create inexpensive editions. Postdictatorship libraries of banned books offer public access and spaces of commemoration. This interdisciplinary project contributes to Latin American literary, urban and cultural studies, and public policy, with implications for education, literacy, public safety and political agency.

Associated Products

"Beyond the Book: New Forms of Women's Writing" (Book Section)
Title: "Beyond the Book: New Forms of Women's Writing"
Author: Marcy E. Schwartz
Editor: Monica Szurmuk and Ileana Rodriguez
Abstract: na
Year: 2016
Publisher: New York: Cambridge University Press
Book Title: Cambridge History of Latin American Women Writers

" La literatura en el espacio publico: un dialago con Carlos Labbe (Article)
Title: " La literatura en el espacio publico: un dialago con Carlos Labbe
Author: Marcy E. Schwartz
Abstract: na
Year: 2015
Periodical Title: Confluencia 30.2

Public Pages: Reading along the Latin American Streetscape (Book)
Title: Public Pages: Reading along the Latin American Streetscape
Author: Marcy Schwartz
Abstract: 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 out the connection between literary reading and the development of cultural citizenship in Latin America, as municipalities, cultural centers, and groups of ordinary citizens harness reading as a social, as well as literary, activity. One of a series of strategies for reclaiming democracy after decades of authoritarian regimes and political violence as well as a response to neoliberal economic policies, these acts of reading collectively in public settings invite civic participation and affirm local belonging.
Year: 2018
Primary URL: https://utpress.utexas.edu/books/schwartz-public-pages
Primary URL Description: Catalog page for book at U Texas P
Access Model: printed book
Publisher: University of Texas Press
Type: Single author monograph
ISBN: 9781477315187
Copy sent to NEH?: Yes

Reading with Strangers (Blog Post)
Title: Reading with Strangers
Author: Marcy Schwartz
Abstract: Examples of Latin American public reading programs with photos.
Date: 04/13/2018
Primary URL: http://www.publicbooks.org
Primary URL Description: blog address
Website: Public Books

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