Reading the Walls of Bogotá - (Illuminations) by Alba Griffin (Hardcover)

About the Book

A Nuanced Study of the Complex Social Imaginary and Hegemony of Violence in Colombia

Book Synopsis

A cultural imaginary is a structuring space through which collective understandings of cultural and society phenomena are formed, reproduced, and accepted as the norm. Reading the Walls of Bogotá uses graffiti and street art to explore the urban imaginaries of violence in Bogotá, Colombia. These artistic forms are produced and received in different ways in different areas of the city and offer an insight into citizens' everyday experiences and perceptions of violence from the political, to the personal, to that of structural inequality. Through graffiti, in which critiques of memory, space, politics, and aesthetics are embedded, artists and their viewers form vernacular theories through which they interpret the world and the spaces they inhabit. By focusing on creative expression, Alba Griffin shows how Bogotá's residents respond to imaginaries of violence, how they critique the norms, how they appropriate space to challenge or negotiate violence, and how they push back against inequality.

Review Quotes

A bold attempt to explore the interplay among violence, society, and how street artists provide a dialogue to community in Bogotá, Colombia.-- "Choice Reviews"

Thoroughly researched and written, Reading the Streets of Bogotá is a compelling read for people interested in the relation between culture and politics, contemporary violence, and urban spaces in Latin America and beyond.-- "A Contracorriente"

Griffin offers an original and thoughtful study of street art's appropriation of violence and its reception in the urban imaginary in Bogotá. The book explores how street artists emerge as potential voices of dissent and chroniclers of the long-engrained and systemic iterations of violence in Colombia.--Alejandro Herrero-Olaizola, University of Michigan

Griffin reveals how graffiti in Bogotá inserts itself in discourses about violence in the region. This book gives readers a unique and unprecedented insight into street art practices in the city. The author is a gifted storyteller and scholar who deploys a complex and multilayered account of the Bogotá graffiti scene.--Guisela Latorre, The Ohio State University

About the Author

Alba Griffin is a researcher and associate lecturer in Latin American cultural studies, with a particular interest in violence, popular culture, and urban ethnography. She teaches at Newcastle University and works for the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the same institution.