How Can We Tell the Story of the Colombian War?: Bastardized Narratives and Citizen Celebrities

Abstract

This article explores how popular culture theory can be used in postconflict situations to raise awareness about human rights violations. This case study investigates a media narrative produced by the Memory Center in Colombia, about a political assassination of a community leader. On February 12, 2009, Luis Arango was murdered in the Colombian region known as Magdalena Medio. Arango was a fisherman and a leader of local and regional fishing communities struggling to defend wetlands and natural environments from encroaching cattle and agribusiness economies. Arango was murdered to stop his leadership and environmental agendas. Arango’s assassination was selected as an emblematic case that illustrates well how Colombia’s armed conflict impacts community leaders trying to advance social justice agendas. This article explores how a new understanding of “the popular” was used to frame a media narrative about Arango’s case.

Notes

¹ In Barranquilla, Colombia, where the most important carnival in the country is held every February, common sayings capture this idea: “Quien lo vive es quien lo goza” or “Whoever lives it, enjoys it,” or “Qué pobre es quien no sabe bailar” or “He who cannot dance is extremely poor.”

² The Wayuu indigenous community is one among 89 indigenous ethnic groups that inhabit different regions of the Colombian territory. The Wayuu’s territory is located in northern Colombia, a region known as La Guajira (Rodríguez y El Gazi, 2007).