Sensing Decolonial Aesthetics in Latin American Arts.

• Author: Moral, Patricia

Ramos, Juan G. Sensing Decolonial Aesthetics in Latin American Arts. Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2018.

In Sensing Decolonial Aesthetics in Latin American Arts, Juan C. Ramos, an associate professor of Spanish at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts, redefines the concept of Latin American Art by inviting his readers to sense it by exploring the intersections of literary, sonic, and visual arts in the region. Ramos, who teaches a variety of courses on Latin American literature, especially on the interconnection of poetry, music, and film, places special emphasis on the case studies of Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Cuba.

Ramos utilizes the term "decolonial" and the concept of "decoloniaity" as employed by scholars such as Walter Mignolo. He also builds upon Jacques Ranciere's aesthetics theory, which rethinks the relationship between art and politics by expanding the concept of aesthetics to include a much broader understanding of the relationship between art and politics. The introduction is plied with a theoretical framework in which the author justifies his ideas regarding "sensing decolonial aesthetics." The subsequent five chapters are supported by an ample theoretical framework in which Ramos supports his vision. All chapters, except for the fifth chapter, begin with citations that correspond to the chapter's main ideas. Ramos puts forth examples of antipoetry that challenge canonical poets and acknowledge urgent social issues. He analyzes militant popular songs of the nueva cancion movement by musicians such as Mercedes Sosa and Violeta Parra, and discusses visually shocking film images to relate historically relevant and tragic events in Latin American history.

Ramos contends that these art forms should be studied together as they form a network that contributes to decolonial art forms. The emphasis of his thesis, which rejects Eurocentric approaches, relies on placing Latin American popular art at the center of serious analysis instead of on the periphery. Thus, by the use of decolonial aesthetics theory, the author delves into Latin Americas extensive production decade from the 1960s and 1970s, which has not been studied exclusively from a decolonial perspective...