The Sixteenth International Conference on Books, Publishing & Libraries

Abstract

To understand the circulation of literature in Colombia, from 1935 to 2000, one might get closer to the governmental efforts to create book collections. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary, in the first place, to review the form of the texts belonging to the collections, the criteria that ruled the canon creation, and the aim these collections were going to fulfill, according to their promoters. This paper will describe some highly important literature book collections created since 1935 by the Colombian government, and their bibliographical morphology. Then, through secondary sources, this review will characterize the aim these collections were going to fulfill and the role public libraries were called to have in this circulation process. Finally, this scanning exercise will propose some publishing categories that were taken into account to create these cultural products and possible questions that can be asked around literary canon, mass culture, reading practices, and reading promotion during the twentieth century in Colombia.