Review: Langa Martínez, L. and Arango Prada, A. (2021). Sin Cesar (2nd ed.). Ed. Entrelazando

Abstract

I will try to explain why the book Sin Cesar is a talisman: at once an object endowed with will and an instrument for protecting oneself from terror. The first thing is to understand that Sin Cesar is much more than a book. Its book-form is the exact pretext for channeling a multiplicity of voices, images and movements that endure in an environment saturated with “analyses” and “narratives” about the “armed conflict,” which tend to sacrifice sensibility for the sake of explanation. Laura and Ariel achieved something extraordinary with this magical artifice, telling a story of dispossession and forced disappearance in the department of Cesar, in northern Colombia.