Specters of Bogotá: Ghost Invention and Production in the Candelaria District

Abstract

In this article I analyze how a ghostly map of the Candelaria neighborhood has been constructed through inclusions and exclusions of ghosts and their stories. I underscore how the city’s broader imaginary is impacted by this selective mapping of ghostly narratives. In particular, I read these ghosts as localized signs of resistance and persistence of memory—usually of memories violently silenced. At the same time, the included ghosts often simultaneously displace other events and characters that are continually excluded from spaces of urban memory.