A Day in the Life
Date: 1980
Region: Central America and the Caribbean
Subject: Political/Economic/Social Opinion
Medium: Literature
Artist: Manlio Argueta (b. 1935)
Confronting Bodies: El Salvadorean authorities
Date of Action: 1980
Location: El Salvador
Description of Artwork: Argueta's A Day in the Life (1980) tells the story of a Salvadorean peasant woman who must deal with life under repressive government and fear of death squads.
The Incident: The Salvadorean government forbid the publication of critical literature. The only place to find social protest literature was in the library of the University of Central America. Repression of such writers led Argueta to flee to Costa Rica and publish his work from Argentina.
Results of Incident: A Day in the Life is availible in Catholic book stores and some hotels even though it was offically prohibited from publication.
Source: Censorship, A World Encyclopedia, ed. D. Jones