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narco terrorism ruled most of the territory On July 12 of 1985 at Saint-Étienne, , Luis Alberto ‘Lucho’ France, Luis On July 12 of 1985 at Saint-Étienne, Herrera, the first Colombian cyclist toTour have de won France a stage (1984), became an international hero and a national martyr. Not only did the image of bloodied Herrera’s face staring at the ho- rizon after winning the 14th stage acquire Abstract: Abstract: the world, around it circles also established a subtle, yet passionate, re- his performance,connection andbetween Colombianthe figure, argue We that ality. Herrera’s image worked as a metaphorical ex- tension that stimulated the association between martyred Herrera’s image and the collective struggle people had to go through on a daily basis, accentuating the Catholic strongly iconographic dimen- sion attached to popular sport practices in Colombia (faith, endur ance, and suffering). Using applied elements of Charles S. Peirce’s em- symbolic elements semiotic apparatus, this paper analyze three bedded in Herrera’s image – blood, struggle, and redemption – to discuss the photograph’s power to resonate with the average Co- lombian at a time when and the escalation of insurgency and paramilitary violence were daily occurrences. A PhD Student of the Communication Sciences program at program Sciences the Communication Student of PhD A include interests research São Paulo University (Brazil). His media discourses and critical ex food and material culture, of He is one of the organizers plorations of visual culture. a & Comunicação (2014), a book presenting tropologia at the IX International Seminar collection of papers presented Images. – Cultural of Image Culture

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The metaphorical extensions of ‘Lucho’ Herrera’s glory ‘Lucho’ Herrera’s extensions of The metaphorical Your blood is our blood blood Your Nicolás Llano Linares

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Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your Colombia, Cycling, , Martyrdom, Violence Martyrdom, France, de Tour Cycling, Colombia, The sentimental cast of its Catholicism and the morbid ex supreme their found character national its of tendency fea bloody physique, tiny Lucho’s In cycling. in pressions Colombia saw itself reflected tures and tortured victory, new months following the Over ever. than faithfully more In Herrera’s victory, a team effort and an individual achievement, individual an and effort team a victory, Herrera’s In in sporting practices in Colombia holds the key to understanding to the image: the massive response ist as documents of the extended agony of Colombia’s inner con inner Colombia’s of agony extended the of documents as ist flict, few have had the power toresonate so strongly with the average Colombian as bloodied ‘Lucho’ face Herrera’s at the finish line of that stage; and although this paper is by no means trying to com extremely an of victims of thousands of suffering the compare individual an of suffering the to process historical horrific and plex theof element ubiquitous an such was blood that argue we athlete, meta a association, the that time, that at reality and psyche nation’s im an did Why inevitable. almost was one, emotional and phorical of type that generate dimension social opposite an in produced age associations? For Matt Rendell, the embedment of Catholic culture martyr. Having martyr. outstripped the main peloton and riding in front on mud of spot a avoid to tried Herrera line, finish the to 5km with a closed curve and skidded. He fell hard and cut his forehead and fol were cars filming the as tape, on caught not was fall The elbow. lowing the main pack and the race leader, (who also fell that day), and and so the foot all pictures are that remains finish the crossing blood of rivulets in covered face Herrera’s of age line and standing on the podium. reflect destiny country’s their and stories life their saw Colombians ex that images horrific and gruesome of thousands the Among ed. Keywords of documents visual icons: cultural of set own its has country Every his important define and encapsulate that figures or events specific torical phases for different generations, integrating a variety of dimensions ofmeanings theinto country’sdifferent social and cul tural life. On July 12 of 1985 at Saint-Étienne, France, Luis Alberto ‘Lucho’ Herrera, the first Colombian cyclist toTour have de won a France stage (1984), became an international hero and a national quarter

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proximity proximity to

is upon closer in

Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás What at first glance Volume 10

Your blood is our blood is our blood Your trivialized (2002, 31).

process (production of meaning), and meaning), of (production process semiosis reading reading of Herrera’s image is focused on the

relation to relation other signs 2008; (Peirce Nôth 1995). The tri

waves of violence and tragedy hit Colombia, and the im age of assumed itslasting pathos as a generalized picture 2002, 179). suffering (Rendell Three Three elements – blood, struggle and redemption – appear to poverty’s degree zero must draw us closer to the realm of miracles - the Sacred Heart of Christ has offered Colombia’s poor their only protection for nearly two centuries’ adic structure of the of structure adic helpful are developed he categories phenomenological further the structures triadic in grounded is hypothesis my because especially as well. Since this a valu theory provides metaphoric extension of the icon, Pierce’s able hermeneutic due to the stress he places on the iconic charac ter of the metaphorical sign. have grown out of the picture frame and echo feelings not only Colombia and Catholicism, cycling, of trinity inseparable the about (Rendell 2002), and also mirror grander narrative themes attached to Colombia’s history: violence, negotiation of national identity, dialogical this within is It redemption. of hope present ever the and framework that I use Charles S. Peirce’s semiotic apparatus, since different play to signs observe to analyses applied allows theory his ‘roles’ at once, letting the same sign represent different objects de pending on the relation between the constitutive elements of the sign or in degree degree (Pécaut 1999), religion has often been seen as the only re source to comprehend and deal with the feeling of living in a place without salvation; as Matt Rendell comments: ‘(…) represents image Herrera’s that fact the – paradox a as seen be could a sporting landmark for the country and yet some of the meanings and emotional undertones attached to it reflect thereality cruel of a nation immersed in a gruelling armed conflict – nation’s history and psyche.spection a characteristic trait of the Catholicism has been a defining guide in the constitution of many of many of constitution the in guide defining a been has Catholicism the national attitudes towards the psychological effects the coun country a In victims. of millions of lives the on had has violence try’s with an immense income inequality gap, where different types of violence became rooted in quotidian life and quarter

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Clásico RCN Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 period in the 1950s, Your blood is our blood is our blood Your and the and La Violencia Vuelta culture. Among all the great riders that the narco took place that cycling cemented its position as Colom as position its cemented cycling that place took , Alberto Luis ‘Lucho’ Herrera is without a doubt the most 1 Cycling and the macro socio-political context of Colombia’s real Colombia’s of context socio-political macro the and Cycling Colombians’ love for ar cycling has Velocipedes a long history. ity have long been entangled: the establishment of the nation’s ma nation’s the of establishment the entangled: been long have ity ( competitions cycling jor incided with the outbreak of the garded parts of the national geography under a progressive politi progressive a under geography national the of parts garded The of edition first the when 1951, until not was It banner. cal a Colombia the by organized was competition The sport. national bia’s newspaper and “the political and economic elite with a awareness keen of cycling’s value as political theater of national unity competition, The 2). 2010, Inquisition (Cycling 1950s” the during of backdrop a against staged been often has edition, 64th its in now national identity fragmentation, and ex politically-driven terror, violence. treme rived in 1894 and by 1899 more than 600 bicycles were cruising around Bogotá. In 1898, two cycling tracks were inaugurated be de Tour the about commentaries and News audiences. packed fore conversa of topics common were France de Tour the and L’Avenir tion at the beginning of the XX century (Revista Histo Credencial amateur ria 2005). During the following decades, cycling competi process a Colombia’, of ‘rediscovery so-called the of part were tions disre in institutions political strengthen and unite to intended that riding the most important cycling race in the world – winner of theof winner – world the in race cycling important most the riding competitions cycling major three all in jersey Mountains the of King 1987 the of winner España), a Vuelta Italia, de Giro France, de (Tour a Vuelta España and the a Aragón Vuelta (1992) and a two time his listing without is that And Liberé. Dauphiné the of champion victories on the Colombian cycling circuit. numerous and decades later, and the decades booming later, of the 1980s generation that paved Colombia’s path in the international cycling circuit was set against the expansion of guerrilla and paramilitary armies, drug violence, and the rise of Colombianof history the to gave 1980s and 1970s the of generation cycling important one. He was the firstTour Latin-American to ever win a year first his in 1984 in D’Huez Alpe mythical the – Stage France de quarter

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Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your culture, a shift from a “druga from shift a culture, narco

. During the earlier part of the 1980s, the intensification of Colom tutions were tutions trying were to assert their andin regions roles marginalized 1980s the Although 2008). (Semana control political national execute has blood conflict, Colombia’s of intensification the by defined were always played a part of the official discourse and has been a consti identity. national Colombia’s regarding signs symbolic of part tutive in 1807 by Francisco Miranda, Colombia’s flaghas Since its creation maintained its symbolizing three the colours: richness yellow, of its the two coasts –Caribbean and pacific – that land, blue representing bia’s violent conflict was rapidly becoming thefundamental trait of the national image produced by media discourses (Bonilla and 2007). Blood was Tamayo everywhere: on the streets, rural fields, papers and television screens. In general terms, the decade saw the their and empires drug the of rise bonanza to a drug war” (Bushnell 1993, 259), the escalation and ru paramil of birth the insurgency, guerrilla left-wing of expansion ral itary movements, and a massive increase in terrorist acts and prac tices linked to the State-declared war against drug trafficking. All insti cultural and social political, country’s the while place took this not only a result of his accident, but a recurring element linked to the to linked element recurring a but accident, his of result a only not at meanings violent the radicalized that element an reality, nation’s At the time of the event, blood was a key tached component to ofit. a shared visual vocabulary for the vast majority of the nation; and competition sporting a of product the was blood Herrera’s although associa metaphorical the meanings, (euphoric) positive carried and tion to Colombia’s gory reality was, inevitable: sadly, “this was a time when on a national scale the distance between metaphorical martyrdom on the soccer field or on the bicycle and literal martyr dom of life on the streets or in the countryside was often non-exist ent” (Cycling Inquisition 2012, 2) Blood, struggle, and redemption struggle, Blood, most Herrera’s striking the were feature rivulets of blood pouring down the left side of his face all the way to his chin; an image that rapidly fixed in Colombia’s popular consciousness. His blood ex panded its meaning from that of an indexical manifestation of a a of the role in a sporting practice, to assume occurrence common “domain of metaphorical experience” substitute (La in a broader conflict national Colombia’s 117): 2003, Johnson and koff the blood streaming from Herrera’s wounds was not only his, and quarter

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, Catholicism, 3 Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your Running parallel to the Catholic beliefs concerning pain, struggle, pain, concerning beliefs Catholic the to parallel Running The attachment Colombians feel agonising to religious “tortured, Formerly known as the country of the ‘bleeding heart’, the rela phy (Barthes 1997). Cycling appears as the ultimate spiritual jour one motivated by the need to the overcome ney, immense power of nature and expose human limitations, a quest filled with pain and obstacles to surmount. and redemption is the belief that the escalation of Colombia’s inner conflict in the last 60 years is not theresult of a seriesdestiny, ofColombia’s of component historical inevitable an rather but processes images whom Colombia turn in its time of need” (Rendell 2002, 125) 2002, (Rendell need” of time its in turn Colombia whom images of Christ Miraculous The and Monserrate of Lord Fallen The as such Buga, illustrate how pain, struggle, and abstinence intrinsic are and even necessary features of both the nation’s destiny and its cycling If these culture. dripping images two blood are religious and show ing signs of struggle – just as Herrera was depicted in the photo to relate and acknowledge cyclists the that natural only is it – graphs the tribulations they went After through. all, cycling can been seen com Barthes’ Roland journey. spiritual a sacrifice, self-imposed a as mentaries about the dialectic relation between de the France Tour and the Iliad are magnified under the scope of Colombia’s geogra and steady affair. Although from the 1990s on the expansion of reli of expansion the on 1990s the from Although affair. steady and gious diversity has been a nationwide phenomenon and contin was and still is the majoritarian in religion the country, ues to hold an important yet diminished influence in its political and social organization (Cely 2013). The Catholic influence is ex are who cyclists amateur and professional among apparent tremely often avid followers of Catholic doctrine and dedicated adorers of its saints and virgins, celebrating their faith by wearing scapulars, making and paying promises in the name of their figure of prefer ence (Rendell 2000). delimit its and territory, red standing as the allegorical representa tion of the blood shed by the independence leaders on the battle field. The institutionalization of these symbolic meanings attached perspec identity national a from telling is elements chromatic the to tive: “blessed” with an amazing variety of geographical, biological and natural resources, the history of the nation’s freedom and re violent struggle. demption has been inseparable from tionship between cycling and religion has also been a long-lasting quarter

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Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume Metaphor we live by 10 . Herrera’s bloodied 4 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your of exhaustion after a compe a after exhaustion of

This gruesome image sent the Colombian press into a state a into press Colombian the sent image gruesome This of delirium. Herrera was portrayed as a a martyr, hero, and his stage victory was used to explain that pain was a in zeroed rightfully, necessary part of the sport. The press, on the fact that the image, and what it was represented, almost for tailor-made Colombia’s Catholic faithful. His theof Stations the for term Latin the Crucis, Via his as win to a bloodied, fallen Christ fig He was compared Cross. For Herrera, a For devoted Herrera, Catholic, accepting pain and overcoming negotiable condition on the path to salvation linefinishing the at arriving made he expression facial the and face Colombian the martyrdom of air the strengthened high) held (arms public attached to the victory and the image. The media’s portrait of Herrera’s triumph reflected thisTwo perception. of Colombia’s major newspapers reinforced the blood and the sacrifice as key sweat… ‘Blood, Tiempo: El importance. its understanding for signs ‘Lucho’ Espectador: El 1AB); 1985, Ruíz and (Clopatofski glory’ and won with blood! (Mendoza 1985, 1C); for Klaus Bellón, a Colombi an cycling and cultural commentator, tition; although there is a suggestion of joy in his facial expression, a expression, facial his in joy of suggestion a is there although tition; feeling of satisfaction for having endured the necessary sacrifice seems to prevail over other physical and emotional manifestations Lakoff as experience of facts on based is iconicity If triumph. his of and Johnson demonstrated in their seminal Colombia’s of part significant a 1985, by that argue could we (2003), undirected- or –directly affected or influenced been had population by the country’s armed conflict, constituting a common ‘domain of experience’ for the Colombian nation. the unexpected difficultiesalong thetreacherous road was a non- one that has been cursed with abnegation and struggle as its leading its as struggle and abnegation with cursed been has that one threads. The struggle many Colombians have to go through on a daily basis – specially those living in distant regions of the country and or for involved whom in Catholic manual de and rural labour, iden national and individual their of part major a constitutes votion small a in gardener a as background Herrera’s in reflected was – tity rural town and in the spectacular unfolding of the de Tour France to seemed expression Herrera’s line, finish the at arrival his At stage. expression recognizable the beyond go quarter

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Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your , ’s triumph was received as received was triumph Herrera’s Luis , 5 ure. ure. And with that, Herrera was elevated to the status of religious the icon. Colombian We, fans, were quickly in doctrinated into the notion that pain was a necessary in 2). the sport of cycling (Bellón 2014, in gredient Although the impossibility of reconstructing a wide and thor that several elements and conditions assisted in the making of the image’s resonance: a) Herrera’s bloodied victory coincided with a estab it b) development; conflict inner Colombia’s of period crucial lished the Colombian cyclist as a protagonists on the international giving the cycling Colombian circuit, people a sense of pride in the midst of their continuous national tragedy; c) it reaffirmed and ex cycling to attached practices Catholic of deep-rootedness the posed culture; d) his life story and physical traits fit perfectly into the in fication with his story and achievements. Just as in the soap operas Colombians watch every single night, the story of ascen Herrera’s using constructed was cycling international of pantheon the to sion black emotionally tropes, and charged white personalities, and a unpredictable resolution: it was the popular melodrama of the un derdog that defied everybody’s expectations securing his place in the annals of sporting glory. ough overview of the array of interpretations that the image pro voked from a geographical, racial and generational perspective in fuses the analysis with an individual interpretative voice, I of violent associations that deepened the metaphorical extensions of Herrera’s bloody Just victory. as with other national or interna landmarks sporting tional a spiritual break from the continuum of violence the country had experiencing since the 1940s. The national celebration was partly motivated by two narratives: on the one hand, a sporting triumph experi cathartic as used commonly were celebrations public its and ences that interrupted the continuous sensation of being strangled in a troubled and violent territory that could not find peace and forgiveness. On the Herrera’s other, life story had enough bio and identi graphical elements that allowed for a massive response Concluding remarks Concluding What started as a hopeful decade turned out to be one of the most conflictive and violently spectacular decades of the nation’srecent history; a fact that contributed to the establishment of a continuum quarter

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(Colombian pre- Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your it reaffirmed that “The that reaffirmed it

escarabajos and the explosion of the famed all-Colombian teams

‘Cochise’ Rodríguez World track amateur record in 1970, or Luis Herrera’s stage victory at de the France 1984 are landmarks Tour of Colombia’s rise to the international cycling spotlight. The 1886 constitution recognized Catholicism as the official religion and religion official the as Catholicism recognized constitution 1886 The consecrated the nation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (Fernandez A 2013). slow secularization process was recognized by the 1991 constitution, institutionalizing the free religious choosing. By 2010, 16,7% of the Protestants, as themselves defined author the by interviewed population almost all of them linked to the Pentecostal movement (Cely 2013, 99) all though he if asked was Herrera Cromos, Revista with interview an In response: His it. worth was entails cycling professional that sacrifice the “Cycling is a sport based on sacrifice, is all that effort worth it? As a sport, and as a profession as well, I think it is (Redondo and Pulgarin 1997, 39). A A generation defined by the rise of the eminent climbers) Café de Colombia and Postobon. I understand the metaphor not simply as a rhetorical device or helps that framework conceptual a a as but trope), (a speech of figure understand and experience “one kind of thing in terms of another” (Lakoff and Johnson 2003, 5), as well as understand “one domain of 117). and Johnson 2003, experience in terms of another” (Lakoff 5. 3. 4. Notes 1. 2. stitutionalized projection of Colombian national identity; e) it rein it e) identity; national Colombian of projection stitutionalized ofsign integral an as it, to attached meanings the and blood, forced an with association metaphorical the facilitating reality, Colombia’s g) meanings; opposite with embedded event sometimes nation the over trace cyclist its lines of network invisible car future, and past weaving together, it holding force only the feel rying the cross of their homeland into the mountain, and there, Colombia’s for penance paying suffering of acts voluntary through sins” (Rendell 2012, 242). quarter

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In 206 . Trans Las vio Las . Accessed .

2007. Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 . Centro de investiga de Centro . Your blood is our blood is our blood Your “Sangre, sudor…y glo “Sangre, The Cycling Anthology . Last modified 5 Jan In . Bloomington and India Lucho Herrera: Tengo más de Tengo Lucho Herrera: http://www.semana.com/

. Aurum Press: London. Press: Aurum . Gómez, Camilo A. Gómez, Camilo Escarabajos de dos ruedas sangre ganó ‘Lucho’! También se acci También ganó ‘Lucho’! sangre Semiótica: The Collected papers of Charles Koonings and Dirk Kruijt. London: Zed

Con , edited by Ellis Bacon and Lionel Birnie. ¡ “ 25 años de resistencia The Making of Modern Colombia: A Nation in The Making of Modern Colombia: A The Eiffel TowerThe andEiffel Other Mythologies and Tamayo Nervous but prepared. Nervous but prepared. Kees Legacy of Civil War, Violence and Terror in Latin and Terror Violence Legacy of Civil War, Handbook of semiotics

Kings of the Mountains. How Colombia’s cycling Kings of the Mountains. How Colombia’s . Translated . by Translated José Coelho Teixeira Neto. São From the Banality of Violence to Real Terror. . to Real Terror. the Banality of Violence From : The .” El Espectador, 14 July, p.1C. 14 July, .” El Espectador,

. University of California Press: Los Angeles. Los . University of California Press: .” El 3 Tiempo, March 1997. Accessed 18 May 2014. edited by élez, Jorge élez, I., Jorge El Tiempo. 14 July, p.1AB. 14 July, El Tiempo. Books. lo que soñé ción y Educación popular – CINEP: Bogotá.ción y Educación popular – CINEP: 22 July 2014. Accessed 22 July 2014. http://pages.rapha.cc/rac ing-2/king-of-pain-marco-pantani spite of itself ria.” dentó Hinault lated by Howard, Richard. University of California Press Angeles. de France Edition 2: Tour London: Peloton Publishing. violencia lencias en los medios, los medios en las heroes changed their nation’s history changed their nation’s heroes \http://www.banrepcultural.org/blaavirtual/re 2014. July of 3 vistas/credencial/enero2005/escarabajos.htm uary 2008. Accessed 3 of July 2014. nacion/articulo/25-anos-resistencia/90350-3 napolis: Indiana University Press. napolis: Indiana University Press. Sanders Peirce Paulo: Estudos. cieties at Fear America, http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/MAM-555848 Bellón, Klaus. 2014. “King of pain: .” Last Modified Bushnell, David. 1993. Rendell, Matt. 2002. 2005. Historia, Credencial Revista Revista Semana, 2005. Peirce, Charles Sanders. 2008. Sanders. Charles Peirce, Pécaut, D., 1999. Redondo, B., and Pulgarin, C. A. 1997. “ Clopatofsky, José., and Clopatofsky, Ruíz, Ricardo E. 1985. Mendoza, Rafael. 1985. 1995. Nöth, Winfried. References Barthes, Roland. 1997. Bellon, Klaus G. 2013. Bonilla V quarter

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Nicolás Llano Linares Llano Nicolás Volume 10 Your blood is our blood is our blood Your http://www.cyclinginquisition. conversation about the cultural significance of cycling in Co Ph.D. Interviewed by lombia Klaus with Shouse Corey Torino 2014. July 17 Accessed Bellón. com/2012/05/cult-of-suffering-and-abnegation.html Cycling Inquisition. 2012. “A cult of suffering and abnegation.” A cult of suffering and Inquisition. abnegation.” Cycling 2012. “A quarter

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