This book collects essays written by João Cezar de Castro Rocha, and published in his column “Nossa América & Nosso Tempo” (Our America, Our Time) The book’s title highlights the new concept proposed by the author: Unleashed readings. In the Iberian colonies, in particular, and in non-hegemonic circumstances, in general, art always seems to have been unleashed, since its origins expose the absence of any stabilizing foundation. We’re in the need of a non-hegemonic Walter Benjamin in order to theorize the circumstance of an aesthetics which never had the aura of the work of art. In the absence of a stable origin, the “loss of aura” produces nostalgia. The process is even more radical: in the lack of original European works, which nonetheless serve as models for emulation, there can be no “loss of aura” to begin with. How to lament the absence of that which was never present? In this case, irreverence in dealing with tradition takes on the form of a singular poetics, forged within an isolated aesthetic experience, and whose consequences are far-reaching in terms of theoretical reflections and cultural politics.