The Memory of State Terrorism in the Southern Cone: Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay

236 Pages·2011·4.48 MB·English

by  Francesca Lessa Ph.D.

The Memory of State Terrorism
in the Southern Cone
The Memory of State Terrorism
in the Southern Cone
Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay
Edited by
Francesca Lessa
and
Vincent Druliolle
palgrave
macmillan
THE MEMORY OF STATE TERRORISM IN THE SOUTHERN CONE
Copyright © Francesca Lessa and Vincent Druliolle, 2011.
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2978011 97897978-0-230-11014-4
All rights reserved.
Cover art copyright © 2011, Senza Titolo by Giuseppe Lana, photograph by
Claudio Cocuzza
An earlier version of chapter 5, “Chile: Dilemmas of memory,” by Elizabeth
Lira, was published as “Xile: Dilemes de la Memòria Política” in Polítiques
Públiques de la Memòria. I Col·loqui Internacional Memorial Democràtic,
ed. Jordi Guixé Coromines and Montserrat Iniesta (Barcelona: Eumo Editorial
and Memorial Democràtic, 2009). The chapter is published with the
permission of the publisher.
First published in 2011 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN®
in the United States—a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world,
this is by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited,
registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,
Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-29243-1 ISBN 978-0-230-11862-1 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230118621
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The memory of state terrorism in the Southern Cone : Argentina, Chile,
and Uruguay / edited by Francesca Lessa and Vincent Druliolle.
p. cm.
1. State-sponsored terrorism—Southern Cone of South America.
2. Political persecution—Southern Cone of South America. 3. Disappeared
persons—Southern Cone of South America. I. Lessa, Francesca. II. Druliolle,
Vincent.
HV6322.3.S63M46 2010
363.325098—dc22 2010037488
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Newgen Imaging Systems (P) Ltd., Chennai, India.
First edition: April 2011
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xiii
Contributors xv
Introduction Present Pasts: Memory(ies) of State Terrorism
in the Southern Cone of Latin America 1
Emilio Crenzel
1 Remembering and Its Places in Postdictatorship Argentina 15
Vincent Druliolle
2 The Slogan “Complete Memory”: A Reactive (Re)-signification
of the Memory of the Disappeared in Argentina 43
Valentina Salvi
3 Queering Acts of Mourning in the Aftermath of Argentina’s
Dictatorship: The Mothers of Plaza de Mayo and Los Rubios 63
Cecilia Sosa
4 Justice and Its Remainders: Diamela Eltit’s Puño y letra 87
Michael J. Lazzara
5 Chile: Dilemmas of Memory 107
Elizabeth Lira
6 The Traces of “Postmemory” in Second-Generation Chilean
and Argentinean Identities 133
Alejandra Serpente
vi ● Contents
7 Private Transmission of Traumatic Memories of the
Disappeared in the Context of Transitional Politics of
Oblivion in Uruguay (1973−2001): “Pedagogies of Horror”
among Uruguayan Families 157
Gabriela Fried Amilivia
8 No hay que tener los ojos en la nuca: The Memory of Violence
in Uruguay, 1973–2010 179
Francesca Lessa
Afterword The Politics of “Memory” in the Long Present of
the Southern Cone 209
Vikki Bell
Index 223
Illustrations
Photo 1.1 Ex-CCDyT El Club Atlético. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 21
Photo 1.2 Baldosa, Buenos Aires. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 23
Photo 1.3 Parque de la Memoria. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 27
Photo 1.4 Monumento a las Víctimas del Terrorismo de Estado.
Photo by Vincent Druliolle 28
Photo 1.5 “Never Again look the other way” painted on a
zebra crossing. Photo by Vincent Druliolle 36
Photo 8.1 Punta Carretas Shopping Center, Montevideo.
Photo by Francesca Lessa 194
Photo 8.2 Memorial to Disappeared-Detainees, Montevideo.
Photo by Francesca Lessa 195
Photo 8.3 V oto Verde, Museum of Memory, Montevideo.
Photo by Francesca Lessa 197
Photo 8.4 March of Silence, Montevideo, May 20, 2010.
Photo by Francesca Lessa 199
Photo 8.5 Sí Rosado, Montevideo, October 2009.
Photo by Francesca Lessa 202
Preface
T
he idea behind this book began to take shape on the second day
of the 45th Annual Conference of the Society for Latin American
Studies, (Re) Invasions and Inventions: Latin America confronts the
21st Century, held at the University of Leeds, United Kingdom, on March
26 and 27, 2009. On March 26, our panel at the conference saw two inspir-
ing sessions, with six papers presented on the topic of “Memory Struggles
in the Post-dictatorial Southern Cone: Remembering, Commemorating,
Protesting,” and an ensuing enthusiastic discussion between the panelists
and the audience. This lively and inspiring atmosphere is what prompted
us to continue to critically explore the politics of memory in the Southern
Cone, and invite a wider range of scholars to take part in this discussion,
through a publication.
Our fellow panelists in Leeds (Vikki Bell, Valentina Salvi, Alejandra
Serpente, and Cecilia Sosa) enthusiastically supported what was then an
exciting—and a bit ambitious—“book project.” It was eventually submit-
ted to Palgrave at the end of 2009, after we decided to invite some scholars
whose work has inspired us over the years, to contribute to our publication.
We are extremely grateful to them for their enthusiastic responses and for
believing in our “book project” like the panelists did.
Interest in memory and publications on this subject are, of course, not
a new area of academic interest. Let us just think at the wealth of literature
that exists on the commemorations of the two world wars and, in particular,
the Holocaust. In the past two decades, publications on memory have, how-
ever, increased exponentially, taking stock of the global trend that Andreas
Huyssen labeled societies’ “obsession with memory.” The study of the mem-
ory of traumatic events such as conflict, human rights violations, and state
repression in particular has attracted academic interest and produced a bur-
geoning scholarship lately.
x ● Preface
Our book exists against this background and contributes to this body
of scholarship; we believe it to be particularly innovative and original for a
number of reasons. First, despite the significant development of the memory
studies literature, a relative lack of high-quality scholarship published in
English on memory struggles in the countries of the Southern Cone can be
identified. This is quite surprising, given their high profile around the world
and the increasing interest paid to these issues in general by academia and
beyond. Second, the innovative perspectives provided by the chapters of this
volume, and the original contribution of the book as a whole, derive from
the profiles of the international contributors, both emerging scholars and
renowned experts on memory struggles in these Latin American countries.
Thus, we hope that the book will appeal and be of interest to a large public,
including scholars of Transitional Justice, Human Rights, Memory Studies,
Politics, Sociology, and Latin American Studies.
This edited volume explores the contested aspects, realms, meanings,
goals, and the challenges associated with the struggles relating to the con-
struction and preservation of the memories of state repression in the Southern
Cone countries of Latin America, namely Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
To capture these experiences and practices and to reflect memory’s dynamic
and multifaceted character, it is necessary to draw on a range of fields and
perspectives, bringing them together. This is the reason why the contribu-
tors to this collection come from a variety of academic disciplines, including
Sociology, Politics, International Relations, Psychology, Drama, and Latin
American Studies. The ambition of the book is thus, through their authors’
perspectives and backgrounds, to illuminate the richness and complexities
of what is often referred to as “the politics of memory,” a notion that the
book also questions.
Finally, we would like to spend a few words explaining the reasons
behind our choice of book cover, given the significant symbolism of the
selected image. Giuseppe Lana’s work Senza titolo (Untitled) produced in
2010 embodies a conceptual opposition. In the artist’s words, it reflects the
search for the longed-for balance “while being alone, at the wrong place, at
the wrong time.” For the artist, his creation constitutes “a trial of strength
between opposing energies that reject one another . . . just like everyone does,
on a daily basis, beginning with ourselves, and then also with the others.”
The words of the author relating to his artwork apply well to our book, in
which we expose several tensions, different understandings, and manifesta-
tions of memory at the social, cultural, and political levels.
We believe this artwork to be extremely unique and challenging. It is an
image that does not go unnoticed; on the contrary, it provokes the readers,
making them wonder, making them think. The image is directly connected
Preface ● xi
to the themes that are closely discussed and examined in the book. The dark-
ness, in the background, reminds us of the terror and fear that character-
ized the years of the military dictatorships in the Southern Cone. The light
breaking through reminds us of hope, of various kinds of hope, opposition
to the dictatorships, the denunciation of their crimes, the hope associated
with the recovery of the stolen identities of appropriated children, or when
advances in terms of truth and justice are achieved, like General Pinochet’s
1998 London arrest or the overruling of the Full Stop and Due Obedience
Laws in Argentina in 2005.
The opposition between the fan and the heater recalls the tensions of the
past, the disagreements and differences between the ideology of the Armed
Forces and their plans for society, and the opposition to their proposed ways
of life; the diverse beliefs and projects for organizing society, and the con-
flictual character of social interactions. These antagonisms continue in the
present, as Vikki Bell reminds us, in which past tensions and conflicts are
continuously played out. These encompass the different memories and the
various ways of remembering the years of military rule and political violence
that clash with each other on a daily basis in the social, cultural, and politi-
cal landscapes in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
In sum, this image perfectly combines several of the organizing con-
cepts of the book, and illustrates the “politics of memory” analyzed in this
volume.
The “Politics of Memory” in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay are like a
never-ending memory mosaic. Each colorful piece tells us a different story,
provides us with a new perspective, challenging, provocative, disturbing,
interesting, that we may not like or agree with. Still, if we are to ever come
close to comprehending the unfolding memory practices and struggles in
these three countries, we need to look at each piece, with tolerance and
“fresh eyes” every time, in a continuous learning process. This collection of
essays provides some of the many pieces of the memory mosaic in Argentina,
Chile, and Uruguay, rather than an all-encompassing and definitive assess-
ment. This mosaic has no end in sight: we hope this remains so, as a crystal-
lization of memory would be a deeply troubling event.