Eruptions of Memory : The Critique of Memory in Chile, 1990-2015

In this important book, one of Latin America’s foremost critical theorists examines the use and abuse of memory in the wake of the social and political trauma of Pinochet’s Chile. Focusing on the period 1990–2015, Nelly Richard denounces the politics and aesthetics of forgetting that have underpinned both the protracted transition out of dictatorship and the denial of justice to its survivors and victims. What are the perils and social costs of a culture of forgetting? What forms do memories of injustice take in newly formed democracies? How might a history of violence and an ethics of reparation be reconciled in post-autocratic societies? In addressing these and other questions, Richard exposes the abuses of the past and the present while also attending to the residues of memory that are manifested in street protests, literature, and the media, and in artistic practices from architecture and urban design to installation and film. While cultural artifacts can be powerful devices for resistance and critique, Richard argues that they can also be complicit in reproducing and collaborating with forms of institutional and political oblivion. Both within Chile and beyond, Richard offers a trenchant critique of how authoritarian regimes and neoliberal states whittle away at memory’s critical capacity. At a time of seismic political realignments in Latin America and internationally, __Eruptions of Memory__ makes a powerful case for the ethical, political, and aesthetic value of memory. Cover page Title page Copyright page Contents Acknowledgments Translator’s Note Introduction: The Struggle for Words Graciela Montaldo Against the dictatorship, the avant-garde Eruptions of Memory Bibliography Prologue 1 Traces of Violence, Rhetoric of Consensus, and Subjective Dislocations Memory and disaffection Biographical ruptures, narrative disarticulations The presence of the memory of absence 2 Women in the Streets: A War of Images The return and revolts of the past Uproar in the streets The war of images 3 Torments and Obscenities The blackmail of truth: bodies and names Obscenity I Perpetual betrayal Obscenity II Conversion Silence, screams, and the printed word Memory and market Obscenity III 4 Confessions of a Torturer and His (Abusive) Journalistic Assemblage The scene of the interview The scene of torture 5 Coming and Going Reconstructing the scene The fissures of heroic memory 6 Architectures, Stagings, and Narratives of the Past Villa Grimaldi The Cementerio General de Santiago: memorial of the disappeared The Bulnes Bridge Londres 38 The Museum of Memory and Human Rights 7 Two Stagings of the Memory of YES and NO The mimesis of memory Theater of antagonisms 8 Past–Present: Symbolic Displacements of the Figure of the Victim 9 Media Explosion of Memory in September 2013 Traces and the archive: the last time ... The bombing of La Moneda Strategies of memory, the power of images, and media control Testimonies, revelations, and anti-confessions 10 Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Military Coup ... and Afterwards History, memory, and countermemories The contortions of memory Notes Introduction: The Struggle for Words Prologue Chapter 1: Traces of Violence, Rhetoric of Consensus, and Subjective Dislocations Chapter 2: Women in the Streets: A War of Images Chapter 3: Torments and Obscenities Chapter 4: Confessions of a Torturer and His (Abusive) Journalistic Assemblage Chapter 5: Coming and Going Chapter 6: Architectures, Stagings, and Narratives of the Past Chapter 7: Two Stagings of the Memory of YES and NO Chapter 8: Past–Present: Symbolic Displacements of the Figure of the Victim Chapter 9: Media Explosion of Memory in September 2013 Chapter 10: Commemoration of the 40th Anniversary of the Military Coup ... and Afterwards Bibliography Index EULA Traces of violence, rhetoric of consensus, and subjective dislocations -- Women in the streets : a war of images -- Torments and obscenities -- The confessions of a torturer and his (abusive) journalistic assemblage -- Coming and going -- Architectures, stagings, and narratives of the past -- Stagings of the memory of yes and no -- Past-present : the symbolic displacements of the figure of the victim -- The media explosion of memory in September 2013 -- The commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the military coup and afterward