Abstract

VIGNOLO, Paolo. Who Governs the City of the Dead? Memory Policies and Urban Development in Bogotá. Mem. Soc. [online]. 2013, vol.17, n.35, pp.125-142. ISSN 0122-5197.

Nowadays the policies related with the historical memory and cultural heritage are at the heart of public debate in Colombia. The Victims and Land Restitution law from 2011 -one of the priorities of the Santos' government- is shaping a new official narrative about the horrors that have stained with blood the country. It is happening through a series of normative definitions of armed conflict, its duration, actors and victims. However, very little has been said so far about the emerging dispute regarding the control of the Colombian past in the public space of Bogotá. The article focuses on the history of the area where the Central Cemetery is located which now hosts Center for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation. The city of the dead is becoming the main stage to exhibit a national memory in which diverse conflicting historical perspectives fight each other for visibility.

Keywords : Cemetery; Historical memory; Cultural heritage; Public use of history; Urban development; Urban development-social aspects; Cemeteries; Bogotá (Colombia).

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