Abstract

TORRES CUENCA, Laura. Narratives of Memory: The Power of Language in the Construction of Meaning after a Massacre. Mem. Soc. [online]. 2017, vol.21, n.42, pp.21-37. ISSN 0122-5197.  https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.mys21-42.nmpl.

The implications of the armed conflict in Colombia seem to be mitigated by initiatives of symbolic construction of memory, which tend to go beyond the theatricalization of memory. Undoubtedly, these initiatives contribute to ensuring the non-repetition of the violent events that gave rise to them. However, they usually do not provide spaces for reflection on the daily lives of victims, which are reconstructed through elements such as language. Based on stories told by some of the women of the Trujillo’s Association of Relatives of Victims (AFAVIT), this paper aims to analyze how life is given meaning day by day, as well as the resources used to achieve this. Supporting this is the problematization on the role of language, which reflects the constant tension of survivors between telling what happened to prevent repetition or not telling it to avert the dangerous effects that threaten their physical and emotional well-being.

Keywords : Collective memory; narratives; armed conflict; subjectivities of violence; peasantry.

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