Memories of the Past, Images of the Present: National Identity and Contested Memorial Narrative in Argentina

Abstract

In this paper, my interest lies with the dynamic character of collective trauma, cultural memory and national identity in Argentina. I seek to illustrate how recent traumatic events altered society and national identity and how these were -- and still are -- woven into the narrative of the nation. Over the course of the past half century, Argentines have experienced various turbulent moments, of which the military dictatorship from 1976 to 1983 and the economic default of 2001 -- the denouement of the neoliberal policies of the 1980s and 1990s -- were arguably the ones with the most significant impact. These events affected the political and economical landscape, but they also altered the sociocultural panorama. I set out to discover what consequences these two recent traumatizing landmarks in Argentine history had for the sociocultural fabric of the nation and in what way these events shaped the national narrative. By applying my focus to works that have effectively rendered bare processes of nation and memory making and have highlighted their complicated dynamics, I aim to show what dynamics underlie the way in which memories and the experience of state terror are written into the story of a nation. The changed terms of the struggle for memory demonstrate how changes political and social circumstances have given Argentines more opportunities to add their voice to the cacophony surrounding national identity.