by

Dr. María Soledad Paz

Abstract:

The representation and reinterpretation of political violence and human rights violations has been a central theme in 21st Century Argentinean cultural productions. There is an extensive collection of texts speaking to the surviving children of approximately 30,000 people who were detained and subsequently disappeared during the country’s last military dictatorship (1976-83).  These texts explore alternative discourses and approaches to creating personal memories, negotiating post-memory, and constructing a personal identity. Although we recognize several key discourses at work in these texts, our presentation will be geared towards the authors’ use of photography as a tool for mitigating, reinterpreting and representing the tragic past of the children of Argentina's disappeared. We will explore examples of novels and documentaries that include original photography to close the temporal and emotional gap between two generations. We will argue that these cultural productions constitute a new phase in the evolution of the artistic discourse of the desaparecidos; a phase which is the product of both social and political circumstances, and the temporal distance and emotional perspective of their author.

Refreshments will be provided!