Counter Memories: Military Cultural Interventions in Post-Shining Path Peru
Dates:
- Wed 25 May 2016 14.00 - 16.00
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2016-05-25 14:00
2016-05-25 16:00
Europe/Paris
Counter Memories: Military Cultural Interventions in Post-Shining Path Peru
In the field of memory studies in Latin America, memory implicitly connotes human rights, specifically the defense of human rights that have been transgressed, and the rights of victims to recount, seek social repair and justice. Memory thus holds positive connotations, despite the negative memories themselves. Yet, what about memories that do not necessarily promote a human rights narrative or may distort the meaning of Never Again ? In an attempt to consider such memories – not necessarily false or fabricated, but contorted – this presentation turns to the memories of armed state agents of the Peruvian conflict from 1980-2000. The central argument is that the domain of culture is where Peru’s memories over the recent past are being waged most strongly because of the limited political weight of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) to bring about the reforms suggested and because of the CVR’s inability to pass off their report as the national account of Peru’s internal war. Over the past decade we see the opening up of public spaces for recounting the past, from the originally victim-focused memories to include that of agents of violent acts. While my previous edited volume Art from a Fractured Past: Memory and Truth-Telling in Post-Shining Path Peru (Duke Univ. Press, 2014) brought together various artistic and creative engagements with Peru’s difficult history from the perspective primarily of victims and human rights organizations, this book (from which this presentation draws) builds an argument about how the Peruvian armed forces are curating Peru’s recent past in public spaces, and in so doing, advancing their memories and altering the meaning of human rights.
Sala Belvedere - Villa Schifanoia
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Sala Belvedere - Villa Schifanoia
In the field of memory studies in Latin America, memory implicitly connotes human rights, specifically the defense of human rights that have been transgressed, and the rights of victims to recount, seek social repair and justice. Memory thus holds positive connotations, despite the negative memories themselves. Yet, what about memories that do not necessarily promote a human rights narrative or may distort the meaning of Never Again ? In an attempt to consider such memories – not necessarily false or fabricated, but contorted – this presentation turns to the memories of armed state agents of the Peruvian conflict from 1980-2000. The central argument is that the domain of culture is where Peru’s memories over the recent past are being waged most strongly because of the limited political weight of the Peruvian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (CVR) to bring about the reforms suggested and because of the CVR’s inability to pass off their report as the national account of Peru’s internal war. Over the past decade we see the opening up of public spaces for recounting the past, from the originally victim-focused memories to include that of agents of violent acts. While my previous edited volume Art from a Fractured Past: Memory and Truth-Telling in Post-Shining Path Peru (Duke Univ. Press, 2014) brought together various artistic and creative engagements with Peru’s difficult history from the perspective primarily of victims and human rights organizations, this book (from which this presentation draws) builds an argument about how the Peruvian armed forces are curating Peru’s recent past in public spaces, and in so doing, advancing their memories and altering the meaning of human rights.
- Location:
- Sala Belvedere - Villa Schifanoia
- Affiliation:
- Department of History and Civilization
- Type:
- Lecture
- Organiser:
-
Prof. Luca Molà (EUI - Department of History and Civilization)
-
Prof. Laura Lee Downs
-
Corinna Ruth Unger
- Discussant:
-
Regina Grafe (EUI - Department of History and Civilization)
- Contact:
-
Laura Borgese (EUI - Department of History and Civilization)
-
Send a mail
- Speaker:
-
Cynthia Milton (Université de Montréal - Fernand Braudel Fellow)
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