Le bourreau a-t-il droit à la parole ?

Abstract

In the discussions about historical memory framed by the transition processes from authoritarian-dictatorial regimes to more democratic forms of governance, critical/professional historiography and literature –as well as Arts in general– have contributed from an ethically justified and legitimized position to create spaces for the memory of those affected, the victims of acts of violence, repression, rape, disappearance and extermination. However, there is more than one historical memory and they have ethnic, territorial, generational, gender and other specificities. Many of the historiographical and literary texts that have dealt with the subject of historical memory have done so almost exclusively as an exercise for the moral or economic reparation of the victims. Although that is essential, it is also necessary to analyze, understand and explain the complexity of what happened to those actors and/or victims in order to understand the recent traumatic past and thus contribute to a human group being able to assume its past in a critical way without falling into essentialisms. Along with that, the question arises whether and how the memory of non-victims, those not directly affected, the indifferent and even the victimizers can and should contribute to a greater and better understanding of the past from the present. This essay is dedicated to find first answers to this question through a critical reading of two Central American novels published in 2011.

Keywords

• Central American Novel
• Cuevas (Rafael)
• Núñez Handal (Vanessa)
• Armed Conflicts
• Historical Memory
• Trauma