Expressions artistiques, mémoire d’une histoire traumatique et interpellation politique

Abstract

Peru experienced a period of terrorism and repression between 1980 and 2000. The majority of the victims were farmers from remote villages in the country. In the year 2000, a truth and reconciliation commission carried out a survey of the victims and the acts suffered by the survivors. As a follow-up to this work, a consortium of non-governmental organizations launched an artistic competition in the areas most affected by violence for the survivors to express their sufferings. This competition was named Rescate por la memoria (Saving Memory). I propose to analyze three of these popular works, which can be considered as "minor writings" made by survivors of massacres. I will highlight the importance of these memorial traces of traumatic events for survivors and their political impact since such memorial testimonies challenge politicians in order not to be repeated.

Keywords

• anthropology
• terrorism and repression
• memory
• poetic enunciator
• ethnohistory
• staging