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Jill Stockwell Thesis “The Country that Doesn’t Want to Heal Itself”: The Burden of History, Affect and Women’s Memories in Post-Dictatorial Argentina Jill Stockwell Submitted in total fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy February 2013 Institute for Social Research University of Swinburne ii Certification of Originality This is to certify that: (i) The thesis comprises only my original work. (ii) Due acknowledgment has been made in the text to all other material used. (iii) The thesis is less than 100,000 words in length exclusive of bibliographies and appendices. (iv) The basis of this thesis has been derived from oral history interviews. The interviews conducted by the author were carried out in accordance with the guidelines set out by the Swinburne University Human Research Ethics Committee (see Appendix). Signed: ________________________ Jill Stockwell iii iv Abstract The first part of the title of this thesis comes from my discussion with a survivor of one of the clandestine detention centres where individuals were tortured during the 1976–83 military dictatorship in Argentina. The woman’s observation made me realise that, despite being a transitional justice pioneer, Argentine memorial cultures remain “stuck” in the entrenched political and ideological divisions of old. Though it is now more than thirty-five years since the military took power, Argentina still grapples with how to remember the period of political violence and state terrorism of the 1970s and 1980s. Over the last few decades, moral and political claims about how this past should collectively be remembered by the nation have caused deep political and societal divisions. I draw on first-hand oral testimonies taken from two groups of Argentine women who represent two antithetical versions of the recent Argentinian past: those affected by military repression and those affected by armed guerrilla violence. The women’s memories of loss and violence have been shaped by the fissure of decades-old, deep-seated social and political animosity. The memories of enduring personal trauma that both groups of women carry are commonly perceived as incompatible and unable to coexist in a shared mnemonic space—as if remembering one history of violence is immediately seen as an attempt to forget or violate the other history of violence and trauma. This thesis explores the evolving and complex historical, political, social, legal and cultural factors that have shaped the cultures of remembrance in the post-dictatorial Argentina. However, in the story of remembering and forgetting, these factors—though essential—are not sufficient to account for the condition of “stuckness” pervading Argentine memorial cultures. I contend that we need to look beyond political and ideological contestations to a deeper level of how memorial cultures are formed and sustained. I argue that we cannot account for the politics of memory in modern-day Argentina without acknowledging and exploring the role played by individual emotions and affects in generating and shaping collective emotions and affects. Affect may be a pre-political and pre-social force, but I argue that it has major consequences for the perpetuation of fault-lines running across particular memorial cultures. v vi Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................... v Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... ix Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 1 The Starting Point ................................................................................................................. 1 Conceptual Foundations ....................................................................................................... 9 Politics of Memory in Argentina: Through an Affective Lens ............................................... 11 Methodological Framework ................................................................................................. 14 Groups Interviewed ......................................................................................................... 14 Interview Process ............................................................................................................ 19 Memory, Trauma and Testimony ........................................................................................ 25 Thesis Chapter Outline ....................................................................................................... 27 1 Historical Factors ............................................................................................................... 30 Period of Guerrilla Violence, 1969–76 ................................................................................ 30 Military Dictatorship, 1976–83 ............................................................................................. 38 CONADEP and the Trials of the Military Juntas, 1983–85 .................................................. 45 Addressing the Legacy of Military Dictatorship and Guerrilla Violence, 1983–2003 ........... 54 2 Politics of Remembering: The Military Dictatorship and Its Aftermath ........................ 61 Disappearance and the Politics of Mourning and Melancholia ........................................... 61 The Politics of Identity ......................................................................................................... 70 Witnessing and Justice ....................................................................................................... 81 3 Politics of Remembering Armed Guerrilla Violence ....................................................... 90 Politics of Recognition ......................................................................................................... 90 4 Deep Memory ................................................................................................................... 113 Reliving Trauma ................................................................................................................ 116 The Concept of Deep Memory .......................................................................................... 122 Living with Deep Memory .................................................................................................. 124 The Durational Time of Deep Memory .............................................................................. 131 Discovering Deep Memory in the Testimonial Experience ................................................ 133 Living Long Term with Deep Memory ............................................................................... 136 5 Social Forces Shaping Memory Transmission ............................................................. 148 Trauma and Group Identity ............................................................................................... 148 Social Sharing of Emotions ............................................................................................... 150 Transmission of Affects ..................................................................................................... 157 vii Affect and Perception ........................................................................................................ 161 Damaged Social Bonds ..................................................................................................... 170 Intergenerational Transmission of Affective Memory ........................................................ 175 6 Haunting ............................................................................................................................ 185 Legacies of Historical Violence ......................................................................................... 185 Disappearance as Haunting .............................................................................................. 195 Haunting Recognition ........................................................................................................ 198 Animating Photographs ..................................................................................................... 201 Life-like Silhouettes ........................................................................................................... 204 Haunting Attachments ....................................................................................................... 209 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................... 217 The Longevity of Deep Memory ........................................................................................ 217 Affect and Empathy ........................................................................................................... 220 Affect and Vulnerability ..................................................................................................... 225 References ........................................................................................................................... 229 Appendix: Ethics Clearance ............................................................................................... 185 viii Acknowledgements I have received an inordinate amount of support since beginning this journey. First of all, my deepest debt is to the extraordinary Argentine
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