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UC Santa Cruz UC Santa Cruz Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Memoryscapes: Women Chart the Post-Trauma City in 20th- and 21st- Century Latin America Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/6fr1q236 Author Trostel, Katharine Gillian Publication Date 2017 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA CRUZ Memoryscapes: Women Chart the Post-Trauma City in 20th- and 21st- Century Latin America A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in LITERATURE by Katharine G. Trostel June 2017 The Dissertation of Katharine G. Trostel is approved: ______________________________ Professor Norma Klahn, chair ______________________________ Professor Juan Poblete ______________________________ Professor Vilashini Cooppan __________________________________ Tyrus Miller Vice Provost and Dean of Graduate Studies Copyright © by Katharine G. Trostel 2017 Table of Contents Abstract………………………………………………………………………………iv Acknowledgements…………………………………………………….....................vi Introduction……………………………………………………………………...…...1 Chapter 1: The Infinite and the Intimate: Monumental Ruins and Scales of Memory in the Works of Tununa Mercado………………………………………………………………......30 Chapter 2: El Archivo Muerto: Ghostly Remains and Haunted Topographies in Ana Clavel’s Post-Tlatelolco Mexico City………………………………………………................96 Chapter 3: City of (Post) Memory: Memory Mapping in Nona Fernández’s 2002 Mapocho....166 Chapter 4: The Eye that Cries: Macro and Micro Narratives of Memory in Peru Post Shining Path in the Works of Karina Pacheco Medrano.........................................................238 Epilogue……………………………………………………………………………307 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………….320 iii Abstract Katharine G. Trostel Memoryscapes: Women Chart the Post-Trauma City in 20th- and 21st- Century Latin America I bring together two areas of scholarship – memory studies and theories of built space – in order to examine cultural responses to trauma in late 20th- and 21st- century Latin America. Each chapter charts the work of Latin American women writers of the post-trauma or post-dictatorship generation: the aftermath of dictatorships in Chile (Nona Fernández) and Argentina (Tununa Mercado), the legacies of the Tlatelolco student massacre in Mexico (Ana Clavel), and responses to the Shining Path in Peru (Karina Pacheco Medrano). My study is the first to bring these lesser-known women authors – joined together by their political engagement with the tension between spaces of collective and individual memory – into comparative analysis. They mark a shift in writing about trauma; each revisits unfinished histories from a perspective of temporal and/or spatial distance – through the lens of exile, of an “inheritor” of memory, or of a member of the second generation. Forming a “shadow canon,” these texts articulate a gender-specific reading of trauma through the female body’s interaction with the built environment. Within these fictional responses to trauma, corporeally experienced events become enmeshed in relationships to public space. Through fiction-writing – a practice central to the process of political critique in Latin America – these authors react to the deliberate altering of cityspaces by authoritarian regimes. Their literary return to potential sites of collective memory iv (monuments or memorials) marks absence, and seeks to reclaim what was lost in the radical transformation of the urban landscape. I focus on the way that the past is publicly encountered or mapped onto the contours of the city, as the authors place the reader in the ethical position of engaging in conversation with urban sites of memory. This literary undertaking engages the collective political unconscious, and advances social healing. My work underscores the importance of understanding the social systems and urban trajectories of societies emerging from dictatorship and colonial histories – where the bodies of ethnic minorities and women indicate a continuing pattern of oppression. Fiction allows for a fuller articulation of diverse subjects living in complex urban spaces, and examines the intellectual and social work of extending human freedom. v Acknowledgements At the end of this seven-year project, I have many individuals to thank. On the road through graduate school: Few people have the privilege of working with a dissertation advisor as knowledgeable, invested, and dedicated as Professor Norma Klahn; I am thankful to have experienced true mentorship under her guidance these past seven years. I would also like to thank the members of my reading committee – Professors Juan Poblete and Vilashini Cooppan – whose careful feedback, thought-provoking questions, and unique insights challenged me to constantly strive to bring my scholarship to the next level. To Professor Murray Baumgarten and to Sheila Baumgarten whose guidance and friendship brought me to Jerusalem and to the Ghetto of Venice, teaching me the importance of traveling memories. To the members of the Venice Ghetto Collaboration – Joanna Meadvin, Amanda Sharick, Erica Smeltzer, Avigail Oren, and Sara Airoldi: I have relied on each of you as strong women, scholars, and role-models. Working on this project collaboratively has brought new energy to my work. And to Rachel Deblinger who inspired me to try new things. To Marjorie Agosín – our collaboration on the spaces of Jewish memory and our journeys through poetry has renewed my commitment to my scholarship. To my “Writing Groupies” – Kara Hisatake, Sarah Papazoglakis, and Tsering Wangmo – for their companionship, support, and editing expertise. I could not have made it this far without each of you. vi On my path through Macalester College: To Janine Tobeck – whose class was the reason I majored in English – and whose continued encouragement over the years always seemed to come at the right time. To Leland Guyer for sparking my love of Spanish-language literature. To Casey Jarrin for suggesting I go to graduate school in the first place. And to Kristin Naca and Olga Gonzalez – who modeled the ideal of teacher and mentor, and whose friendship and support throughout these years of graduate school has been invaluable. On my journey through Spanish-language learning: To my Argentine mother, Lia Marelli, for her constant encouragement. To Jesús Rodríguez Puerta – el Duende de San Cristóbal – for his friendship and guidance through the mysteries of the Spanish language. To David Márquez, Carmen Guijarro, and Sara for opening their home to me on numerous occasions. To Cecilia García and Diego Márquez, and to Manuela Fernández Molina for their constant encouragement and for all of the wonderful memories in Granada. A special thanks to Alma Heckman for generously introducing me to the Ladino language. On my route back to Cleveland: Thanks to Sr. Cynthia Glavac and the welcoming community at Ursuline College who helped me to bridge my last year of graduate school with meaningful and enriching teaching experience. To my family – especially to my copy-editor and mother, Nancy Falkner, and my translation expert and husband, Gavin Andersen. And to my grandfather, Edward Falkner, who could not imagine what I could possibly still be working on. It’s finally done. vii The labor of completing not only the dissertation, but also participating in the types of professional development opportunities that helped me to grow into a well-rounded scholar would not have been possible without the generous financial support of: The UC President’s Dissertation Year Fellowship – an opportunity that allowed me to spend a year of concentrated effort transforming my dissertation into a polished project. The Literature Department – whose dissertation fellowship quarter and numerous travel grants for language development and conference attendance were appreciated immensely. UC Santa Cruz’s Institute for Humanities Research, who granted me the funds to pursue public-facing scholarship at the Center for the Studies of the Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Oslo-Norway (HL-Senteret) under the careful guidance of Anton Weiss-Wendt. The Metadata Central Workshop and working-group – whose support offered me the chance to develop my expertise in the field of digital humanities. The Bay Area Academic Consortium for Jewish Studies and the Jewish Community Endowment Fund of San Francisco – whose summer fellowships and grants permitted me to become a globally invested scholar, and to present my research in Jerusalem and Venice. The Siegfried B. and Elisabeth Mignon Puknat Literary Studies Endowment and The Gladys Kreible Delmas Foundation – whose sponsorship made our early- viii career scholars’ conference on the Venice Ghetto at 500 possible, both in Santa Cruz, California and in Venice, Italy. ix Introduction “For me, the ghosts are like the in-between messengers – they could be dead or they could be alive – but they stay in the world … Also – ghosts could be invisible, just like women, could be powerless, just like women – and yet, they have a haunting power, they have an extraordinary power that is almost intangible. And I think the work of memory often is intangible, because you have to work on intangible ideas and thoughts until you create a corpus of remembrance”1 Overview and Theoretical Engagement In this dissertation, I bring together two distinct areas of scholarship – memory studies and theories of built space – in order to examine cultural