Claremont Colleges Scholarship @ Claremont CMC Senior Theses CMC Student Scholarship 2019 Constructing Memory in the Wake of Tragedy: An Analysis of Film as a Tool of Collective Memory in the Aftermath of the Dictatorships in Argentina and Chile Megan C. Schneider Claremont McKenna College Recommended Citation Schneider, Megan C., "Constructing Memory in the Wake of Tragedy: An Analysis of Film as a Tool of Collective Memory in the Aftermath of the Dictatorships in Argentina and Chile" (2019). CMC Senior Theses. 2256. https://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/2256 This Open Access Senior Thesis is brought to you by Scholarship@Claremont. It has been accepted for inclusion in this collection by an authorized administrator. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Claremont McKenna College Constructing Memory in the Wake of Tragedy: An Analysis of Film as a Tool of Collective Memory in the Aftermath of the Dictatorships in Argentina and Chile submitted to Professor Sarah Sarzynski by Megan Schneider for Senior Thesis 2019 April 29, 2019 ii Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... iv Abstract .............................................................................................................................. v Chapter 1: Introduction ..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2: Statement of Methodology .............................................................................. 6 Chapter 3: An Exploration of Memory ............................................................................. 9 Chapter 4: Film as a Vector of Collective Memory ........................................................ 18 Chapter 5: Tales of Redemption: Argentina’s Cinematic Construction of Memory for the International Audience ...................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 6: Controlling the Narrative: The International Construction of Memory in Chile .................................................................................................................................. 34 Chapter 7: Reclaiming the Screen: Memory Through Metaphor in Argentina .............. 39 Chapter 8: Balancing Commerciality and Impact: Chilean Cinema After Pinochet ...... 46 Chapter 9: Conclusions ................................................................................................... 53 Bibliography .................................................................................................................... 55 Appendix A ...................................................................................................................... 59 Appendix B ...................................................................................................................... 93 iii Acknowledgements I would like to thank Professor Sarah Sarzynski for her support and guidance during my time at Claremont McKenna College. Her encouragement led me to pursue my interest in the intersection between film, culture, and politics in Latin America and helped shape my academic career. This thesis would not have been possible without her encouragement, patience, and expertise. I also could not have undertaken this endeavor without the support of my friends and family. Their positivity and words of encouragement helped motivate me throughout the process of writing this thesis and their presence helped me find a balance between academics, work, and life. Finally, it is important to acknowledge that this thesis could not exist without the work of human rights activists in Argentina and Chile. Without their bravery and continued quest for truth and justice, the stories of the desaparecidos could have been relegated to the shadows. Instead, their dedication to the preservation of human rights has ensured that their memory lives on within the global consciousness. It is their work that inspired my first academic investigation in Argentina that would later come to serve as the core of this thesis. iv Abstract Acting as an audiovisual vector of catharsis, film has proved an innovative and effective tool in the process of reconstructing collective memory in the aftermath of traumatic events. This thesis focuses on the emergence of filmmakers and their movies in the post- dictatorial periods in Argentina and Chile as both nations sought to confront their violent pasts. A general overview of the process of memory construction is included to provide background for the subsequent analysis of film as a vector of collective memory following trauma. An examination and comparison of various films produced for both domestic and international audiences detail each country’s engagement with the political and cinematic process of dealing with ideas of truth, memory, and identity. Central themes include the reconstruction of the identity of the desaparecidos and the challenges of producing films of a faithful, factual, reconstructive nature that also result in commercial success and appeal. v 1 Chapter 1 Introduction The end of WWII saw the world thrown into a decades-long era of geopolitical tension that reshaped the globe. The resulting Cold War ushered in a new era of politics, one that valued political maneuvering over all other considerations. With little regard for the lasting impact Cold War based policymaking would have on the stability and wellbeing of local populations, proxy wars and puppet states became the new foreign policy directive of both the United States and the Soviet Union. The consequences of this new, extreme interventionist foreign policy strategy were clearly apparent in Latin America. While the battle for hegemony raged across the globe, Latin America was transformed “into a battleground and prize in the conflict between communism and capitalism.”1 Fearing that their Southern neighbors would fall into the hands of the Soviets, the United States sought foreign policy initiatives that would ensure Latin American cooperation in the growing global conflict.2 The United States had a long history of intervention in Latin American, claiming that the regions shared a special relationship that required close collaboration.3 However, the Cold War fears stoking the political climate encouraged the United States to pursue 1 Peter H. Smith, Talons of the Eagle, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997): 117. 2 Section adapted from Megan Schneider, “The Art of Justification: Representations of Pinochet’s Human Rights Abuses in the U.S. Media” (Claremont McKenna College, 2018). See Appendix B. 3 For further information regarding the special relationship between the U.S. and Latin America beginning with the establishment of the Monroe Doctrine see Barbara Zanchetta, “Between Cold War Imperatives and State-Sponsored Terrorism: The United States and ‘Operation Condor,’” Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 39, no. 12 (December 2016): 1084–1102. 2 an even more aggressive approach than had previously been in place. The most devastating result of this approach was the creation of Operation Condor, a political strategy and network of state-sponsored terrorism that led to rampant human rights abuses and the creation of military dictatorships across South America.4 Operation Condor’s systematic coordination of the armed forces in Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay and Bolivia marked the start of a dirty war against South American citizens.5 The systematic network of state-sponsored terrorism allowed regimes to target their own citizens under the guise of eliminating communist subversives. With no international oversight and discreet support from the U.S., South American regimes were able to repress all forms of opposition and maintain an iron grip on their respective countries.6 The results were devastating for South American populations. Implementing the tactics of torture and extreme repression taught at the School of the Americas, regimes forced their citizens into submission and human rights abuses became common place across the Southern Cone. Especially egregious was the act of “disappearing” supposed subversives, a tactic that became a hallmark of Latin American dictatorships. Regimes would forcibly detain individuals, take them to clandestine detention centers, and subject them to various forms of torture. With these arrests never officially recorded and military perpetuators committed to silence, targeted individuals would literally “disappear” for days, months, 4 Zanchetta, “Between Cold War Imperatives and State-Sponsored Terrorism.” 5 Elizabeth Jelin, Los trabajos de la memoria (Madrid: Siglo veintiuno de españa editores, 2002). 6 For further information on the U.S. mentality towards Latin America and U.S. involvement with military dictatorships during the Cold War era see Zanchetta, “Between Cold War Imperatives and State-Sponsored Terrorism.” Also see Schneider, “The Art of Justification: Representations of Pinochet’s Human Rights Abuses in the U.S. Media.” 3 or in the worst cases, forever. Tragically, detainments often ended in death of arrested individuals, with their bodies buried in clandestine mass graves or disposed of through vuelos de muerte, or “death flights.”7 It would not be until years later, if at all, that the fates of these individuals would become public knowledge.8 Known as the desparecidos or the “disappeared,” these individuals would become the principal victims of the military dictatorships