Postmemorial Exhibitions: A Design Approach to Negotiate Cultural Trauma Among Children and Grandchildren of Former War Refugees and Guerrilla Supporters by Allan Antonio Martell Pereira A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Information) at the University of Michigan 2020 Dissertation Committee Professor Margaret L. Hedstrom, Chair Professor Michelle J. Bellino Professor Maria E. Cotera Professor Silvia Lindtner Allan A. Martell [email protected] ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7768-7822 © Allan A. Martell 2020 DEDICATION To the memory of the children of El Mozote. You are the fireflies illuminating my path. To the children who were abducted during the war and the mothers who continue searching. There are no words… To the Memory of Oscar Romero. You once said that the people would learn to smile. This dissertation is my humble contribution towards that future. To the memory of Toyita. Our conversations at the library made my childhood all the happier. Rest in Peace. To the memory of my grandparents: Maria, Andres, and Eliseo. You are part of my story. To abuelita Nena. Gracias por estar. To the memory of Marcelina Murcia. I have no words to express the gift that was your presence in my life. Rest in power. To my parents. Your commitment to my education made me the man I am today. I owe you everything. To Erika. This dissertation is also yours. I would not be here without you. To Gabrielito and Mayita. Your smiles make the world a better place. It is my hope that we are laying a strong enough foundation for you. To the children who participated in my study. This is our work. Your work. Thank you for your time, your patience, and your play. ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to all those who have supported me in this journey. A few paragraphs will not suffice, but I will do my best. First, I would like to thank my committee members: Margaret Hedstrom, Silvia Lindtner, Maria Cotera, Michelle Bellino and Andrea Thomer. The six years of mentorship and support I received from Margaret have shaped me into the young scholar I am today. I stand humbled and grateful. Silvia, Maria, Michelle, and Andrea have given me different kinds of support, ranging from suggestions of literature to feedback on my first outlines of the current document. The rigor of their feedback was only matched by their faith that I could improve upon my work. Michelle has not only been a mentor and a teacher, but also a friend. This dissertation would have never been completed on time were it not for the support of Claudia Marroquin, Marisol Zarceño and Doris Rosales. Thank you for patiently transcribing the many hours of interview and design workshop recordings. Alexandra Hoff, my copy editor, was likewise instrumental in helping me make polished this manuscript (please be mindful that the introduction and conclusion chapters are my own creatures). Her diligence and patience with my unorthodox writing style saved my day. I am also indebted to Cindy Lin, who suggested we held weekly writing sessions over the phone. The mutual accountability of these sessions allowed me to persevere when my motivation was lagging, time was running short and ideas were not flowing. My friend, you helped me overcome my darkest hour. No amount of gratitude will ever be enough. iii Throughout the years, I have benefited from the advice from many others such as professors David Wallace, Joyojeet Pal, Patricia Garcia, Kentaro Toyama, Florian Schaub, Paul Conway, Beth Yakel, Soo Young Rieh, Angelina Godoy, and Angela Bermudez. I also thank fellow students and alumni from my program such as Tamy Guberek, Angela Schopke, Padma Chirumamilla, Jasmine Jones, Jean Hardy, Jeremy York, Rebecca Frank, Priyank Chandra, Daphne Chang, Tsuyoshi Kano, Megh Marathe, Ryan Burton, Heeryung Choi, Angela Schopke and Tawfiq Ammari. There were also friends and colleagues from outside my school who accompanied me in this journey such as Eimeel Castillo, Adriana Alas, Jorge Rojas, Roberto Deras, Angelica Padilla and Monica Linares. I would be remiss if I did not acknowledge the people who were friends and mentors in my time prior to my doctoral studies: Fidel Ramos, Max Orellana, Amparo Marroquin, Jose Luis Benitez, Manuel Velasco, Roxana Beltran, Francisco Andres Escobar and Claudia Rivera. There are many others whose names escape me now, but whose friendship, encouragement and support have also allowed me to reach this point. I am specially indebted to my wife, Erika, who due to the immigration system in the United States was forced to choose between being with me or continuing her professional career. She chose to postpone the latter to support me on this journey. Saying that it was not easy on both of us would be an understatement, but we can now move on. iv Finally, I would like to thank the entities at the University of Michigan which sponsored my dissertation research: the Museum Studies Program; the Rackham School of Graduate Studies; and the School of Information. Thanks to everyone. v TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION ..................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................... iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................... x LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................. xi ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... xii Chapter 1 – Introduction....................................................................................................... 1 1. Problem Space .......................................................................................................... 1 2. Exhibition Design as Mediation of Memory ............................................................ 2 3. Transdisciplinary Approach ...................................................................................... 6 4. Overview of Research Design .................................................................................. 8 5. Dissertation Overview ................................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2 — Conceptual Framework ................................................................................. 14 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................. 14 2. Cultural Trauma and Postmemory ............................................................................. 16 3. Memorial Museums .................................................................................................... 21 4. Conclusion .................................................................................................................. 28 vi Chapter 3 – Historical Overview ........................................................................................ 33 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 33 2. Origins (16 century - 1840) ........................................................................................ 33 3. Early Republican Period (1840-1880) ........................................................................ 34 4. The Liberal Republic (1880-1931) ............................................................................. 35 5. The Uprising and First Military Regimes (1932-1948) .............................................. 36 6. Economic Diversification and Resurgence of Social Movements (1948-1962) ........ 37 7. MERCOMUN and War with Honduras (1962-1969) ................................................ 38 8. Collapse of Military Regime and Rise of Urban Guerrillas (1970-1979) .................. 41 9. Civil War (1980-1992) ............................................................................................... 42 10 Neoliberal State (1992-2019) .................................................................................... 47 Chapter 4 – Methodology ................................................................................................... 51 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................ 51 2. Research Design ......................................................................................................... 51 3. Research Site .............................................................................................................. 58 4. Subjects ...................................................................................................................... 62 5. Methods ...................................................................................................................... 68 vii 6. Data Collection ........................................................................................................... 75 7. Data Analysis ............................................................................................................. 79 8. Limitations.................................................................................................................. 83 Chapter 5 — Solving the Puzzle .......................................................................................