Regis University ePublications at Regis University All Regis University Theses Spring 2016 Reimagining Argentina: Identity, Memory, and Healing Collective Trauma Abigail M. King Regis University Follow this and additional works at:https://epublications.regis.edu/theses Part of theArts and Humanities Commons Recommended Citation King, Abigail M., "Reimagining Argentina: Identity, Memory, and Healing Collective Trauma" (2016).All Regis University Theses. 708. https://epublications.regis.edu/theses/708 This Thesis - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by ePublications at Regis University. It has been accepted for inclusion in All Regis University Theses by an authorized administrator of ePublications at Regis University. For more information, please [email protected]. 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The materials may not be downloaded in whole or in part without permission of the copyright holder or as otherwise authorized in the “fair use” standards of the U.S. copyright laws and regulations. REIMAGINING ARGENTINA: IDENTITY, MEMORY, AND HEALING COLLECTIVE TRAUMA A thesis submitted to Regis College The Honors Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for Graduation with Honors by Abigail M. King May 2016 Thesis written by Abigail M. King Approved by Thesis Advisor Thesis Reader Accepted by Director, University Honors Program ii TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. BEARING WITNESS: THE EXPERIENCE OF COLLECTIVE TRAUMA 14 III. STOLEN LIVES: RECOVERING THE IDENTITY OF THE CHILDREN OF THE DISAPPEARED 22 IV. COMMEMORATING LA DICTADURA: RECONSTRUCTING THE BUILT LANDSCAPE 35 V. REIMAGINING ARGENTINA: A SPACE FOR REMEMBRANCE AND HEALING 47 BIBLIOGRAPHY 55 iii FOR SOFÍ iv PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS On January 21, 2014, after twenty hours of travel, I had arrived. It was the heat of summer in Córdoba, and everything was green, beaming in the intense Argentine sun. I fell in love instantly. I loved the sounds the birds made, the way the bus drivers didn’t ever come to a complete stop, the straws that came with your bottled beverage at the grocery store, and the crumbled sidewalks. I loved the generosity of every person I encountered, I loved the culture of drinking mate and preparing an asado, and I loved the way that time seemed to stop when you were spending time with the people you cared about. Then, after a few months of delving into my Argentine life, I began to see the things that aren’t so lovely about Argentina. The inflation, the corruption, the inefficiency and the dark history of the disappeared. And yet, I watched with amazement as the Argentines all around me spent their days enjoying whatever was right in front of them. This project was born out of my own wonderings about how a place that holds so much darkness could be so full of life. Specifically in regards to the legacy of the dictatorship and the disappeared, I wanted to know how a people who had endured such horror came to live with such grace. How does a nation even begin to recover from such an intimate, devastating attack on her own people, by her own people? There is of course no cure-all when it comes to healing this kind of deep, insidious wound, but I’ve come to realize that it starts with remembering. Remembering the pain, remembering the loss, but also remembering that we are resilient beings, each of us has within us an immense power to overcome, to find joy. * * * This project would not have been possible without the love and support of so many people around the world, to all of whom I am so incredibly grateful. I would first like to thank my advisor, Dr. Geoffrey Bateman, and my reader, Dr. Nicki Gonzales, for their continued support and encouragement throughout this process. I am eternally grateful for your advice, knowledge, and friendship. Thanks also to Dr. Dan Clayton who was instrumental in shaping the theoretical framework of this work, having introduced me to the field of nationalism studies, and then directing me toward identity and memory from there. I must also thank Dr. J. Thomas Howe and Dr. Catherine Kleier, Director and Assistant Director of the Regis College Honors Program respectively, and Dr. Thomas Bowie, Dean of Regis College, for creating the enriching, transformative experience that is Honors at Regis. To my fellow Capstone Historians and Honors Thesis Writers, thank you for your continued willingness to engage in intellectually stimulating conversation and for sharing your passions with me. I cease to be amazed by you. And of course, for closing down the library with me night after night, much thanks is owed to Jason Huggins, cin cin. I am blessed to be part of a number of families throughout the world, to all of whom I owe great thanks. First to my own family, Mom, Dad, Anne, Jill, and the rest of you, thank you for all of your love and laughter over the years. My Service Learning family, especially Melissa and Pablo, I am so thankful for your aliveness, your groundedness, and your reminders to slow down. And to the Italian mamas who are the vi most beautiful, brilliant, and empowered women I know, Daniela, Carmela, Francesca, and Alia, thank you for all that you do and all that you are. Lastly, I must thank the people without whom there would be no Argentina in my story. Thank you to my CASA Chicas, Savannah, Michelle, Coco, Krista, Adriana, Molly, Michelle, and Bianca, for all of the silliness, the long, hot bus rides, and the dances in the quincho. I am perpetually sending you besos and chocolinas. To the Argentines who were so gracious in sharing their country, culture, and language with me, especially Martín, Diego, Ariel, Marta, Julio and all of the canillitas at La Luciernaga, gracias. And to Doug and Jen, I haven’t the words to express how much you and your family mean to me, I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you for everything. vii I. INTRODUCTION On March 23, 1976, a military coup led by General Jorge Videla toppled the elected government of Isabel Perón and established the right-wing totalitarian state that ruled Argentina until 1983. El Proceso de Reorganización Nacional, the National Reorganization Process, as this period was officially called, attempted to remove subversive left-wing elements from all aspects of Argentine society through a policy of forced disappearance.1 Presently in Argentina, the years from 1976 to 1983 are simply referred to as la dictadura, meaning the dictatorship. The singularity implied by “la,” meaning “the,” is somewhat misleading, for although El Proceso was the most violent and destructive dictatorship to take hold of Argentina since it became a nation in 1810, it is not the only dictatorship that had governed the country. Rather, El Proceso was the culmination of a series of conflicts between the military, the democratic state, and various radical groups that sought to control the country’s thrust into modernity throughout the twentieth century. In the aftermath of the first series of military governments in the 1930s and the rise of Juan Perón, the seeds of subversion that would eventually give rise to Videla’s program for an all-powerful, purified Argentina thirty years later were planted. This thesis examines how Argentina has responded to and recovered from the trauma that occurred during la dictadura in the years since the return to democracy. Particular attention is paid to the country’s engagement in identity recovery and memory work and the effects of this work on the formation of a public, collective memory that works toward healing and liberation. In Argentina, this memory work occurs on two 1