Memory and Performativity: narativity and somatics for thinking beyond violence

Abstract

The field of memory is configured as a contested space that, in Latin America, emerges strongly determined by serious human rights violations in its history. This article proposes conceptual tools to address the work of memory, defining it as a performative production in whose unfolding two registers are recognized: narrative memory (stories and discourses) and somatic memory (bodies and practices refractory to language).

From a perspective of situated thinking in the Chilean context, it is argued that this analytical distinction enriches the understanding of the battles of memory. The analysis focuses on the social uprising of 2019, where the emergence of somatic memory, evidenced in the co-presence and repertoire of collective action in the streets, confronted and challenged the narrative of Chile's “exemplary transition.” By articulating performativity, narrativity, and somatics, the article illuminates new nuances of the problem of memory, setting coordinates for thinking about an ethics and a politics founded on the affirmation of life, beyond the limits of violence.