The ghostly presence of the disappeared in Argentina

CRENZEL, EMILIO ARIEL

Memory Studies

Sage Publications

Lugar: Sidney; Año: 2020 vol. 13 p. 253 - 266

1750-6980

This article analyzes the ghostly presence of the figure of the disappeared in Argentina in the period spanningfrom the military dictatorship?when the crime of forced disappearance was perpetrated systematicallyand on a massive scale?to the present. By examining a variety of written and oral sources (memoirs,print media, interviews, radio shows, photographs, documentaries, and literary works of fiction and nonfiction), the article historicizes that presence and explains it through the crime?s liminal nature, and thedifferent meanings that the spectral figure acquires depending on the actors who perceive it and the changingpolitical contexts. The article reveals how the ghostly presence of the disappeared challenges the toolsused internationally in the field of transnational justice to deal with experiences of extreme violence andthe specific policies for processing the crime of forced disappearance and representing the disappeared inArgentina.