The good memory of this land: Reflections on the processes of memory and forgetting

RAMOS, ANA

Memory Studies

SAGE Publications

Lugar: London; Año: 2010 vol. 3 p. 55 - 72

1750-6980

The ?good memory of this land? is the way in which the mapuche define the processes of remembering and forgetting. From this point of view, memory is an instance where the past is acknowledged as well as advices are transmitted; an instance where persons re-configure their subjectivities and the bonds of belonging that connect them, their ancestors and the physical world. In the specific context in which some mapuche families decide to recover for the second time the lands that were disputed by the Benetton firm, in the Argentinean Patagonia, memory became a central subject of reflection among those involved. This article, grounded on mapuche reflections, deals with the theoretical implications of collective memory?s two main demands in the local arena: the truth about history and the autonomy in the practice of remembering and forgetting in order to create their own culture of relatedness.