Memory Scripts and Life History

In the Shadow of Brazil's Dictatorship

What are the methodological implications of using oral histories to study the legacies of authoritarian rule? Through a situated analysis of the life of Aluízio Palmar, a former political prisoner and torture victim in Brazil – from his role in the armed struggle of the 1960s to his ongoing efforts to find the bodies of disappeared militants – this talk charts the relationship between storytelling about the past and political struggles in the present. It examines the concept of ‘memory script’ as a way to analyse human rights activism within a culture of impunity. Across Latin America and globally, activists, survivors and their allies have confronted an entrenched system of silence, where the default has been to ignore or maneuver around the history of human rights abuses. To disrupt that impasse, activists like Palmar have had to settle into a repeating practice of bearing witness. This discussion explores the intersection of political, personal and memory initiatives, and the ramifications in both the distant and more recent past of their intertwined relationships.