The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru

The disappearance of people in Peru generates a sense of rupture in the rural Andes. It is a product of recruit-ment and armed conflicts between guerrilla groups and law enforcement agencies and paramilitary groups during the decades of 1980 and1990. This sense of rupture is regained t...

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Main Author: Dorothée Delacroix.
Format: Article
Language:Spanish
Published: Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Sede Ecuador 2020-05-01
Series:Íconos
Subjects:
Online Access:https://revistas.flacsoandes.edu.ec/iconos/article/view/4141
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author Dorothée Delacroix.
author_facet Dorothée Delacroix.
author_sort Dorothée Delacroix.
collection DOAJ
description The disappearance of people in Peru generates a sense of rupture in the rural Andes. It is a product of recruit-ment and armed conflicts between guerrilla groups and law enforcement agencies and paramilitary groups during the decades of 1980 and1990. This sense of rupture is regained through the continual presence of the absent, expressed in a particular concept of posthumous life which extends beyond the death of the person who has disappeared. Through field work and in-depth interviews, this article recovers the stories of those who live in places where death was not peaceful or properly ritualized, meaning, where death was not domesticated. In order to understand the ontological ambivalence of the figure of the disappeared, who is neither dead or alive, and the consequences of its liminality, this article exposes the religious traditional representations created and the repertory of rites maintained in Peru. Tormented souls, known pathologically as a product of folklore, have not been considered interpretative categories for understanding the experience of violence. Therefore, this re-search addresses the social meanings of these accounts as a contribution for understanding the impact of forced disappearances and the approaches of searching for victims and relating to them. This task is undertaken in order to reconstruct a sense that may fill to some extent the emptiness left by the disappearance of a loved one, prolonging and reactivating their social existence.
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spelling doaj.art-45f3dc2387bc4a1db10bafd2da3752442022-12-21T20:56:30ZspaFacultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Sede EcuadorÍconos1390-12492224-69832020-05-012467617410.17141/iconos.67.2020.4141The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in PeruDorothée Delacroix. 0Université Sorbonne Nouvelle FranciaThe disappearance of people in Peru generates a sense of rupture in the rural Andes. It is a product of recruit-ment and armed conflicts between guerrilla groups and law enforcement agencies and paramilitary groups during the decades of 1980 and1990. This sense of rupture is regained through the continual presence of the absent, expressed in a particular concept of posthumous life which extends beyond the death of the person who has disappeared. Through field work and in-depth interviews, this article recovers the stories of those who live in places where death was not peaceful or properly ritualized, meaning, where death was not domesticated. In order to understand the ontological ambivalence of the figure of the disappeared, who is neither dead or alive, and the consequences of its liminality, this article exposes the religious traditional representations created and the repertory of rites maintained in Peru. Tormented souls, known pathologically as a product of folklore, have not been considered interpretative categories for understanding the experience of violence. Therefore, this re-search addresses the social meanings of these accounts as a contribution for understanding the impact of forced disappearances and the approaches of searching for victims and relating to them. This task is undertaken in order to reconstruct a sense that may fill to some extent the emptiness left by the disappearance of a loved one, prolonging and reactivating their social existence.https://revistas.flacsoandes.edu.ec/iconos/article/view/4141almascristianismo andinodesaparición forzadaperúrituales funerariossueños
spellingShingle Dorothée Delacroix.
The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru
Íconos
almas
cristianismo andino
desaparición forzada
perú
rituales funerarios
sueños
title The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru
title_full The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru
title_fullStr The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru
title_full_unstemmed The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru
title_short The presence of absence. Towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in Peru
title_sort presence of absence towards and anthropology of the posthumous life of the disappeared in peru
topic almas
cristianismo andino
desaparición forzada
perú
rituales funerarios
sueños
url https://revistas.flacsoandes.edu.ec/iconos/article/view/4141
work_keys_str_mv AT dorotheedelacroix thepresenceofabsencetowardsandanthropologyoftheposthumouslifeofthedisappearedinperu
AT dorotheedelacroix presenceofabsencetowardsandanthropologyoftheposthumouslifeofthedisappearedinperu