A GESTURE IN THE LAGOON OR HOW TO RESTORE THE MEMORY OF THE CHILDHOOD EXPERIENCE OF URUGUAYAN EXILE (1973-1985)

Abstract

In this text I further develop the reflection on the link between ‘things’ and memory processes, taking the memories of those who were children during the exile of the last Uruguayan dictatorship as a case study. Particularly, I will focus on the possible relations between memory, restoration and restitution of objects linked to the biographies of those who remember, now adults. For this purpose, I adopt the theoretical-methodological perspective of the study of material culture and, from this approach, I take up the ethnographic approach and the biographical perspective as they allow us to understand the way in which these actors signify in the present the experience of exile during childhood. In the course of this exploration, I suggest that between the dimensions of restoration and restitution there is a ‘gesture’ and I focus on this category to understand the place of materialities in their link with memorial work.

Keywords:
Materialities; Memory; Childhood; Gesture; Exile