Local memory networks, the present and the everyday life in intergenerational transmission. The case of a “critical neighborhood” of Santiago de Chile

Abstract

This article analyzes the configuration of local memory networks of the Chilean dictatorship and the processes of intergenerational transmission linked to it, through an ethnographic exploration carried out in the neighborhood of La Aurora of Santiago, Chile. In this territory, this past is remembered in various ways, from properly institutional commemorative forms to others of a daily and fragmented nature. These memories interact having effects on the communication between generations,  acquiring special relevance at the local level those modes of remembrance more attached to the everyday life and the present of the neighborhood. This article concluded that within these memory networks a key role is held by the territory, its historical and conflictive trajectory, as well as the present one, characterized mainly by its quality as a “critical neighborhood” defined by the State.