Clandestine memories and the dungeon trauma. La casa de los Conejos, by Laura Alcoba

a testimony about the argentine military dictatorship

Abstract

This article seeks, through reports of memory and trauma, to analyze how the experiences of subjects who witnessed the atrocities of the Military Dictatorship in Argentina occurred. We also seek to rescue the memories of the dungeon that surround the erasure of the subjects who were victims of the military coup that resulted in the disappearance of more than thirty thousand people - many of whom remain missing, briefly discussing the movements that resisted and remain active until this chapter is closed by justice. In this sense, we deal with the themes in question based on the analysis of the work La casa de los conejos (2008), by Laura Alcoba, taking into account the testimony of her childhood memories. Inserted in the literary strand called literatura de los hijos – works, fictional or not, that address the Argentine dictatorial period from the point of view of those who, not directly involved with the facts – or experiencing them second-hand, due to their proximity to their families and militant friends - are deeply affected by circumstances, often remaining silent; often witnessing what they experienced: their pain. To do so, we draw on the assumptions of scholars dedicated to the topic, such as Walter Benjamin (2006, 2010), Aleida Assmann (2011), Eurídice Figueiredo (2017); Jeanne Marie Gagnebin (2006), Maria Rita Kehl (2010), Pierre Nora (1993) and Roland Barthes (2011).