MEMORIES OF MILITANCY: EXPERIENCE AND IDENTITY IN THE NARRATIVES OF LEFTIST EX-MILITANTS IN ARGENTINA

Abstract

Memories of Militancy examines the relationship between memory and narrative in works by leftist ex-militants in Argentina, former participants in the numerous armed revolutionary organizations of the 1960s and 70s. These were turbulent decades in Argentina and indeed throughout South America. Argentina's "disappeared" are a well-known part of the country's history but the experiences of ex-militants have not been explored to the same extent. This dissertation aims to contribute to post-dictatorial studies as well as to the field of memory studies.

Memories looks specifically at autobiographical or testimonial accounts of experiences in armed revolutionary organizations that, for the purposes of this dissertation, will be referred to as "narrative of militancy." The study of these works is organized around three thematic categories: narrative genre, militant identity and revolutionary violence. These works tend to blend genres, drawing in part on the significant body of post-Holocaust testimony and on the Latin American testimonio movement as well as on the work of Argentine militant and journalist Rodolfo Walsh. Chapter 1 is therefore dedicated to exploring the variety of genres encompassed by "narratives of militancy," from testimony and autobiography to the influence of journalism and the novel. Chapter 2 addresses questions of militant identity and subjectivity, tracing the long tradition of leftist writing on the tensions between the individual and the collective, from Gramsci and Lukács' ideas on the ideal socialist man to Guevara's writings on becoming a revolutionary. This is followed by an analysis of specific narratives to explore how these tensions are reflected in the writing of Argentine ex-militants. Finally, Chapter 3 addresses the thorny topic of revolutionary violence. It begins by returning to some of the ideas regarding revolutionary violence that were in circulation in the late 1960s and 70s and then turns to several texts, including an account in which an ex-militant reflects on assassinations he participated in.