A Prison of Culture: Afterlives of Dictatorship in a Community Arts Center

Sofia LeBlanc, Oberlin College

Location

Science Center, A155

Document Type

Presentation

Start Date

4-26-2013 1:30 PM

End Date

4-26-2013 2:30 PM

Abstract

In Chile, wounds from the Pinochet dictatorship of 1973 to 1990 still fester under the surface of its “post-transitional” society. The regime of terror lives on in economic policies, architecture, social norms, the country’s grave-pocked landscape, and in the everyday lives of Chileans. My research examines a former prison and torture center that has been converted into a cultural park: a space of culture, art, and community, sanctioned and administered by the state. It serves as a microcosm for Chile, which has chosen to erase its violent past while also perpetuating a system of class stratification and power structures that come directly from the dictatorship.

Notes

Session I, Panel 2: The Weight of a Nightmare: Making Sense of History in Guatemala, Chile, and Argentina
Moderator: Patrick O'Connor, Chair of Hispanic Studies and Associate Professor of Comparative Literature

Full text thesis available here.

Major

Hispanic Studies; Psychology

Advisor(s)

Ana Cara, Hispanic Studies
Patty Dewinstanley, Psychology

Project Mentor(s)

Patrick O'Connor, Hispanic Studies

April 2013

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Apr 26th, 1:30 PM Apr 26th, 2:30 PM

A Prison of Culture: Afterlives of Dictatorship in a Community Arts Center

Science Center, A155

In Chile, wounds from the Pinochet dictatorship of 1973 to 1990 still fester under the surface of its “post-transitional” society. The regime of terror lives on in economic policies, architecture, social norms, the country’s grave-pocked landscape, and in the everyday lives of Chileans. My research examines a former prison and torture center that has been converted into a cultural park: a space of culture, art, and community, sanctioned and administered by the state. It serves as a microcosm for Chile, which has chosen to erase its violent past while also perpetuating a system of class stratification and power structures that come directly from the dictatorship.