De-Commemoration as a Factor of Collective Memory Formation in South America

Abstract

The article focuses on de-commemoration, i.e. the elimination of monuments and other objects with historical meaning, in South American countries. The goal is to analyse the examples of these processes found in different countries of the region, using a new typology of this yet insufficiently studied phenomenon, proposed by sociologists Tracy Adams and Yinon Guttel-Klein. There are examples of de-commemoration linked to democratization of socio-political and, consequently, cultural space in the region, as well as the revision of monumental heritage in the context of changing perceptions of society and some of its influential segments of the country's past or their transition from verbal rejection of certain objects to destructive actions. The novelty of the study lies in the use of the new typology, originally applied to the analysis of the Israeli experience, in the study of memorial objects in South America and the analysis of diverse memorial units and country-specific features of the processes of de-commemoration, namely desecration and reframing, primarily in Paraguay and Colombia. One of the main conclusions of the study is the possibility of de-commemoration in the studied region in relation to objects belonging to chronologically and essentially different historical periods and phenomena. The author also reveals the multifunctionality of de-commemoration. Finally, it has been found that the interest of the state in the implementation of memory policy in general and de-commemoration in particular often plays a decisive role in the implementation of projects in this sphere.