Re-Politicizing the Traumatic Body through Art: Guillermo Núñez, Ariel Dorfman and the Political Transition in Chile

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article aims to explore the potential of art to create alternatives to hegemonic narratives in post-traumatic societies and the role of art in the re-politicization of both the artist and the audience. It discusses the role of art in constructing the ethics and memory of Never Again through the visual artworks of Guillermo Núñez (1930) and Ariel Dorfman’s (1942) play Death and the Maiden (1990). Such artistic productions enable the re-participation of the traumatized body in political life not only through the represented story but also through the active reflection and agency of the art producer and the viewer. In this way, they contribute to making visible the passive remembering that is often underestimated in the battle of memories, and to transforming abstract and generalizing facing practices in transitional periods into individual and specific ‘face-ings.’