The Day of the Young Combatant, generational struggles in the memory field of post-dictatorship Chile

Abstract

This article explores the multilayered struggles within the memory field in post-dictatorship Chilean society by investigating the Day of the Young Combatant, a commemoration of the murder of two young brothers perpetrated by police officers in 1985. Every 29 March, people born after the end of the dictatorship—members of the post-dictatorship generation—commemorate through cultural activities and violent riots. Since the murder, the commemoration has evolved from local and unofficially recognized to a large-scale, violent event that takes place every year in working-class neighborhoods of Santiago. This article analyzes the contested ways of recalling the murder of these brothers and the multilevel struggle that the post-dictatorship generation engages in to expand the field of memory at three levels: narratives, territories, and practices. It illustrates the multilayered process for negotiating the meanings and time frames to narrate not only the dictatorial past but also the political transition.