Memories in between: Daughters from the Chilean diaspora in Sweden speak about their mothers

Abstract

While literature on memory and dictatorship in Latin America is extensive and narratives departing from the memories of children are evolving, the (gendered) intergenerational processes at the core of the experience of military terror, from the specific location of the diaspora, have so far been marginal in both research and in public debates. What is the language through which collective experiences of violence and political persecution are told to the next generation in diaspora contexts? What does it mean to articulate narratives from the dictatorship in Chile with memories emerging from the diaspora located in Sweden? This understanding is a vital point of departure in our study of young female adults whose parents came to Sweden after the Pinochet military takeover, a group that we here refer to as the daughters of the Chilean diaspora in Sweden.