When memory becomes heritage: Experiences from Santiago, Chile

• Main Author: Maria Chiara Bianchini
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas 2014-12-01
• Series: Culture & History Digital Journal
• Subjects: chile; military dictatorship; transition to democracy; memory politics; urban heritage; monuments; memorials; human rights
• Online Access: http://cultureandhistory.revistas.csic.es/index.php/cultureandhistory/article/view/62

This article explores the relationships between memory politics and urban heritage in the construction of a twenty-first century democratic society. It focuses on the case of Chile and concentrates on three examples of public buildings in the capital city, Santiago. Given what can be considered a difficult heritage –linked to the recent experience of dictatorship and state sponsored violence– these buildings have been in recent years objects of heritage politics, directed to address a public memory related to those events. Based on these case studies, the article critically discusses the materialization of the dominant human rights discourse in the current memory politics affecting Santiago’s urban heritage.