Sunday, April 6, 2014
A Lexicon of Terror
Marguerite Feilowitz's A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture deals with the Dirty War in Argentina. Argentina's Dirty War involved mass amounts of kidnappings, robberies and muggings, torture, terrorism, violence, and murders because of the corruption which existed in the government system, which was a dictatorship at the time. Every few years, the existing government would be overthrown in a coup d'état by a new high ranking official backed by the Argentinian army. The Dirty War instituted significant corruption in the way businesses worked, politics worked, and how society was run. Children of desaparecidos, individuals who spoke out against or opposed the government and thus were kidnapped and sent to prisons or concentration camps, were forced to live in new homes with families that have close ties to the existing government and/or military. A big part of society, language, began to change drastically as well. Certain words, because of the widespread violence and fear of torture, carried harsh connotations. Even today, these words are holding back much of Argentina from recovering from the dark era which was the Dirty War. It shows the immense impact language can have upon a society. Thus, the language has transformed into a language of terror, a longstanding negative effect torture can have.
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Jonathan- I like how you point out that a coup like this one used to occur periodically. I think it is important to point out that with every takeover, the new regime promises new reforms, reminiscent of those promised by a previous political group, even if the two claim to differ on fundamental political dogma.
ReplyDeleteThe desaparecidos are also an interesting, yet tragic topic. These individuals, though very real, were completely dehumanized by the government by their very denial of existence. It was therefore futile for anyone to protest these abductions, for doing so would render your voice useless.
Finally, your point about the long-term impact of this "lexicon" is very real. We often overlook the power language has to bring people back to old, dark times. With so many commonplace words ingrained in people's heads as being associated with torture, it becomes very difficult to move on from the past.