COLLECTIVE MEMORY FORMATION IN PERU THROUGH THE LENS OF J.P. FELDMAN’S RESEARCH

Abstract

Abstract. J.P. Feldman’s book “Memories before the State: Postwar Peru and the Place of Memory, Tolerance, and Social Inclusion” (Rutgers University Press, 2021) focuses on the process of establishing the Place of Memory, Tolerance and Social Inclusion (LUM) in Lima, Peru. On the basis of the author’s analytical materials, the article examines Feldman's non-trivial approach to the problem of the construction of collective memory. Particular attention is paid to the international component of commemorative work and its influence on domestic political processes accompanying commemorative initiatives. The analysis of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), to which Feldman pays considerable attention in his book, reveals the dynamics of the conceptualization of postmemory discourse. The authors conclude that the Peruvian case, which includes not only the Place of Memory, but also a number of other memorialization projects, allows us to trace such aspects of commemorative politicization as the reliance on human rights discourse, the involvement of NGOs and international actors in such projects, and the connection of the issues of commemoration and postmemory with identity politics.