Luz Arce and Pinochet’s Chile: Testimony in the Aftermath of State Violence

210 Pages·2011·1.36 MB·English

by  Michael J. Lazzara (eds.)

Luz Arce and Pinochet’s Chile
Previous Publications
Telling Ruins in Latin America (coedited with Vicky Unruh, 2009)
Luz Arce: Después del infierno (2008)
Prismas de la memoria: Narración y trauma en la transición chilena (2007)
Chile in Transition: The Poetics and Politics of Memory (2006)
Los años de silencio: Conversaciones con narradores chilenos que escribieron bajo
dictadura (2002)
Luz Arce and Pinochet’s Chile
Testimony in the Aftermath
of State Violence
Edited by Michael J. Lazzara
Translated by the author with Carl Fischer
Foreword by Jean Franco
luz arce and pinochet’s chile
Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Lazzara
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2011 978-0-230-62275-3
All rights reserved.
First published in Spanish as Luz Arce: después del infierno by Editorial Cuarto
Propio, 2008. First PALGRAVE MACMILLAN® edition, with new material,
published in 2011. Palgrave Macmillan is a division of St. Martin’s Press LLC, 175
Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Where this book is distributed in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, this is
by Palgrave Macmillan, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in
England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21
6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies and has
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Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States, the United
Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-0-230-62276-0 ISBN 978-0-230-11842-3 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230118423
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
Lazzara, Michael J.
Luz Arce and Pinochet’s Chile : testimony in the aftermath of state violence / edited
by Michael J. Lazzara ; translated by the author with Carl Fischer ; foreword by Jean
Franco.
p. cm.
1. Arce, Luz. 2. Arce, Luz—Interviews. 3. Chile—Politics and
government—1973-1988. 4. Political persecution—Chile—History—20th century.
5. Human rights—Chile—History—20th century. 6. Chile. Dirección de Inteligencia
Nacional. 7. Chile. Central Nacional de Informaciones. I. Lazzara, Michael J., 1975-
II. Arce, Luz. Depúes del infierno. English.
F3101.A73L89 2010
983.06'4—dc22 2010038677
A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.
Design by Scribe Inc.
First edition: March 2011
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Ana and James, the future
[I]n contrast to a certain hagiographic and rhetorical stylization, the harsher the
oppression, the more widespread among the oppressed is the willingness, with all
its infinite nuances and motivations, to collaborate: terror, ideological seduction,
servile imitation of the victor, myopic desire for any power whatsoever, even
though ridiculously circumscribed in space and time, cowardice, and, finally, lucid
calculation aimed at eluding the imposed orders and order. All these motives, singly
or combined, have come into play in the creation of this gray zone.
— Primo Levi, “The Gray Zone,” The Drowned and the Saved
Such has been my life: trial and error, trial and error. I am responding today in the
only way I know how. If I survive and we talk again ten years from now, maybe I’ll
have found other answers.
— Luz Arce Sandoval
Contents
List of Figures ix
Foreword xi
Jean Franco
Acknowledgments xix
Introduction: After the Inferno 1
Michael J. Lazzara
Part I: Names, Dates, Places: Summary of Luz Arce’s Declaration
before the National Truth and Reconciliation Commission
(Santiago de Chile, October 9, 1990) 13
Part II: Interview with Luz Arce (Mexico, Chile, 2002– 7) 61
1 The Militant, the Sympathizer 63
2 Collaboration, Critiques, Remorse 79
3 Trauma and Writing 99
4 Masculinity and Femininity 111
5 Luz, Marcia, Carola (Ana María Vergara,
Marta Vergara, Gloria Vilches) 123
6 Shame and Reconciliation 131
7 The Present Time: New Critiques and Pending Questions 143
Part III: Forum: Collaboration, Dictatorship, Democracy 151
Notes 177
Contributors 189
Index 191

Figures
1 Luz Arce Sandoval, La Nación S. A. 61
2 Marcia Alejandra Merino Vega, “La Flaca Alejandra,” La Nación S. A. 116
3 Rolf Gonzalo Wenderoth Pozo, La Nación S. A. 117
4 Osvaldo Romo Mena, “El Guatón Romo,” former DINA torturer,
La Nación S. A. 135
5 Osvaldo Romo’s lonely burial, July 4, 2007, La Nación S. A., 38 Londres
Street, Michael J. Lazzara 140