The ESMA: From Torture Chambers into New Sites of Memory

The ESMA Museum and Site of Memory, formerly a clandestine center for detention, torture, and extermination during Latin America's authoritarian regimes, has evolved into a significant site of commemoration. This study argues that such sites serve as 'lieux de mémoire,' hybrid places where memory, history, and architecture intersect to challenge hegemonic narratives. Drawing on Pierre Nora's framework, the research explores how these spaces resurrect old meanings while generating new ones, yet it also critiques his binary between archival and non-archival practices. The analysis employs a mix of historical narrative and performative embodiment to examine the ESMA's transformation from a site of state violence into a symbol of resistance and remembrance.

Hernández, P. S. (2013). The ESMA: From Torture Chambers into New Sites of Memory. Imagining Human Rights in Twenty-First-Century Theater, 67–82. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137027108_4