"Memories of a Massacre: El Salvador 1932"

Jeffrey Gould, Indiana University

April 19, 2002, 3:30-5:00 pm

La Matanza, the massacre of perhaps 10,000 Salvadoran Indians and peasants in 1932, epitomizes -- though in a horrific, exaggerated from -- the cultural politics of Central American nation building. A majority of the massacre victims were Indians whom the agrarian elite and their military allies equated with "Communists." n the massacre's aftermath, repression and fear drove the surviving indigenous communities into a silent, marginal existence. Mestizo nation building -- predicated on the myth of a culturally Mestizo citizenry -- proceeded with such "success" that by the mid-1970's most Salvadorans were unaware that indigenous culture persisted within their society. This project, in addition to shedding new historical light on la Matanza and its aftermath, will interrogate this myth of mestizaje and its cultural and political consequences through an analysis of testimonies of the survivors.

We will pre-circulate papers to those planning to attend. Please include your postal address when requesting this paper as it is only available in a paper format. If you cannot attend and want to read a paper, please contact the author directly. E-mail scholl@newberry.org or call (312) 255-3524 to receive a copy of the papers. Please include your e-mail address in all correspondence.

The full schedule for this and other Scholl Center seminars is available on the website.