Searching for memory : Aluízio Palmar and the shadow of dictatorship in Brazil / Jacob Blanc.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Blanc, Jacob, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Palmar, Aluízio, 1943-.

Palmar, Aluízio.

Human rights workers--Brazil--Biography.

Human rights workers.

Torture victims--Brazil--Biography.

Torture victims.

Dictatorship--Brazil--History--20th century.

Dictatorship.

Human rights advocacy--Brazil.

Human rights advocacy.

Brazil--History--1964-1985.

Brazil.

Brazil--Politics and government--1964-1985.

Genre:

Biographies.

Physical Description:

x, 283 pages : illustrations (black & white), maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Chapel Hill : The University of North Carolina Press, [2025]

Summary:

"This biography of Brazilian journalist and activist Aluízio Ferreira Palmar (b. 1943) tells the remarkable story of a revolutionary who, after surviving torture as a political prisoner during his country's military dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, would go on to devote his life to recovering the memory and documenting the evidence of human rights abuses in Brazil. Palmar's recounting of his life, in personal interviews with Jacob Blanc as well as from a wide array of source materials, offers a valuable window into how former activists view their place in history. In this context, Blanc initiates the concept of 'memory scripts,' which illustrates how scripting and performing a memory can serve as an act of perseverance and power, important for individuals and communities seeking both to heal from and redefine trauma for future activism. Blanc's book is a singular contribution to literature on dictatorship in Brazil and across Latin America by exploring not only what happened under military rule but also the contested channels through which the memories of these intense and often traumatic events have been sustained, shaped, and retold"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Life, history, and memory

Childhood visions

A shadow descends

Taking up arms

Prison, torture

Prison, waiting

Exile in Chile

Exile in Argentina

Transitions

The search

Memory in the time of impunity

Out of the shadows.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9781469681023

1469681021

9781469681030

146968103X

OCLC:

1456587498