Art and memory: Magdalenas

Art and memory: Magdalenas1 por el Cauca2

Neyla Graciela Pardo Abril1

1 Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogotá, Colombia

Corresponding author: Neyla Graciela Pardo Abril ([email protected])

1 MagdalenareferstothewomanwholamentedforJesusChrist,whodiedafterthecrucifixion.‘CriesmorethanaMagdalene’isapopularphraseinColombiaandthetermhasbeenappropriatedtosymbolizethesufferingofwomeningrievingfortheirrelatives.

2 GrupoColombianodeAnálisisdelDiscursoMediáticothroughONALME(NationalObservatoryofMemoryProcesses)cooperateswiththenetworkSPEME(SpacesofMemory)oncollectivememoryandmemorialisationprocesses.SPEME–Questioning Traumatic Heritage: Spaces of Memory in Europe, Argentina, ColombiahasreceivedfundingfromtheEuropeanUnion´sHorizon2020ResearchandInnovationProgrammeanddevelopsajointprogrammebetweenuniversitiesandtechnicalinstitutionsfromEuropeandLatinAmerica(ProjectID:778044).

Published12January2022

Abstract

Adopting an interdisciplinary framework of Memory Studies and Art and employing semiotics with a multimodal and multimedia character,itisexploredhowsocialgroupsinColombiamemorialisetheviolenceoftheinternalarmedconflict.Thereflectionasso-ciatesthevictims’experienceswiththoseexpressionsofcommemorationandremembrancethatarenarrativesembodiedinvisualandscenicart.Itisexploredhowasemioticlandscapeofmemoryiscreatedthroughaperformativeartisticproposal.Inthisland-scape,notonlyculturalframescanbedetermined,butalsothesemiotic-discursiveresourcesthatgivemeaningtotherelationshipbetweenartandmemory.TheaimistocharacterisetheperformanceknownasMagdalenas por el Cauca(2008)whichwasrecordedaudiovisuallyinseveralspacesontheinternet.Itmeansthat,inadditiontotheephemeralmise-en-scène, there are records of the performativeandcommunicativework.Inthisarticle,weanalysethevideoX PEREGRINACION TRUJILLO y MAGDALENAS POR EL CAUCA (2010),oneoftherecordsthatperpetuatesMagdalenas por el Cauca.Thisreparationactisanaudiovisualnarrativewithethicalandpoliticalcharacterandproducedcollectivelybyrelativesofvictims,witnesses,artistsandotherinterlocutors,whichinterpretandassignnewmeaningstotheperformance.

Key Words

Colombianarmedconflict,Magdalenas por el Cauca,multimodalandmultimediasemiotics,XpilgrimageTrujillo

Introduction

LatinAmericansocietiesandparticularlyColombiahavesufferedseveralperiodsofsystematicviolenceperpetratedbydifferenttypesofactors.Asaresponsetothevictimisingevents, collective processes of symbolic reparation haveemergedwithinthecommunities.Oneofthemainpurposesof those processes is the social construction of new mean-ings as traumatic experiences that “fracture those spatialand symbolic referents used by the communities to organ-isenormallifeactivities”(MartínezQuintero2013:p.40).

Meaning-making processes allow the building of new formsof individualcollectiveorganisationandanexplo-rationofupdatedformsofbeingandinhabitingtheworld.It isnotonlyaboutrecoveringaversionof thepast; it isalsoaboutlookingat itseffectsinthepresentandfuture.“X PEREGRINACIÓN TRUJILLO y MAGDALENASPORELCAUCA”(2010)isnotonlyavideo,butaworkofsymbolic reparation that aims to make the past understand-ableandtohelptoclarifyspecificevents.Thisclarificationencourages a potential healing process for survivors andvictims’relativesintheirroleasactivesocialsubjects.

Heritage, Memory and Conflict Journal (HMC)

2 2022, 39–49

DOI 10.3897/hmc.2.70846

Copyright Neyla Graciela Pardo Abril. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

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Colombiahassufferedunderaninternalarmedcon-flictthathasleft9,165,126victims(UnidaddeVíctimas2021,RNIretrieved31July2021)duetocrimessuchashomicide and enforced disappearance, both with a bal-ance of 1,253,597 victims (Unidad deVíctimas 2021,RNIretrieved31July2020).Inthissocialframework,itisouraimtoexplorethepoliticalpotentialitiesofpartic-ipatoryandcollaborative formsofartisticpractices, inwhich memorialisation processes are committed to cre-ate,distribute,andsocialisecollectivememoriesofmassviolence in the period after the signing of the historic2016peaceagreementintheColombianpost-conflict.Itis necessary to mention that, despite the agreement, the internalarmedconflictisnotyetover,aconditionthatispivotalinitsmemorialisationsasitdeepensprocessesofrevictimisation.

The memorialisation, analysed in this paper, corre-sponds to the victims in theMunicipalities ofTrujillo,Tuluá andRiofrío, located in the northwest of theAn-tioquia Department3,between1986and1994,acasethatwas followed up and interpreted by the Centro Nacion-aldeMemoriaHistórica(NationalCenterforHistoricalMemory) (2008). According to the information fromrelativesandhumanitarianorganisations,342victimsofhomicide, torture and enforced disappearance were reg-isteredastheoutcomeofajointactionondrugtraffick-ersfromthenorthoftheValleDepartmentledbyDiegoMontoyaandHenryLoaiza,paramilitarygroups,andtheColombianMilitaryForces(RevistaSemana2008).Theoperationwaspartofaseriesofjointoperationsagainstthe guerrillas in this area and in search of territorial con-trol.Trujillo´sinhabitantshadtowitnessandsufferselec-tivemurders,tortures,forceddisplacementsandenforceddisappearances. Additionally, practices such as “socialcleansing”, assassination of key witnesses, were alsocarriedoutsothatthecrimeswouldremaininimpunity.Aftertheseheinouscrimes,thebodieswereopened,filledwith cement, and thrown into theCaucaRiver so theywouldnotfloat.Theriverbecameamassgravewheretheremainsofthecivilianpopulationwerehidden.

“MagdalenasporelCauca”isavisualandartisticnar-rativethatgivesaconcreteexpressiontothenecessityofremembering thevictimsofTrujillo´smassacre. InCo-lombia, the construction of collectivememory throughart has made it possible to create spaces that interrelate theartisticandpoliticaldimensions.Thisprocessfosterstheappropriationofacivilculturebythecitizensasnewformsofknowledgearebuilt.Inthelastdecadesofthe20thcenturyand thefirst twodecadesof the21st centu-ry,Colombianartistshave sought to representviolencethroughdifferentformatsandtechnicalmedia:“installa-tion,video,performance,drawing,interventionsinpublicspace,communityartetc.”(RamosDelgadoandAldanaBautista2016:p.47).

Participatoryarthasbeenoneofthemostrelevantartmodalities.Inthispractice,artistselaborateaconceptual

3 ADepartmentisaterritorialandadministrativedivisioninColombia.

proposalwhichisexecutedand,inthiscase,criticallyre-viewedbysurvivors,theirfamilies,witnessesandateamofartistscommittedtomemorybuildinginTrujillo.Thisway of producing art focuses on the set of human rela-tionshipsintheirsocialcontexts,ratherthanonproduc-ingmeaningsassomethingexclusiveorprivate:thein-terlocution,thedialogismandthepossibilityofrecoveryand dignifying of the “other”, are some characteristicsof this relational form of interaction (about the interac-tion ritual, c.f. Bal 2010).Thus, the act of co-creationappears:theauthor´sroleissubordinated,andtheartisticpractice acquiresmore relevance,makingmore explic-ititspurposeofsocialtransformation.Astheexhibitionpieces are elaborated through collaborativework, theyfulfil the requirement of participation and, at the sametime, manage conditions of symbolic reparation (Lleras etal.2019).

The artists Gabriel Posada and Yorlady Ruiz con-ceived and gavematerial shape to the work of art fortheveryfirst-timein2008.Theexhibitionisacombina-tion of a performance and some paintings on rafts where the artist depicted faces of the mothers whose sons and daughters disappeared or were murdered and whose re-mains are still in the river.This is a “site ofmemory”where the victims’ relatives perform remembrance rit-uals. In 2010, a pilgrimage along theCaucaRiver, to-getherwithanexhibition,broughtaboutthewholeartis-ticexperience.“XPeregrinaciónTrujilloyMagdalenaspor el Cauca” (Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5EshU1M_CQ) shows how a socioculturaland political phenomenon gets the dimension of per-sistenceovertimeandispartofaprocessofmassivevi-sualisationinculture.Thevideo,objectofouranalysis,makes possible to deduce schemes, to identify codes and torecovermeaningsandsocialinteractionsasitisanac-tionmotivatedandstructuredthroughcollectiveinterest.It is also an action orientated towards and coordinatedwith“others”whoactasactorsorparticipantsandestab-lish relationshipswith eachother that involvenot onlypeople,butalsoobjects.

Collectivememories,co-creativeartandsymbolic reparation

Socialgroupsandvictimsofthearmedconflictandofhistoricalviolence,ingeneral,findspacesofmemoryinartisticexpressions.Spacesofmemoryareunderstoodasseriesofexistentialrelationsthatguaranteedialoguesandinteractionsrelated,notonlytostrategiesforcontexttransformation, but also those ways of representation of violenteventsthatdefinetheconditionof“victim”.Inspaces of memory, meanings of location, territory, areas ofinfluence,ethicalandpoliticalresponsibilities,powerrelationshipsandresistanceexercises,inter alia, are re-

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covered.Inspacesofmemory,theknowledge,linkedtotraumaticevents, isappropriatedandsocialised.Thus,theseeventsareupdatedforthepurposeofidentifyingand imaging ways of social co-existence. Spaces ofmemory are semiotic and discursive expressions thatshape diverse ways of understanding social existencesincetheybuildandgivesensetothesemioticdevices.All works of art, ethically and politically focused on the dignityandvisibilityofvictims,areconsideredactionsof symbolic reparation (Moffett 2015). It can be con-ceptualisedasthesetofgovernmentalandsocio-cultur-alpoliciesandactionsaimedtoguaranteethevictim´sdignity,eliminatingallformsofre-victimisation.Inad-dition, if survivors,witnesses and supportive commu-nities are called to participate in the artistic production, the result is necessarily a co-creation or a participatory workofart.

Participatory or collective artistic expressions arepractices that formulate spectra of co-creation in which co-authorship is legitimised on the aesthetic and polit-ical conceptualisation of the narrative (OsorioBermeo2018).Thisdoubleconditiongrantstheworkofartthepotential to become the support and the negotiating pro-cess forsymbolic reparation.Thereparation is integralandcomprisestwoaspects:materialandsymbolic.Rep-arations are mechanisms through which governmentsopenspacesforthevictimstoexpresssuffering,toguar-antee their individual and collective acknowledgementandtopromotetheirdignification.Inthesespaces,pro-cessesaimed to fulfil themoraland legalobligation toprovidematerialandsymbolicreparationsareassociatedwith processes that guarantee the necessary socioeco-nomicconditionsforthevictimsandtheircommunitiestohaveadignifiedlife(Naidu2004).Symbolicrepara-tion,accordingtotheVictimsandLandRestitutionLaw,“includesthedisplayofworksoractsofpublicscopeorrepercussionaimedat theconstructionandrecoveryofhistorical memory, the recognition of the dignity of the victimsandthereconstructionofthesocialfabric”(Law1448of2011).

Arthasthepowertocreativelyrepresentpainfulex-periencesas,throughitsnarrative,itenhancesdialogicalandrestorativecollectivememories.Artencouragescit-izenactionand seeks formorehorizontalpolitical ex-ercises that could promote a transformation of a social context. In collectivememory, all remembrances fromthepastareinterwovenandshapeacommonknowledgeinasocialgroup.However,thisconceptualisation,orig-inatingintheworkofMauriceHalbwachs(1992),doesnotmakecleartheconnectionwiththepolitical“doing”and“acting”ofsocieties.Collectivememoryhasapo-liticalfunctionlinkedtothenarrativethatisexpressed,silenced or forgotten (Jelin 2020). In the post-agree-mentphaseinColombia(2016),therewritingofmem-ory´s narratives have alsomeant that the government,eliteandpowergroupshaveusedthetensionsoverthememoryoftheinternalarmedconflicttodenyordistortwhathappenedintheconflict.Thishasencouragedthe

returntooldandnewversionsoftheviolence.Theseareuseful to current socio-economic and political interests which are linked to the mechanism of neoliberal policies that are unaware of a sense of community identity, of thecollectiveorganisationsandofthemulticulturalandmulti-ethnic character of the country, constitutionally establishedin1991.

Theresultingsocio-culturalconsequencesimplyformsofrevictimisationofthosewhoaremarginalisedfornotfalling within the ethnic, cultural and socio-political stan-dardsofthenation,evenwhentheyarefunctionallyandfactuallymembersofsociety.Inthisprocessofdiscrimi-nation,ahierarchyofvictimsiscreatedandactors,who,inmanycases,areperceivedbycommunitiesofvictimsasperpetrators,areimposedasheroes.Collectivememo-ry becomes a source for the construction of identities as it enhancesdignityandself-respectofvictimisedindividu-alsandcommunities.

Theaudiovisualnarrativerecoversacollectiveeffortto represent the unrepresentable of the violence of theColombian armed conflict. Thus, the video becomes asymbolic and material connection that enables a transi-tionfromconflict,painanddeathintowaysofexplain-ing, understanding and interpreting the traumatic ex-perienceas it recovers the aestheticsof thevictimandupdates thatof theperpetrators.From thisperspective,theshortdocumentaryinterweavessoundandvisualel-ementsmakingvisiblediversevoicesintheconstructionofanarrative,articulatedtothesocio-politicalandcul-tural death of those defenceless people, whose acts of resistance transit theCaucaRiver.The relationshipbe-tweentheindividualsandtheobjectsispartofthestag-ing’siconology.Thevictims’clothingembodiesnotonlya senseof absencebut, specifically, recovers the senseoftheneedforjusticeforaspecificcriminalact.Inthiscase,thecrimeis,inthetypologyofthearmedconflict,“enforceddisappearance”.

In the national shift that Colombia is experiencingstillin2021,avisualandartisticwork,suchas“XPer-egrinaciónTrujilloyMagdalenasporelCauca”,usesacreative strategy that updates itself to question the ab-senceofpoliciesandgovernmentalefforts formemorybuilding.Intheframeworkofthepost-peace-agreementphaseandwithastillongoingarmedconflict,themem-oryactionshavenotbeencapableofrespondingtothechallenges of the integral reparation process. Societyresponds by structuring a process stemming from the survivors, the collectivities, the supportive society, thevictimisedgroups and the artists.The interests and at-titudes of the political and economic elite, along with the absence of international cooperation for a permanent cessationofhumanrightsviolationsinthecountry,areunderminingthosewaystocomprehendandexplainthesocial fabric’s disintegration caused by violence. Thissituation also subverts processes through which com-munitiesconfrontandresistinjusticesandhumiliations,framedinaconflictthathasbeenstrengthenedinthelastthreeyears.

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TheCaucariver:asiteofmemoryand an art space for mediatisation and communicativeinteraction

In this article, we propose to characterise the media-tisedartisticproposal“MagdalenasporelCauca”usingthe mediation process recorded in the video “X Pere-grinaciónTrujilloyMagdalenasporelCauca”thatwascollectivisedonYouTubeinitsfirstmediaupdate.Whenrepresenting thisworkof art, a communicativeprocessandaninteractionwithmultiple,diverseandvirtual in-terlocutorstakeplace;collectivememoryinvokesunpre-dictabledialogues.

“Magdalenas por el Cauca” was performed in twophases: in thefirst, photographic recordsof sectionsoftheriverandcontiguousareasweremade.Atthisstage,anexhibitionofthesephotoswasdisplayedandtheau-diencewasaskedtotellastoryorexpresstheirreaction.Inthesecondphase,femalemembersofAFAVIT4 paint-edthefacesofvictims’mothersholdingportraitsofthedisappearedvictimsonlargepiecesoffabric.Later,theartist placed these fabrics on rafts that were set adrift in theCaucaRiversimulatingthevictims’deadbodiesthatwerecarriedalongbytheforceoftheriver’scurrent.Theraftsfollowedoneanotherasiftheywereinaprocession.Insomeofthem,additionalsymbolicelementsandimag-es, such as a woman holding a cross, were also placed or the representation of La Llorona, a Colombian mythical characterwhoendlesslysuffersherchildren’sdisappear-ance(OsorioBermeo2018).

Intheworkofart,iconicandmetaphoricelementsareclearlymarked.Oneofthemistheintertextualreferenceto Magdalena, a biblical character who lamented for Jesus Christ and, in a culture influencedbyChristianbeliefs,it refers to awomanwhohas lost her loved ones.ThevideoonYouTubenotonlyrecoversthesymbolicvalueof“MagdalenasporelCauca”,butalsotestifiesthroughits narrative to the necessity to reveal the landscape ofhorror anddeath intowhich the riverwas transformed.Aniconologicalreadingoftheraftsevokesthebodiesofthedisappearedand theirmothers.Theriver isconcep-tualised as a site of memory, a space of interaction and rituals that create metaphorically a sense of funerals that couldnottakeplaceandtransformtothatofacemetery.Lifeanddeathareajourney.Abluecrossembodiestheco-existencewithreligiousbeliefsinwhichpainmustbehumblyendured,beliefsthatarealsoservingaright-wingpolitical position and which are addressed symbolically through the blue colour, which stands for the Colombian ConservativeParty.ThealliancebetweentheChurchandtheConservativeGovernment inpowerfavouredpoliti-calviolenceinthecountry,especiallyinregions,suchasValledelCauca(CNMH2008).

“MagdalenasporelCauca”commemoratesallthosepeople who were victims of homicide and enforced

4 Associationofvictims‘relativesofTrujillo.

disappearance, dignifying survivors, victims’ familiesand especially themothers.Considering that the exhi-bitionandprocessionisasymbolicactofvisitation,thevideo“XPeregrinaciónTrujillo”(2010)recontextualis-es the rituality and performance of the population that alsofollowsactivelyandvisuallythecrafts’path,pray-ingforthedisappeared.Theperformativeactembodiesthe co-creative artwhich involves not only its creator,but alsowho takes part in the pilgrimage.The exhibi-tion-procession develops from the installation and theperformance as artworks, to the ritual and commemora-tionasactsofmemory.Thesetwodimensionsgenerateasemantisationoftheriverastheymanagesignificationprocesses that include meaning-making beyond death andtragedy(Perdomo2015).

Theexhibition/processionmovesawayfromcanonsofpatrimonialisationasitfallswithinthescopeof“ephem-eral” art and includes twenty community acts (the lastoneheldon7November2020(CELAM2020),inwhichtheworkisrecreatedinaco-authoredact.Itisaprocessofmemorialisationthatformulates/shapesthecollectivememory of a collection of communities andwhich ex-pressestheirwilltomakeitvisibleinthewholecountryand socialise itwith their interlocutors on the internet.Evenwhen the exhibition-procession ismaterially pre-servedintime, italsodisplaysitspermanenceinsocialcognition. What is remembered, silenced or forgottenisembodied in theexperienceof those individualswhoparticipateintheritual,theworkshopsandothereventsthat theworkofart fosters.Artbecomesamediumforcatharsis, a source for healing and for relief of the pain caused by the perpetrators as it builds a space to symbol-icallyrecoverandbidfarewelltothebodiesofthedisap-peared.Thelandscapeisintervenedbythecommunityasanexpressionofthereligiosityandresistanceofthecom-munities.Torecover theriverasaformofpurification,the collective artistic intervention is transformed into apublictestimonialnarrative.ThetestimonialnarrativeisadiscursiveunitthatcreatesvisibilityforthevictimsoftheColombianinternalarmedconflict,dialogicallycreatinga space on the public stage to be inserted from the life experienceinthememorialisationprocesses.

Through“MagdalenasporelCauca”and theperfor-mance“XPeregrinaciónTrujillo”,itispossibletoinferthepotentialofcollectiveartisticpracticestobuildspacesfor interaction, inwhich those collective and individu-almemoriesofapainfulpast,causedbytheviolenceintheinternalarmedconflict,areinvokedandmadevisible.Memorialisation processes activate a political potentialand encourage new artistic expressions of supportiveco-creation embedded in collaborative practices. Theseprocesses become forms of production, design and so-cialisationofcollectivememories.Inthiscase,survivors,victims’ relatives, witnesses and trauma inheritors, ingeneral,areactiveparticipantswhorecovertheirpresenc-esandexperiences.Theirmemoriesareinterwovenwith

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thoseoftheindividualswhoweremoredirectlyinvolved,with the memories mediated by the community and mem-oriesindirectlybuilt,despitetheproximitytothevictim.Thus, the video “X Peregrinación Trujillo” (2010) up-dates “Magdalenas por elCauca” as aworkof art: thevideomanagesmediatisedmemoriesandfosterscollec-tivitiesabletoappropriateandkeepthememoriesalive,despiteStatepoliciesthattendtodenyorobscurethem.JoséObdulioGaviria,formeradvisortothegovernmentofÁlvaroUribeVélez,expressed:“Denyingtheconflictisapositionbasedonfacts”(ElEspectador(Debate10)2019).Inthis tension, it iscertainthat theconflicthap-pened, not only based on factual evidence, but also oninstitutionaliseddiscourses,inwhichthisisevident:

Duringthepeacenegotiationsbetweenthegov-ernment of Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC,the Comisión Histórica del Conflicto Armado ysusVíctimas5(CHCV)wascreatedtoexaminethecauses,developmentandeffectsofthearmedcon-frontation inColombia.Asa result, twelveessaysand two reports were written by intellectuals with a clear plurality of approaches and explanationsaboutthewarthatthecountryhassuffered(GarzónVallejoandAgudelo2019).

The video gives concrete shape and perpetuates theconstruction of a collective knowledge that is integrat-ed into social cognition, enabling emotional dialogue as abasicunderstandingandanethicalviewoftheviolentpast.Thevideoalsoallowstheappropriationofanaes-theticcapableofsustainingitscommitmenttoindividualmemorieswhichbecomecollectiveasthatknowledgeismanaged,formulatedandreflectedinadialogicprocess;thepastiscreativelybuiltbyusingandgivingshapetothiskindofknowledge(Rigney2016).Itispreciselyinsocial cognitionwhere collectivememory is structuredand has meaning, insofar as it is organised in the cultural andaxiologicalbackgroundofacommunity.

In the video, a set of static images in large format,moving images of a religious and festive ritual, songsof resistance, declarations, denouncements and life dec-larations are articulated.Amultiplicity of social actorsare involved: witnesses, survivors, leaders, communitymembersassolidarityagents,civilandreligiousauthori-ties,organisedchildrenandrafters,amongstotheractors.Therearemultiplediscursivegenres:testimonies,politi-calspeechesincludingelegiesandresignificationofob-jects, suchasclothing items,flowersand the rafts that,whilepassing,allowus tovisualisewhat surrounds theriverwith the objects and people that pass through thewaters;thisishowthesemioticlandscapeisconstructed.The semiotic landscape is conceptualised as adynamiccommunicative interaction that materialises an artisticexpressionwithmultipleanddiverseknowledge,which

5 TheHistoricalCommissionofthearmedconflictanditsvictims(CHCV)wasresponsibleofstudyingandinvestigatingthephenomenonofviolenceinColombia,aswellasdeterminingresponsibilitiesofthosewhoparticipatedorhadanysortofinvolvementinit.

isamplifiedandupdatedintheactofremembering;andproducedandinterpretedfromitssigncharacter.

Therelationshipbetweenmemory,creationandimag-inationdefinesformsofknowledgethatarespatiallyandtemporally located and enhances other narratives fromnew interlocutors which recover violent events of theinternalconflict.ThisiswhatLevyandSznaider(2002)called“unlimitedculturalmemories”:thesearesourcesofknowledgewhichproduceperceptualexperience,articu-late emotionsandmake“others”visible: their traumas,concerns, expectations and hopes. This cognitive pro-cess connects through representation in the present, the pastandthefuture.Thevideorecordsintangibleexpres-sions, individual and collectivememories inwhich thedialogue that structures the process of memorialisation is formulated.The aim is to construct civic responsibilityasitisanchoredtotheartco-producedbythevictimisedcommunities. Paterson (2017) points out that it is onlythrough participation that members of a community are empowered, not only to imagine a change in solidarity, buttomanageitinthesearchforthedesiredsociety.Thisway of proceeding empowers those who seek through so-cialactionforatransformationofaviolatedandvulner-atedsociety.

Readingthemediatisedsemioticlandscape

Addressingmediaexpressionsimpliestorecoveritsde-sign,productionandinterpretationprocessininteraction.This requires tools of transdisciplinary nature throughwhich the study of a discourse involving diverse inter-wovensignsisformulated.Verballanguage,non-verbalsounds, static and mobile images, colour and technolog-ical support media are used to make them function in the process of memory building and to create proper condi-tions to formulate strategies to achieve peace.Throughthe multimodal and multimedia study of a video, thesemiotic modes, the appropriated resources for the con-struction of meanings (materialised in cultural frames)anddiscursiverepresentationsareinvestigated.

Following the approaches of Kress (2010) and VanLeeuwen (1999),Multimodal andMultimedial CriticalDiscourseStudies (MMCDS) aredefinedas a transdis-ciplinary and critical-reflective position that addressesdiscursiveunits,ascharacterisedbymaterialisingindif-ferent sign systems (modes), the relationship that goesfromcognitiontothesocialrealityrepresented;and,fordistributingandsocialising thediscursiveunits throughtechnologicalsources.In thisperspective, theprocessesof signification come from the inter-sign relationshipsthat are typified in thediscourse and from thematerialandtechnologicaldevicesthatareavailableintheculture.

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Thecharacteristicmediaandmultimodalexpressionsof contemporarymedia activity – come to life in signs– arenot externalphenomena to the social subject thatusesthem.Consequently,approachingtheminvolvestheindividualwhoisdefinedbytheconditioningofhisso-cial-communicativereality(Norris2016).Itispostulatedthat action and interaction bind social actions, memory processesandhistory,definingtheidentitiesoftheactors(Norris 2016). The understanding and the explanationofamediatisedactinvolves,atleast,themeaning’spro-ducerandthemediator;itaddressesthetensionthatgoesfrom the one who produces the meaning to the way in whichthemediatransformsthesignification,especiallywhenitisstagedonaplatformlikeYouTube.Giventhecharacteristicsoftheselectedcorpus,Rheindorf’s(2019)proposalisadoptedtorevealthedifferenceshandledbe-tweenthesocialactorsinvolvedintheactofcommunica-tion,theobjectsusedandthesymbolicworldtheybuildandinhabit.Thisimpliesselectingfieldsofsocialactionandspecificdiscoursessituatedtocarryoutatransversalanalysisofthediscourse.

TheYouTubevideo“XPeregrinaciónTrujillo(2010)”is analysed to describe forms of interaction, to recognise andexplain the relationshipsgeneratedbetween these-mioticmodes involved, toestablishrepresentations thatarecreatedinthesocio-culturalframeworksandtogiveanaccountof the relationshipsamongstco-creativeart,memory, symbolic reparation and collective social ac-tion.Thevideoisashortdocumentarythatsupportsthecollectiveartisticactionandfunctionsasanindexoftheinstitutionalandgovernmentalsupportreceived.Ashortdocumentarycanbecharacterisedasshort-timeaudiovi-sualworkwhichexpressesarepresentationaboutatypeofrealityfromtheperspectiveofthosewhodocumentit.Themainstrategyisrelatedtothetypeofvideo-assemblywhich gets a concrete shape through the articulation of semiotic resources producing a space and a temporality differentfromthatoftherepresentedevents,inthiscase,the exhibition and pilgrimage. The short documentarybecomesanarrative thatgoesfarbeyondthesocio-dis-cursive practices represented, managing a new type ofmemorialisation,whosepurposeisnotonlytocontextu-alise the artisticwork “Magdalenas por el Cauca”, butalsoemotionsasthevisualcomplementstheauditoryel-ements(MartinecandSalway2005).

Methodologically,thevideoisanalysedfromamixedperspectivesince its segmentsaredecodedsequentiallyand additively. Schemes are developed, theoretical as-sumptionsaremadeandinteractionsaredelimited;atthesame time, meanings attributable to actions and actors are recovered,aswellas theirmotivationsand interests. Inaddition, relationships between the participants and the artifactsthathaveameaninginsocialinteractionarees-tablished. Natural settings as places for interaction are

6 OriginaltextinSpanish:“SololepidoaDios/Queloinjustonomeseaindiferente/Quenomeabofeteenlaotramejilla/Despuésqueunagarramearañeestasuerte/”.

7 OriginaltextinSpanish:“Nosepuedesepultarlaluz”/“Ysino,laspiedrasgritarán-lainvenciblecausadelospobres/”.

alsorecovered,aswellascategories,suchasdensityandpermanence.

“Density”isunderstoodasthesetofqualitativevaluesthatcomefromtheobservationoftheinteractionthroughwhichthecharacteristicsofindividualsandartifactsareperceivedinthevideo.Thecategory“permanence”facil-itatestherecoveryofthespace/timesensethatthemedi-um guarantees and makes accessible the interactions, so they update and go through a process of re-semantisation channelled via the interlocutors.Within the frameworkof permanence, thecharacteristicsofthecommunicativesituation, the role of artifacts and accessories, the spatial organisation, the semiotics modes and the general atmo-sphere, represented in its place of production and inter-pretation,areverified(Knoblauchetal.2014).

Representations are analysed in twodimensions: theappropriation of their symbolic meaning and the perma-nent re-semantisation. Epistemologically, it is assumedthat semiotics go through all possible explanations tocharacterise all the semiotic modes involved. Conse-quently,thevideoisanintegralsystemofsigns,thatis,it has a multimodal character and is socially distributed through technological resources (YouTube in this case)whichalsomakeitmultimedial.Thepossiblemeaningsandsensescomefromthedesignelementsoftheenviron-ment and their production, as well as from the density and permanenceof theaudiovisualdataof thevideo,beingrecoveredasadiscourseandanarrative.

Reshapingthesemioticlandscapeofmemories

Theformsofinteractionincludetheobjects,fromwhichthe relationship with the actors is established and the re-lationshipwiththeenvironmentisformulated.Inthein-tervalbetween0:00and0:11seconds, thefirst ritualofreligious nature comes out, including a location where a prayerisattuned,theimageofacrucifiedChristandanaltarwithflowersandacandleintheforeground.With-out transitions, a ritual of resistance appears, marked by a procession accompanied by chanting the song written byMercedesSosa,“IaskonlyofGod”.Thereisaninter-textbetweenthesong´stitleandnuclearissuesrelatedtothe X Pilgrimage’stopic:religiousbeliefs,resistanceanddenunciationagainstwar.Theresistanceritualappearsintheintervalbetween0:12–0:18secondsandletsusrecog-nisethestanza:“IaskonlyofGod/thatIamnotunmovedby injustice/ that I am not slapped on the other cheek/afterresigningmyselftoinjurybyaclaw/”6.

Betweentheseconds00:30and00:40,another inter-textlinksreligiousbeliefswiththeseekingforresistance:theversewrittenbyJuanAntonioEspinoza7:“Youcannot

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burythelight”/“Ifyoudo,thestoneswillscream–theinvinciblecauseofthepoor”.TheselinesarerelatedtothebiblicalquoteinLuke19:40whichtellsabouttheim-possibility of silence as testimony, despite the attempts of silencing it.The singing isperformed,while the imagedisplays in a high angle shot the scene when people walk totheriverhighlightingtwoverbalindexicalmarkersthatguide the interlocutor in space and time: “Riofrío,Val-ledelCauca”andtheMOVICE8billboard.In1993,theThirdBrigadeoftheColombianarmedforcesenteredtheMunicipality ofRiofrío and pretended to combat guer-rilla forces,when actually theywere fighting civilians.Thirteen peoplewere killed and severalmorewere in-juredandwerelaterpresentedaswoundedincombatandasELNmilitants.Thiscrimeagainsthumanityhasgoneunpunished as the Supreme Court of Justice declared null thelegalprocessagainsttheperpetrators(CNMH2008).

From second 00:40 to second 00:46, a large-formatpictorial image is displayed, focusing on Carmen Lon-doño’s face. She is considered one of theMagdalenas sinceoneofherchildren,revealedinaninsetatthebot-tomright,waskilledintheTrujilloMassacre.Thepicto-rial image by Gabriel Posada is based on a photograph taken by JesúsAbadColorado for the report “Trujillo,unagotadeesperanzaenunmardeimpunidad”9 (Mag-dalenasporelCauca,undated).Thissectionofthevideoisaccompaniedbytheverse“Ay,Magdalena,ay,Magda-lena”,partofthesong“Almadecaminante”byMarthaElenaHoyos.Theselinesworkasalinktointroducethesegment00:47–00:59secondswhereareligiousauthori-ty,‘PadreAntonis’–EpiscopalChurch,exhortstranspo-sition of the meaning of death into that of life by saying: “Aftermeeting hermaster,MaryMagdalene set out toannouncelife.YouandIwillsetouttoannouncelife”10.Thediscoursecarriespoliticalcontentsinceitspurposeistoformulateandbuildmodelsofbehaviourtoestablishasocialbody.Arelationshipbetweenwhatisproclaimedand the characteristic ritualisation of the preaching is elaborated.Betweenminutes01:00and01:12,thereisadeclaration accompanied by a kinesic gesture, character-istic of the Catholic-Christian rites, using the hand facing theriver:“Wedeclarerestorationoflifeinthisplace”11.Intheliturgy,thepreaching/declarationhasaperforma-tivecharacter:itisconsideredthattherestorationisexe-cutedonthesymbolicandmateriallevel.

Symbology acquires meaning in the framework of theexhibition/processionasanactofremembrance.Theperformativity and rituality of the peoplewho visuallyaccompanytherafts’routeperformingpost-mortemrep-aration acts, enables Magdalenas por el Cauca to acquire

8 MOVICEisanationalmovementthatbringstogethergroupsoforganisationsthatrepresentthevictimsofStatecrimescommittedinthecontextoftheinternalarmedconflict.

9 Trujillo,adropofhopeinaseaofimpunity.10 OriginaltextinSpanish:“MaríaMagdalena,despuésdeencontrarseconsumaestro,salióaanunciarlavida.Ustedesyyo,saldremosaanunciar

lavida”.11 OriginaltextinSpanish:“Declaramosrestauradalavidaenestelugar”.12 AssociationofrelativesofvictimsofTrujillo(AFAVIT).

signification. This artistic and mediatised project pro-videsthesocioculturalconditionstobuildanactivecol-lectivememory.Thevictimsandsurvivorsfindaspacetoaffirm their identityandsocialise their commonhistoryofexclusion.Thevideobecomesthesupportforco-cre-ation of memory through art, as it connects and creates dialogueswithvirtualaudiencestransformingcollectiveknowledge.Thesetransfigurationsprovidenewhorizonstocollectivisememories.

From1:14minute onwards, the life or festivity ritu-al materialises the restoration. The participants in thepilgrimage start dancing, there is an instrumental sound that results fromtheperformingof theBrassQuintetofthe Instituto de Cultura de Pereira.ThepresenceofsisterMaritzeTrigosstandsoutamongstotheractorsas,fromher role of a religious authority, she acts as companion, inhorizontalrelationshipandasanactivememberoftheAsociaciónFamiliaresVíctimasdeTrujillo12 (AFAVIT).The nun, although dressed as a civilian, legitimises theritualbyauthority.Betweenminutes1:42–1:47,inawideshot,oneoftheraftsisdisplayedwhichislaterondrivenawaybythecurrentoftheriver.Thismovingimageservesasananticipation,prolepsis,ofwhatisgoingtohappen.

At2:04minutes,afade to black is displayed, signal-lingtheclosureoftheritualoflifeorfestivityandamoreartisticandpoliticalritualisintroducedinwhichindivid-uals with different degrees of authorities appear. Theirpresence is relevantbecause theyare representativesofthevictims,theirrelativesandthesupportivecivilsociety.MaríaIsabelEspinoza,awriterborninPereirawholivesintheregion,intervenesinthevideo–whichisdeducedfromwhatisdeicticallyindicatedinthevideo(“Cartago–Valle”).Theartist,called“thepoetofthedeath”(Per-domo2015),standsonaplatformwherepictorialimagesof portraits in white and black of some of the disappeared victimsareplaced, togetherwith apictorial image/por-trait of one of the Magdalenas in large format and full colour and a cross that connects the mise-en-scène with the “Fundación Guagua”. This is a social organisationcommitted to the defence of human rights which focuses onvictimsof theState in issues, such as forceddisap-pearance,extrajudicialexecutionsandcrimesattributedto State forces or officials committed in the context ofthearmedconflict(URL:https://fundaguagua12.wixsite.com/fundacionguagua/sobre-nosotros).

The intervention is characterisedby thevoiceof theartistwhonarratestheeventsseenfromtheoutside,butwithasubjectivitylegitimisedbybeinganartist/witnessofthedeadbodiesfloatingdowntheriver.Thissceneim-pliesanemotionaleventforthevictims,survivors,rela-

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tivesandcommunitymembers.Evidentialityisproducedthroughfirst-personmodalisationandaphenomenonofhyperbaton,aninversionthatgivesthenarrativeamorepoeticdirection:“dissolvedbones”and“grievingblackvultures”13.Thereadingisaccompaniedbyaninsetwhereimagesoftheexhibition/pilgrimageheldin2008canbeseen, these, by substitution, representing the bodies of the victimsfloatingdowntheriverwithoutspecificdirection.Thisishowamemoryprocessisupdated:

Funerals in the Cauca River had become dailybread.Theriverwatersbecameacasketcoachcar-ryingthemwithoutadestination.Isaythisbecausesome of the corpses could not be recovered foridentifying themor tobury theirdissolvedbones.Manyremaininthestomachoffishesandofgriev-ingblackvultures(MaríaIsabelEspinosa2010).

Thereiteratedaudiovisualresourceoffade to black cre-atesatemporalleapandbringsintofocusthelabel“GrupoinfantilAFAVIT”14.Immediately,agirlappearsspeakingon behalf of a gathering of children and youths. In herwords:“ThisgroupiscalledJimmyGarcíaPeñainhonourofaboywhowaskilledattheageof18months.HewaskilledinNaranjal”.Thepresenceofthegroupisanindex-icalmarkerofchildrenandyoungpeopleasvictimsofthemassacre andcreates a senseof activismand resistanceof those who, because of their birth, did not witness the massacre.Themnemonicresourceinthechildren´sinter-ventionisanaphoric:“weareseeds,wearememory,wearelife,wedemandjustice”.InWesternsocieties,childrenaresymbolsofhope.Theverbalandgraphicexpressionstransmit a process of socialisation, anchored in the con-structionofidentityanddesirablesocialtransformations.

Thenexttransitionmarkerisawideshotoftheriverinwhichanobjectonaraftisfocused,coveredinawhitematerialandpartiallyhiddenbehind thevegetation.Si-multaneously, in voice off, a man who produces a remem-branceactisheard.EduardoCarreño(minute3:08–3:58),member of the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear15, who has followed thecaseunofficially,addresses thepeoplearound the stage. The visual context is composed byblackandwhitephotographsofthedisappearedvictims,thecrosses–threeofthemdifferentfromthecrossplacedatthecentre–and,inthefirstthird,attherightcorner,there also appears an artistic image in large format of EvangelinaLópez,motherofoneofthedisappearedwhosymbolicallyembodieseverymotherofthedisappearedyouthsorchildren.Inhisspeech,Carreñoexpresseshisconditionasasocialsubjectandhispointofviewaboutthe memory process in which he is immersed:

Recalling today20yearsof [thedisappearanceof]Tiberio,ofAlbaIsabelandoftheircompanions,

13 OriginaltextinSpanish:“Desechoshuesos”and“dolienteschulos”.14 AVAFITchildren’sgroup.15 JoséAlvearRestrepoLawyers’Association.

thevictimswhosemortal remainswere thrown intheCaucaRiver […]Webelieve that this case issymbolic on the national and international level,thatis,whathasbeenbuiltforthevictims.[…]In1995, former President Samper publicly assumedresponsibility for these crimes.We cannot forgetthem.Wemustreiterativelyprovidesupporttothevictims[…],allthevictimsofStatecrimeregard-lessoftheregionorsectortheybelongto.Neitherforgiveness, nor forgetfulness! Punishment to themurderers!(EduardoCarreño2010).

Inthisspeech,varioustemporalitiesarepresented.Thefirstis1990,theyearinwhichthepriestTiberioFernán-dez,hisnieceAlbaIsabelGiraldoandothercompanionswere assassinated.Members of theColombian securityforcesusedtortureandsexualviolencebeforetheymur-deredthem.Thesecondis1995,whenSamperrecognisedtheState´sresponsibilityforthesecrimes.“MagdalenasporelCauca”,performedon17April2010,evokes theanniversaryofthemurderofTiberio,AlbaIsabeland25other persons, artistically represented in “La Ofelia deTrujillo”.

Inminute4:02, the fade to black displays the motto “Magdalenas por elCauca”, initiating the spiritual andmemorialisationritual.Theraftsnavigatedowntheriverwith images and artistic representations alluding to the victimsandallegoricaltothetopicoftheMagdalenas.Atminute4:04,aninsetinawideshotshowstworaftsbeingdriven; theuseofazoomeffectmagnifies theshotandbringstheimageclosertotheobserver.Whentheinsetisenlarged,itispossibletoobservethattheraftsaredrivenby young men and that the closest raft in the shot is the oneofOfeliaTrujillo.Theimpliedintertextistheworkofart“Ofelia”bythepainterJohnEverettMillaisinwhichthe female character of the same name commits suicide andherbodyappearsfloatingwithflowers inastream.Theresourceofintertextualityisexpressedbyiconolog-icalmarkers (thewomanfloating in the streamand theflowers), throughwhich the sensesof theviolentdeatharerecovered.TorepresentOfelia,animageofAlbaIs-abelGiraldo’s facewas chosen (Perdomo 2015). Fromminute4:25onwards,thereisaclose-upthatallowstheobservationoftheelementsaccompanyingthesculpture,amongstthembeinganimageonthechestofFatherTi-berioFernández,flowersandthefacesof25ofthedisap-peared,whichcollectivelymakeupOfelia’sdress.

Atminute5:16,oneoftheMagdalenasemerges;itisan artistic image in a large format with a blue and grey-scale background, it is a proposal to representRosalbaLozano,whosebrotherAgustíndisappearedandthegriefwhichkilledhermother.Thegreycolourandthewom-an’s facialexpressionseta senseof sadness. Inminute5:46, the poetOmarOrtiz intervenes by reading a sto-

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rywritten in thefirst personproducing ametonymy inwhichthecharacterofthestoryrepresentsthevictimsoftheMassacre.

Ihadmynewlypolishedblackshoeson,Ilookedlikeahandsomeman,(said)mymotherduringthegoodbyekissritual.Inline,theytookmyphotoforthejobapplication,butquicklytheypushedmeintoa car, they pressed two shotguns to my head and Iendedupinapigstywheretheyaskedmeaboutstrangers.Nosir!Isaidandtheybeatme.Yessir!Isaidandtheybeatmeanyway.Theydideverythingas if he had no humanity, no bones, no blood, no soul.Inolongerhaveabluesuit,oranorangetie,norcanIhugMargarita.NowIamafadedphotothat my mother carries around in squares and pa-rades(OmarOrtiz2010).

The poet’s reading is accompanied by zooms to theMagdalenawiththefaceofRosaElenaMontoya,withablackbackground,creatingthesenseofdeath.Thewom-an’scircumspectcharacter,complementedbyothersym-bolic elements, such as the presence of a rounded black objectplacedonher forehead, allowsus to infer that abulletwentthroughherhead,leavingthesemioticmarkoftheactofviolenceanditsremainsasshelosespartofhercorporality,tobeplacedintheupperleftcorner.TheartisticimageofRosaElena,madebyGabrielPosada,isa re-semiotisation of the photograph made by Jesús Abad Colorado;thesemiotictransformationinvolvesthegreycolourofthewoman’shairandthefaceinthephotographofhermurderedson,onthechest.

Thetravelling accompanies the raft of a woman who is indexically identified as Consuelo Valencia (minute6:34). The pink background of Magdalena produces acontrastwiththerestoftheimage.Thepresenceofco-lourshowsthecharacterofMagdalenawhoisasurvivorof the crimes committed against her immediate family.Hertwomissingsonsarepresentedinagrey-scale,con-necting iconology with the region’s own socioculturalassessments.Themarked shapesof the face, especiallythefacialfolds,areindexicalmarksofthetracesoftime.

Inminute 7:18, theMagdalena does not represent aperson,but ismade“inmemoryofall thewomenwhowere rapedandmurdered”.ThisworkofartwasmadebyOrlandoNaranjo,presidentofAFAVITandrelativeofavictim.Someofthesignificantfeaturesofthewomanrepresentedarecolours:black,grey;theredthatconnotesthebloodproductofviolence;andbluewhichiscultur-allyrelatedtotears.Theraftmovesawayslowlyandthismovementisassociatedwithavisual-temporalresource

that not only marks the end of the ritual, but also the dis-tancingofthevictimscarriedawaybytheriver.

Death givesway to life through the symbolic act ofaccompanyingmissing lives. Simultaneously, awomanisheard in thebackground:“Theywillbe riversof joyforhavingovercome thehorrorofdeath.Riflesare theeyesofwar.Whilesomelookatthedead,wedreamoflife”(MaritzeTrigos2010).Thestatementandthesimileemphasise the transformation of the meanings associat-edwiththeriver.Theraftsarefollowedbythemusicalaccompaniment of an acoustic guitar whose instrumental tones,softandslowmelodyandrhythmgiveafeelingoftranquillity.Atminute8:08,thefade in black marks the endof“MagdalenasporelCauca”andbeginsthecreditsthat are accompanied by photographs of the X Pilgrim-age.Thevideoclosing,asaunit,ismadeupoftwotypesof visual resources: Ofelia in 30 different angles andplanes,theartisticimagesoftheMagdalenas;andthevi-sual-graphicresourcesofafixedimage,inwhich,ontheonehand,membersofthecommunityarerecoveredandrepresentedandwhoactivelyparticipateinthepilgrim-ageasrafters;and,ontheotherhand,differentmomentsof the resistance rituals of the population, which include agirlvictimwhomakesatributewithflowers,areshown.

The representation of the exhibition/pilgrimage im-plies recognising the articulation that occurs between the iconic elements and the central meaning, transposing the meaningofdeathtothatoflife.Theseelementsbecomeiconsduetothestabilisationoftheirsocio-culturalsense.Theconjunctionofpermanenceanddensityisproducedbyitssocialdiffusionandmediareproduction.InKohn’s(2018)perspective,repetitiontransformsiconsintomem-oryunitswhichareeasilyrecognisedbysociety.

Theiconologicalrelationshipisformulatedwithintheframework of religious rituals that can be approached in the video through the flowers and the cross.Theflow-ers create an indexical relationshipwith life anddeath.Culturally,flowersareasemioticresourcethatcarriesthesenseoftributeandrespectandgivesathemetothein-escapableconditionofexistence.ThecrossactivatestheJudeo-ChristiansenseofCalvary,theinnocentvictimandthesearchfortheactofjustice.

Within the framework of the festive ritual, whosecentre is the sense of resistance, the iconology includes the image of the bridge, which updates one of the social movementsforthevictimsandintegratestwomeanings:on the one hand, the transition from one situation to an-other,emulatinganarmedconflictandthepeaceprocess.On the other hand, the transition of life and death, which cometogetherintheriver’spresenceasaroute.Theraftsbecametheleitmotifastheyrecoverthevictim’spresenceandgenerateanintertextualrelationshipwiththeGreekmyth of Charon’s boat: the natural and forced passagebetween lifeanddeath is rebuilt.TheT-shirts,wornbythose attending the exhibition/pilgrimage, constitute anindex of the inescapable act of resistance towhich thesocio-cultural community of the region is committed in searchofguaranteeingreparationandnon-repetition.

Table 1.Visual-graphicmemory:rituals.

Religious ritual

Festivity ritual

Artistic-political ritual

Spiritual and memorialisation ritual

(0:00–1:13) (1:14–2:03) (2:04–4:01) (4:02–8:00)

Fig. 1a Fig. 1b Fig. 1c Fig. 1d

Source images: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5EshU1M_CQ

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Conclusion

Theiconsworkastracesofthepresences/absences,col-lectively intervened in an act of dialogic co-creation,whichispermanentlyreinterpretedandsignifiedtoper-meatethememorieswiththecollectivemeaningformu-latedintheTrujillocommunity.Iconologybecomestheaxisoftheprocessofco-creationandinteractionthatisrenewed, periodically, in the exhibition-pilgrimage, re-formulatingcollectivememoryindefinitely.Theanalysisof the semiotic and mediatised landscape of memory in Trujilloallowsustounravelitssocio-politicalandcultur-alimplications,withinthecontextofthePost-agreement(2016).Themultimodalandmultimediamemorialisationinitiatives constitute fundamental acts of collective re-sistance against the persistence of violence and humanrights violations. In the process of semiotic-discursivecharacterisation of the video “X PEREGRINACIONTRUJILLO y MAGDALENAS POR EL CAUCA”(2010), theartistic imageof thevictimswasrecovered,resignifyingthemeaningofexistenceintherituals.Signsystemsandthesemioticresourcesinvolvedhavearolein transforming the meaning of death and war into that of life and peace. Iconology and metaphors articulatethe different sign systems, structuring the visual-verbalunitattheserviceofthevisual-graphic.Thereisaverbal

reinforcementthatcontextualisesthebeingsandobjectsinvolved in the rituals and creates reference points formultipleinterpretations.

The analytical perspective of the rituals, throughwhich the representations of collective and individualmemories are constructed, designed and updated, allowed therecoveryofmacro-micro-narrativestodecipherformsof commemoration that articulate models of the past and (withhegemonicconstructionsofpower)thetransforma-tionsthatupdatethepresentandprojectthefuture.LatinAmerica requires that, from the studies of language, we exploretheconnectionsamongstpracticesofmemoriali-sation and the symbolic ways of remembering the past as aguaranteeforcomprehensivereparationandnon-repeti-tionofviolence,withitscontinuitiesandruptures.

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