We are in war: memories of the conflict Salvadoran armed and its narrative plots in youth from a community displaced

Abstract

The armed conflict in El Salvador (1980–1992) was one of the longest and bloodiest in Latin America’s recent history. Among its distinctive features is the devastation of entire communities by military operations that forced their populations to flee, only to be rebuilt after the conflict ended. Twenty-eight years have passed since its formal end, a period during which new generations have emerged who did not experience the conflict firsthand but have been socialized within the affected communities, interacting with direct victims (relatives and neighbors). Based on this context, a study was conducted to understand how young people in a displaced community construct memories of the armed conflict and to explore how these memories serve as a framework for interpreting the demands of their present and future. Using a qualitative methodology, life story and photoelicitation techniques were employed with ten young people who grew up after 1992 in the Nueva Trinidad community (Chalatenango), a territory rebuilt by former refugees. In general, it is observed that these young people, despite not having experienced the war, construct their own memories. Within this narrative structure emerges a plot that follows a conflict/war framework (opposing sides in constant dispute), not only in reference to the past, but also to the present and the future. The plot extends beyond the formal end of the conflict and continues to unfold into their present lives. The memory of the war allows them, then, to examine their present and assert the continuity of this state of war, albeit with different forms and characters; it also serves as an ethical and political guide in life, from which they criticize the misdeeds of their local leaders. Looking ahead, they say that this memory will help them know what to do if another war like the last one were to occur.