Under Heavy Fire: Brazil and the Politics of Anti-Memory. Issue 2 (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Fausto, Carlos
• Is Part Of: Latin American antiquity. Volume 31:Issue 2(2020)
• Page Start: 247
• Page End: 255
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: memory, -- forgetting, -- museums, -- indigenous peoples, -- slavery; memoria, -- olvido, -- museos, -- pueblos indígenas, -- esclavitud; Indians of Mexico -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Indians of Central America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Indians of South America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; Latin America -- Antiquities -- Periodicals; 918
• DOI: 10.1017/laq.2020.2
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1045-6635

Abstract

Abstract : What kind of times are these when a talk about trees is almost a crime? Among other things, they are times of forgetfulness. Forgetting does not mean that reminiscences just vanish as time goes by. It is, on the contrary, a major cultural force grounded in a politics of anti-memory. One needs to forget in order to keep repeating oneself. In this article, I argue that the National Museum in Rio de Janeiro did not burn to the ground merely because of the lack of resources, but because being burned to the ground has always been a virtual feature of the existence of the museum since it was created in 1818. It burned as part of a long-term politics of anti-memory in Brazilian history.