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Disintegrating Bodies: The Undoing of the Discourse of War in Palleja’s Diario (1865–66)

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

The opening chapter presents a reading of a diary written by Colonel León de Palleja, member of the Uruguayan forces during the Paraguayan War (1864–1870). Colonel Palleja died in this war, in which Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay joined their forces against Paraguay. Far from the nationalistic, simplifying, and fanatic opinions so frequent among the approaches to the conflict in those days (and up to the present), the author argues that in Palleja’s Diario de la campaña de las fuerzas aliadas contra el Paraguay, war is narrated as loneliness, abandonment, suffering, and desperation. These chronicles bear witness to the decimation of the Uruguayan soldiers in their voyage to the Paraguayan front. The author discusses the ways in which Palleja’s text undermines the very discourse of war.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMemory Politics and Transitional Justice
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan
Pages19-38
Number of pages20
DOIs
StatePublished - 2018

Publication series

NameMemory Politics and Transitional Justice
ISSN (Print)2731-3840
ISSN (Electronic)2731-3859

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