Specters in the Archive, Media Aspects of Guatemalan Trauma in Rodrigo Rey Rosa’s El material humano y Uli Stelzner’s La isla. Archivo de una tragedia

Abstract

Guatemala was one of the first countries in which enforced disappearance was used as a tool of terror against the civilian population. 45,000 desaparecidos are estimated during 36 years of civil war. It is a pending issue, causing unresolved struggles in collective memory. Many people accused of participating in the killings occupy important positions and not a few members of the elite supported the military government during the civil war. This problem and the impunity are themes in the novel The human material of Rodrigo Rey Rosa and in the documentary La isla of Uli Stelzner. Novel and film treat the archive as a uncanny place of memory. A transmedial analysis highlights the specific features of the Guatemalan case in two entangled versions and medias. Both works show that even in times of “posmemoria” and progressive mediation the ‘battle’ of memory continues.