Searching for Memory

Approx. 304 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, 15 halftones, 3 maps, notes, bibl., index

Paperback ISBN: 978-1-4696-8103-0
Published: April 2025
Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-4696-8102-3
Published: April 2025

Paperback Available April 2025, but pre-order your copy today!

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This biography of Brazilian journalist and activist Aluízio Palmar (b. 1943) tells the remarkable story of a revolutionary who, after surviving torture as a political prisoner during his country's military dictatorship in the 1960s and 1970s, would go on to devote his life to recovering the memory and documenting the evidence of human rights abuses in Brazil. Palmar's recounting of his life, in personal interviews with Jacob Blanc as well as from a wide array of source materials, offers a valuable window into how former activists view their place in history.

In this context, Blanc initiates the concept of memory scripts, which illustrates how scripting and performing a memory can serve as an act of perseverance and power, important for individuals and communities seeking both to heal from and redefine trauma for future activism. Blanc's book is a singular contribution to literature on dictatorship in Brazil and across Latin America by exploring not only what happened under military rule but also the contested channels through which the memories of these intense and often traumatic events have been sustained, shaped, and retold.

About the Author

Jacob Blanc is associate professor of history and international development studies at McGill University.
For more information about Jacob Blanc, visit the Author Page.

Reviews

"This truly unique text is clear, engaging, and well written and guarantees that the life story of Palmar is presented within the political, social, economic, and cultural context of the different periods in the protagonist's life."—James N. Green, author of Exile within Exiles: Herbert Daniel, Gay Brazilian Revolutionary

"Blanc has delivered a work that is at once informative, engaging, self-reflective, and insightful—as well as a delight to read. It contributes to our understanding of the history of the dictatorship and its continued legacy, both critically important for interpreting Brazil today."—Victoria Langland, author of Speaking of Flowers: Student Movements and the Making and Remembering of 1968 in Military Brazil

"A truly unique text, Searching for Memory creatively follows the life history of Alúzio Palmar, a revolutionary involved in the armed resistance to the Brazilian military dictatorship (1964-85), and his subsequent activities as a journalist and human rights activist dedicated to preserving and retelling the story of the authoritarian regime. Relying largely on Palmar’s own understanding of his past, along with deftly using other oral histories along with personal and official archives, this micro-history offers a valuable contribution to our growing understanding of the multiple ways that dedicated militants resisted the dictatorship and fought for memory and justice upon the return to democracy."—James N. Green, author of Exile within Exiles: Herbert Daniel, Gay Brazilian Revolutionary