Abstract

MELENOTTE, Sabrina. Autopsy of a Massacre: The Destiny of the Female Bodies Died in Acteal (22/12/1997). Trace (Méx. DF) [online]. 2017, n.72, pp.75-97. ISSN 2007-2392.  https://doi.org/10.22134/trace.72.2017.94.

This paper examines the post-mortem treatment of the bodies of the Acteal massacre that took place on December 22, 1997. It recapitulates controversies arising both from modifications that were made to the corpses that had been attacked by firearms, as well as from the end-use of the bodies of four pregnant women, allegedly mutilated. It demonstrates that the violence techniques used on the female body sum up sociopolitical, symbolic and hermeneutical issues, making it the embodiment of the rupture of social and symbolic space of the inhabitants of San Pedro Chenalhó. Here it is shown that the body is “proof” in its double meaning (preuve and épreuve) of gender violence suffered by women, even if the message is addressed to men.

Keywords : massacre; Acteal; body; women; violence.

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