Resilient Memories: Amerindian Cognitive Schemas in Latin American Art - Paperback

by Arij Ouweneel (Author)

Arij Ouweneel's Resilient Memories: Amerindian Cognitive Schemas in Latin American Art takes a cognitive approach to the mediation of collective memory by works of art. In looking at cultural production of Amerindians--the transnational mnemonic community comprised of indígenas, originarios, mestizos, and cholos--Ouweneel argues that cultural memories and identity are not simply the sum total of individuals' expressions of self, but that some cultural artifacts become privileged to inform the heart of the mnemonic community. Ouweneel seeks to identify a series of cognitive schemas as the foundation of an Amerindian Cognitive Unconsciousness as a viable alternative to the Freudian Dynamic Unconscious. Art, then, serves to trigger the cognitive schemas embedded within the Amerindian community and act as the mediator of collective memory.

Author Biography

Arij Ouweneel is Associate Professor in the Centre for Latin American Research and Documentation at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of Freudian Fadeout: The Failings of Psychoanalysis in Film Criticism.