Temporality and the Trauma Process for Sumpul Massacre Survivors in El Salvador

By Anonymous

     Is time the greatest healer of all? This cliche is useful to consider not only when one is individually heart broken or harmed, but it is particularly important when examining the trauma processes of diverse groups of people (Alexander 2011: 308). You might be familiar with this Alexanderian concept from my first blog when I referenced it in the context of the mass kidnappings of the Ayotzinapa 43 and the cultural trauma that was intentionally constructed by the loved ones of the kidnapped scholars. Here, we will utilize the concept of the trauma process in an expanded sense with the aid of Christina Simko’s addition of temporality as a “twin pillar” of the trauma process (Simko 2020: 51). Indeed, the way time passes or finding oneself inside of or outside of an event can affect the trauma process, and we can find traces of this temporal effect on trauma in the case of the Sumpul Massacre Memorial Park at Las Aradas, Chalatenango, El Salvador (Wagner-Pacifici 2021). 

Nearly 42 years ago, on the morning of May 14, 1980, Las Aradas, a small village located on the banks of the Sumpul River, was inundated with hundreds of rural community members from nearby villages who were seeking protection from the regular persecution perpetrated by the Salvadoran military. The village had already proved to be a safe zone for these rural Salvadorans as they had escaped persecution in the past by hiding in the nearby Honduran hills. Instead of finding safety this morning though, the Salvadoran army had also flooded the village earlier and swiftly took up their guns and grenades against the campesinos, or villagers, to end up killing approximately 600 people, including women, children and elderly people. The massacre of these people was certainly strategically planned, and the impact left behind was deemed to be “evidence of the violent counterinsurgency strategies adopted by the Salvadoran Armed Forces [by the] UN Truth Commission for El Salvador [in] 1993” (The Association of Survivors of the Sumpul Massacre and Other Chalatenango Massacres 2019). Ultimately, the UN Truth Commission uncovered what Salvadorans already knew: the Salvadoran army was willing to murder its own people without discrimination to uphold a twisted state-created idea of civil obedience. In the end, what does a standard of  compliance or obedience look like for a child in the face of a highly militarized army that is ready to kill? 

The Truth Commission’s report on the war crimes of the Salvadoran Civil War was an initial step in beginning the trauma process, but this process has taken on a life of its own through the efforts of The Association of Survivors of the Sumpul Massacre and Other Chalatenango Massacres along with other local civil society groups and international partners. Notably, as part of the recommendations that came out of the UN Truth Commission report, the Salvadoran government was urged to properly commemorate the victims of state-sanctioned atrocities through national memorials although not a single Salvadoran governmental entity has taken the responsibility to do so ever. The Association (ASSMOCM) and their fellow collaborators have instead planned for an elaborate Memorial Park to be built near the Sumpul River in order to commemorate the lives lost to state-supported violence. By examining the design of the Memorial Park more closely, we will be able to distinguish whether this trauma process has resulted in “acting out (reexperiencing a past event as the present)” or “working through (situating a painful event within historical context)” (Simko 2020: 51). 


The design proposal contains 4 key elements: fire trees planted around an open plaza to mark the spot where the massacre occurred, a large roof oriented towards the clearing with the appropriate space for mass to be held, a handmade tiled surface with the names of the victims placed below the level of the clearing and a statue of the revolutionary Monsignor Oscar Romero nearby (The Association of Survivors of the Sumpul Massacre and Other Chalatenango Massacres 2019). Although this design proposal may seem elaborate already, the annual commemorations held by community members and survivors have included workshops, historical reenactment and religious masses in the past. Despite the more than 40 years that have passed since the massacre at Sumpul, the Memorial Park shows markers of falling in line with “acting out” as a trauma process; a clear example is in the way time comes to a halt every 14 of May when a reenactment of the massacre brings into public view a “reexperiencing [of] a past event as the present” (Simko 2020: 51). The fire trees which bloom in May, right in time for the annual commemoration, also serve as a signifier for the uniqueness of the massacre as these specific trees were chosen for their May blooming time (Simko 2020: 55). Also, the handmade tiles with the names of survivors are structured below ground in a way that looks like they continue underneath which evokes a feeling of re-experiencing the pain of the massacre since victims are, in fact, scattered all throughout the Sumpul River bank. 


A 3-D model of the Sumpul Massacre Memorial Park.

Although the design proposal for the Memorial Park falls in line with a particularistic “acting out” trauma process, the Association has taken the liberty to also “work through” trauma within the survivor community itself (Simko 2020: 51). The Association has supported survivors by accompanying them through exhumation processes and investigations of wartime crimes, documenting their testimonies,  organizing to meet immediate community needs and creating political/educational workshops amongst other initiatives. When considering the real struggle survivors have undergone in finding contemporary justice for their loved ones, it makes sense why both approaches of acting out and working through have been necessary at different times and contexts. Regardless, the solid plan to act out the trauma through an established Memorial Park speaks to the manipulated temporality surrounding this group of survivors who are only in search of recognition, justice and owed reparations. 


References

Asociación Sumpul/Sumpul Association. 2019. About [English] — Asociación Sumpul/Sumpul Association. [online] Available at: https://www.asociacionsumpul.org/about-english (Retrieved 12 May 2022).


Asociación Sumpul/Sumpul Association. 2019. "Untitled" From https://www.asociacionsumpul.org. Retrieved 12 May, 2022 (https://www.asociacionsumpul.org/memorial).


EL SALVADOR: Memoria Sobreviviente/Surviving Memory/Mémoire Survivante. n.d. Commémoration - EL SALVADOR: Memoria Sobreviviente / Surviving Memory / Mémoire Survivante. [online] Available at: <https://www.elsalvadormemory.org/commemoration> (Retrieved 12 May 2022).


Simko, Christina. 2020. “Marking Time in Memorials and Museums of Terror: Temporality and Cultural Trauma.” Sociological Theory 38(1): 51–77. 


Wagner-Pacifici, Robin. 2021. “What is an Event and Are We in One?” Sociologica 15(1): 11–20.

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