In her new book Learning through Collective Memory Work: Troubling Testimonio in Post-war Peru, written during her time at IAS, Goya Wilson Vásquez, Visitor (2023–24) in the School of Social Science, examines the creation of testimonio—a genre of testimonial narrative rooted in Latin American traditions—as collective memory work. At the heart of her book is the HIJXS de Perú, a collective of young adults whose parents were involved with the Tupac Amaru Revolutionary Movement, one of the insurgent groups at the center of Peru’s internal war from 1980–2000.
Wilson Vásquez is not just a chronicler of these stories; she is herself a member of HIJXS. Her dual perspective —as both participant and researcher—shapes every page as she navigates the complexities of belonging and critical inquiry from within the group.
The book highlights the lived experiences of HIJXS de Perú members, whose childhoods were marked by the punishment, imprisonment, or disappearance of their relatives, and by the stigma of being labeled “children of terrorists.” Their stories do not neatly fit into the dichotomy of “victim” and “perpetrator” that dominates public narratives about the conflict, and have often been left out of official accounts.
Wilson Vásquez explores the politics of breaking this silence through testimonio, which serve as both a pedagogical tool and a research methodology. The book unfolds in three “movements” of memory work: constructing testimonial narratives (a realist memory); critically examining the conditions and silences that shape these accounts (a politics of memory); and creatively engaging with the complexities of memory, voice, and representation (a poetics of memory).
Drawing on cycles of storytelling, reflection, and creative writing, the book shows how collective memory work can deepen understandings of memory, education, and transitional justice. It offers new ways to think about and learn from the experiences of those affected by violence in post-war Peru.
