On the civic stage, memory often inaugurates momentum. In Chile—Neruda’s homeland—arpilleras (1970s–80s) smuggled stitched testimonies of the disappeared into public view, transforming private anguish into visible dissent. The Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo (late 1970s) marched circles of remembrance that reshaped Argentine history through weekly, relentless motion. Later, South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (1996–1998) translated testimony into a national praxis of repair. In each case, remembrance steps forward, and the step itself revises what a society can become. [...]
