Among Bodies: Reflections on Ethnographic Work and the Repercussions of Exhumations and Identifications of the Disappeared of the Last Military Dictatorship in Argentina

Abstract

In this article, I will attempt to investigate the process of confronting death in the case of the disappeared of the last military dictatorship in Argentina. I reflect on how, based on the exhumation and identification of the body of a disappeared person, the social situation of the person can be reconstructed, causing structural changes within the family and other groups. I will therefore also talk about the reflections that the anthropologist generates during his or her interview process, and I will reflect on my own experiences in the field and the resonances produced by the intimate relationship that the anthropologist has with death through the inevitable contact that takes place among the bodies, both in the context of the exhumation and identification and in the rest of the fieldwork.