The duty of memory of the armed conflict: moving from the “I” to the “we” in Colombian society

Abstract

This article presents the results of a research aimed at analyzing the meanings assigned to the events that occurred during the Colombian armed conflict, according to the accounts of victims, ex-combatants, and civil society, from their human experience. The study was based on hermeneutics with a narrative approach, which takes up Ricoeur’s triple mimesis; prefiguration, configuration and refiguration of the narrative plot. The results reveal that there are uncomfortable and disputed memories that require transcending the subjective and private realm of memory and truth, towards shared and collective memories and truths, which imply moving from an “I” to a “we”.