Children of Memory: Metaphors of Survival in the Voices of the Mothers of Soacha

Abstract

This article analyzes the use of conceptual metaphors found in the oral discourses corresponding to the testimonies of the victims of extrajudicial executions in Colombia, referring to what happened to the youth of Soacha, within the framework of the armed conflict between 2002 and 2010. The corpus is made up of testimonies presented by the mothers of the MAFAPO collective, on the pages La Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP), Comisión de la Verdad y el documental Retratos de familia: Madres de Soacha luchan contra impunidad de víctimas “falsos positivos”. This analysis, part of cognitive linguistics on conceptual metaphor (LAKOFF Y JOHNSON, 2004), in dialogue with Critical Discourse Analysis (VAN DIJK, 1999; WODAK Y MEYER, 2003), Stigma as an attribute (GOFFMAN, 2006) and the voice of women as a way of constructing memory (JELIN, 2001; 2002). Finally, it is possible to conclude that the corporeality of the metaphor allows the construction of meanings that accompany emotional states in the face of a specific painful event that in turn contributes to the reconstruction of a social body disintegrated by one of the events that have marked the history of a Colombia in conflict.