ABSTRACT
Re-membering and forgetting are two sides of the same phenomenon: the past in the present.1 Both are employed, whether consciously or not, for a variety of social and political purposes. The Guatemalan government uses public, official memories for rhetorical and political purposes; widows, through reworking unofficial, secret memories, turn personal tragedies into narratives, thereby repositioning themselves in the past, constructing a sense of continuity and restoring a semblance of dignity.
