State narratives on war and peace in Colombia, 2002-2016

Abstract

This research considers state narratives of war and peace in Colombia from 2002 to 2016 as broadcasted in mass media through institutional campaigns, and it seeks to describe these campaigns as part of historicist practices that promote an ideal of the nation. The research follows the shifts in policies and discourses during the 21st century from promoting war to announcing peace by analyzing a visual archive made up of TV commercials produced by the Colombian state in this period. In doing so, the research considers the tensions between nationalism, war, peace and memory in a political setting marked by the proclamation of a transitional scenario. Finally it reflects on the ways the historicist practices of the state fix victimhood between the duty to forgive and the permission to forget.