Cuerpo ausente: narrativas de duelo y resistencia ante la desaparición de personas en México

Abstract

This article explores how the disappearance of people affects cultural practic- es of mourning and how families develop strategies of resistance through nar- rative and collective action. Grief, in contexts of the disappearance of people, becomes an unfinished and perpetual process, characterized by the absence of a body that serves as a physical and symbolic anchor for mourning rituals. Therefore, the families of missing people find themselves trapped in a liminal state, on a threshold between presence and absence, life and death, between the hope of finding their loved ones alive or being certain of their death, a situation that disrupts their identity and breaks the rhythm of their daily lives. This uncertainty has challenged traditional notions of mourning, forcing them to reconfigure and adapt to a new reality for which they were not prepared. Hence the interest in sharing some narratives that were collected during field- work between 2017-2021 in the cities of Chihuahua, Guadalajara and Mexico City. People gave their consent to share their stories, hoping to find empathy, understanding and solidarity from readers. Through the narratives, families preserve the memory of their loved ones and reaffirm their identity and capacity for agency in the face of the violence suffered and their demand for justice.