Translating the White Side of Letters: Memory Semantics and their Quali-Quantitative Evidence

Going through the relation between Translation and Memory Studies, and inspired by the notions of ideology and power as proposed by Foucault (1975), Lefevere (1992) and Carbonell (1999), this contribution aims to set out a theoretical and empirical digression regarding representability of traumatic eventsthrough language (considering it as something that is never neutral). To this end, the case of the enforced disappearances in Argentina is studied, trying to demonstrate at least two things: 1. Translation represents a fundamental space for the negotiation of meanings, memories or oblivions; 2. oblivion can be avoided only by listening to the noises produced by traumatic events. This article focuses on the heteroglossia of these terms that widened their connotations during the last military dictatorship. Finally, through the analysis of empirical data extracted with the concordance software AntConc 3.5.3, this study provides quantitative evidences of such mutations, illustrating the frequency of use of these terms in the conadep commission’s full report, Nunca Más (1984).