The Melancholy of Bones: Forensic Exhumation as an Elegiac Transformative Experience

Abstract

Since the early 1990s, forensic exhumation of mass graves in the wake of violent conflict has become an increasingly important humanitarian intervention. Exhumation has two stated aims: to document evidence of atrocity for judicial proceedings and to return bodies to families to bring psychological closure. Exhumation is premised on the idea that opening graves bring mourners’ closure, but little research has been done to examine how humanitarian exhumation affects the families of the missing. In this article, I consider the return of the exhumed remains to families and reflect on the relationship between mourning, violence, and transformation. I argue that humanitarian forensic exhumation is underwritten by a model of grief derived from Freud's distinction between mourning and melancholy. Drawing on fieldwork in Argentina, I claim that this model ultimately proves inadequate to capture the varieties of experience described by families of the missing. I develop “elegiac transformation” as a theoretical lens to explore experiences of exhumation. While forensic discourse emphasizes “closure,” the return of bodies to families may be more generatively conceived as opening memories, old wounds, and new possibilities for healing, transforming its participants. [death forced disappearance mourning forensic exhumation and transformative experience] Résument Desde la década de 1990, la exhumación forense de fosas comunes después de conflictos violentos se ha convertido en una intervención humanitaria de creciente importancia. La exhumación tiene dos objetivos explícitos: documentar evidencia de atrocidades para los procedimientos judiciales y devolver los cuerpos a las familias para lograr un cierre psicológico. La exhumación se basa en la idea de que la apertura de las fosas produce un cierre psicológico para los dolientes, pero se han realizado pocas investigaciones para examinar cómo afecta la exhumación humanitaria a las familias de los desaparecidos. En este artículo, abordo el tema de la devolución de los restos exhumados a las familias y reflejo la relación entre el duelo, la violencia y la transformación. Sostengo que la exhumación forense humanitaria está suscrita por un modelo de duelo derivado de la distinción de Freud entre el duelo y la melancolía. Basándome en el trabajo de campo en Argentina, afirmo que este modelo finalmente resulta inadecuado para aprehender las variedades de experiencias descritas por las familias de los desaparecidos. Elaboro la "transformación elegíaca" como una lente teórica para explorar las experiencias de la exhumación. Mientras que el discurso forense hace énfasis en el "cierre", el retorno de los cuerpos a las familias puede ser conceptualizado de manera más generativa como la apertura de recuerdos, antiguas heridas y nuevas posibilidades de sanación, transformando a sus participantes.

Analysis of Exhumations Carried Out in Three Divisions of Sindh

“…This data is similar to other third world countries and signifies the fact that most of these deaths may have occurred due to unplanned assault. 17,18 In contrast, Qazi et al (2019) found that blunt head and chest traumas accounted for the majority of fatalities (71.9%). 23 Finally, speaking of the most important aspect of this study we observed that more than half of the bodies exhumed were partially decomposed over 40% were in advanced decomposed state.…”