Body Mapping: A Decolonial Method Towards Intergenerational Healing

Abstract

In this paper, I examine the embodied transformative memory of GuateMaya feminist group, GuateMaya Mujeres en Resistencia-Los Angeles (GMR-LA). Through a decolonial feminist perspective and feminist ethnographic approach, I built intimate relationships with the grassroots group in Los Angeles. GMR-LA comprises Guatemala’s 36-year (1960-1996) war survivors and women in the diaspora who continue to amplify the cultural memory of the disappeared. The article will delve into the concept of healing cartographies and the ethnographic work I employed in Los Angeles from 2019 to 2023. A particular method I used was body mapping to examine the embodied transformative memory of the groups and women who seek justice. Body mapping has been used with HIV-positive patients and migrant children. Latin American feminist decolonial geographers (Cabnal 2010; Zaragocin 2020, GeoBrujas 2021) are using the method of body mapping as a decolonial, counter-cartographic perspective that highlights Indigenous peoples’ lived experiences. I use the method to explore the relationships between the body, memory, and healing from intergenerational trauma. Informed by decolonial feminists, I aim to center the oral and embodied testimonios of the GuateMaya feminist group and be guided by a body-mind-spirit perspective to amplify the concerns, visions, and futures of GuateMaya feminist groups across the hemisphere.