My PhD Research is Me: An Identitarian Journey as an Exiled/Returned Daughter Researching Exiled Children’s Narratives

Reconstruction of historical memory is necessary to understand and to make visible the consequence of Chile’s civil-military dictatorship (1973-1990) that has directly, indirectly, and intergenerationally affected a social community. However, what happens when the researcher is part of that social community? Is it necessary or possible to approach this topic with scientific neutrality? How do you explore your traumatic past through the eye of the other? When does exile end? This autoethnographic essay attempts to answer these questions and reflects upon them from the methodological and theoretical perspective of one of the social actors.