Body mapping: A decolonial method towards intergenerational healing

Abstract (English)

In this paper, I examine the embodied transformative memory of GuateMaya feminist group, GuateMaya Mujeres
Resistiendo-Los Angeles (GMR-LA). Through a decolonial feminist perspective and feminist ethnographic
approach, I built an intimate relationship with the grassroot 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 and Caretta 2020; GeoBrujas, 2021b) 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.