MemoriEs: Philosophy of Memory in Spanish from the Global South

Alberto Guerrero-Velázquez (University of Western Australia)

Feb 11, 2025

Emil Cioran (2002, p. 110) stated that "in a borrowed language, one is conscious of words, which exist not within but outside oneself [...] The foreigner lives on the surface of the verb."

Diverse studies in experimental psychology have explored how language shapes cognition, particularly in our perception of time and space (see Boroditsky, 2001, 2009, 2018). Research on memory in bilingual individuals has suggested differences in the retrieval of event details depending on the language of interaction (Guttfreund, 1990; Marian & Neisser, 2000). Other studies have examined the effectiveness of psychotherapy based on the language in which the session is conducted (Marcos & Alpert, 1976).

If language profoundly influences cognition, what are the implications of doing philosophy in a ‘borrowed’ language, as Cioran puts it? How does our reflection change when we analyse objects and phenomena in a second language?

With these questions in mind, I approached Stephen Enciso to discuss the implications of doing philosophy in contexts that demand bilingualism while addressing universal themes, such as memory, within the limits of language (in a Wittgensteinian sense).

Many of us Spanish-speaking philosophers and academics from other disciplines work in a ‘borrowed’ language—typically English—when engaging in philosophical reflections on memory. There are very few events dedicated to these discussions in Spanish. How does this influence our work?

What is gained and lost when a discipline conducts most

of its discussions in a single language?

To explore these questions, I proposed to Stephen the organisation of an academic event bringing together—and challenging—native Spanish-speaking philosophers of memory who usually work in other languages to engage with philosophy in their mother tongue within an interdisciplinary space.

This led to the creation of MemoriEs (memoria + Es: Spanish), an international online workshop in Spanish dedicated to contemporary discussions in the philosophy of memory. Intrigued by the Global South perspective of our initiative, Rob Wilson from the University of Western Australia supported the event through the Keeping Kinship in Mind project. Over three days, MemoriEs gathered Spanish-speaking philosophers from around the world alongside researchers from various fields—psychology, history, law, historical memory, and film—interested in philosophical inquiry.

In addition to native Spanish speakers, we welcomed colleagues who speak Spanish as a second or third language. The initiative fostered a vibrant, multidisciplinary and often bilingual space (with frequent moments of code-switching) where established researchers and early-career academics engaged in a wide range of discussions.

The keynote presentations reflected the richness of these exchanges. Felipe De Brigard challenged in his talk the traditional view that autonoetic consciousness is necessary for episodic memory; Anne Schwenkenbecher examined the social nature of knowledge and our epistemic obligations; and Marda Zuluaga Aristizábal explored the construction through writing of the collective memory of victims of conflict. Marina Trakas closed the event with a powerful reflection on whether it is possible to do philosophy of memory in and from the Global South.

Several talks explored innovative or disruptive approaches. Marcela Zárate called for a new conceptual methodology to study memory from an ecological perspective; Juan F. Álvarez proposed that the extended mind hypothesis is incompatible with the causal theory of memory; Elena Ostos outlined guidelines for developing a post-cognitivist conception of memory; and Alberto Guerrero-Velázquez argued that episodic remembering is not only constructive but also a creative cognitive process.

Adding distinctive elements to the event, Lucienne Huby analysed the linguistic symptoms of schizophrenia through deficits in working memory and semantic memory; Gabriel Corda defended the possibility of studying phenomenal consciousness in non-human animals; and María Berns reflected on the use of cinematic language to depict forgetting in a case of Alzheimer's disease.

Several presentations also focused on collective memory, a crucial aspect of memory studies in Latin America. Claudio Figueroa-Grenett examined the role of interpersonal communication in shaping individual and collective memory. María Berta López, Christopher McCarroll, and Paloma Muñoz Gómez argued that the loss of possibilities and a rupture in practical identity are key components of collective grief in response to political events. From a legal perspective, Andrés Molina Ochoa proposed a three-tiered framework for the rights to truth and memory.

The online and free character of the event allowed participation from academics, professionals from other disciplines, and Spanish-speaking audiences interested in these discussions but who do not communicate in English—the dominant language in the main books and articles on the philosophy of memory. The recent rise of interest in the philosophy of memory has sparked considerable engagement in the Spanish-speaking world, particularly in Latin America.

For instance, just over a year ago, while organising Thinking Together: Interdisciplinary Workshop on Collective Memory and Collective Thinking, Anne Schwenkenbecher and I were struck by the number of Spanish-speaking participants—both presenters and attendees—at a hybrid philosophy event conducted entirely in English and held in Australia, where Spanish speakers make up less than 1% of the population (SBS Australian Census Explorer). MemoriEs saw a similar level of interest.

This engagement is striking but not surprising. America, from Canada to Patagonia, is a continent where collective memory has always played a crucial role. The preservation of Indigenous narratives, deeply rooted in oral tradition, has been vital for cultural survival in the face of European invasion, genocide, and centuries of colonial rule—an area of particular interest to historians and anthropologists. Memory—collective narratives—has preserved what official history has erased.

Additionally, countries such as Argentina, Chile, and Colombia have globally led significant efforts to recover and preserve the historical memory of armed conflicts and state terrorism imposed by the U.S.-backed dictatorships of the 1960s and 1970s in the Southern Cone. These efforts have sparked academic reflection and debate on the scope, contradictions, disputes, and political uses of individual and collective narratives of the past. MemoriEs aimed to reflect this practical and political dimension of memory discussions in our region.

We envision MemoriEs as more than a one-time event; we have decided to make it an annual symposium, incorporating new discussions and disciplines. We believe initiatives like this expand and enrich our discipline, while also contributing to epistemic justice and the decolonisation of academia—building bridges that extend beyond traditional spheres of influence and highlighting thinkers, ideas, themes, and debates from the Global South.

The questions that sparked MemoriEs remain open, and our event was a way of exploring them: how does language shape the way we do philosophy? Cioran (2002, p. 25) wrote, "It is no nation we inhabit, but a language." If this is true, then speaking, thinking, and writing in multiple languages make us inhabitants not only of different countries but also travellers between worlds, enriched by each. We hope that initiatives like this event contribute, even in a small way, to that endeavour.

MemoriEs Website