In recent months I published an article that analyzes and interprets how Mexican journalists commemorated an urban catastrophe. This article, which was originated in Carolyn Kitch’s Social Memory class at Temple University, explains the ways in which journalists use different concepts and practices to commemorate a tragic event.
On April 22, 1992, nine explosions destroyed a neighborhood populated by working- classes in Guadalajara (Mexico). Casualties included 210 people killed and many wounded. Through a textual and narrative analysis of 160 articles published in the local press, this research analyzes the narratives that the journalists crafted to commemorate this catastrophe. The article explains how narratives were highly influenced by a religious discourse, and how journalists used the concept of “space” and “body” to explain the explosion’s aftermaths.