Peace in the Form of a Letter: Literacy, Interaction, and Identity

The Peace Agreement signed between the Colombian government and the now-extinct Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (farc) entails a commitment by citizens to social reconciliation based on plural memories that foster dialogue among different actors in the armed conflict, the civilian population, and the generations to come. This article is the result of an empirical study that brought together young people and former combatants of the farc seeking to understand the identities and interactions expressed in an epistolary dialogic exchange between both actors. Framed within a qualitative paradigm, this research work followed a social cartography approach and content analysis techniques to interpret data. Drawing from a New Literacy Studies approach in relation to historical memory and intergenerational transmission, findings highlight that: (1) regarding their identity, the Agreement reaffirms youth as agents of memory and reconciliation, while former combatants are reasserted as peacebuilders; and (2) regarding interactions, family ties are strengthened and the ties of two communities divided by war renewed; the recognition of victims’ suffering was brought to the public sphere by children and grandchildren, and the signatories of the Peace Accord were held accountable. This research work reveals the need of building literacies for peace by acknowledging plural and democratic memories that allow for understanding the past, dismantling violences, denouncing injustice, and dignifying victims.