History, memories and temporalities through the prism of a pandemic

Abstract

This essay proposes a discussion about the articulation between history, memory and temporalities, in attention to the field of studies that in Argentina and in many Latin American countries receives the name of “Recent History”. At the beginning, the different ways of conceiving historical time that could be seen in public spheres around the years 2020 and 2021 are reviewed. The impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and the emergence of ways of conceiving time that were thought forgotten are recorded, to question the notion of a presentist "Regime of Historicity". Taking into consideration the multiplicity and intertwining of various temporalities, the essay continues with a series of questions regarding the social memories that are currently being constructed and the forms of recent history or history of the present. Finally, it is proposed that a "history of our time" must necessarily focus on neoliberalism, as a defining element of our time.