In looking at cultural production of Amerindians - the transnational mnemonic community comprised of indígenas, originarios, mestizos, and cholos - Ouweneel argues that cultural memories and identity are not simply the sum total of individuals’ expressions of self, but that some cultural artifacts become privileged to inform the heart of the mnemonic community.
Ouweneel seeks to identify a series of cognitive schemas as the
foundation of an Amerindian Cognitive Unconsciousness as a viable
alternative to the Freudian Dynamic Unconscious. Art, then, serves
to trigger the cognitive schemas embedded within the Amerindian
community and act as the mediator of collective memory.

Resilient Memories

• Arij Ouweneel
• Ohio State Press, 2018
• ISBN 978-0-8142-1366-7