Processing absence: No-body techniques and the impossibility of mourning among relatives of the disappeared in Ayacucho

Abstract

This article examines how relatives of the disappeared during Peru’s internal armed conflict (1980–2000) in Ayacucho process loss without the presence of bodies. It argues that grieving, a ritual process, is disrupted by disappearance, creating a prolonged liminal space. Through ethnographic analysis, this article explores the strategies relatives use to confront disappearance and death in a context of uncertainty, focusing on the impossibility of mourning due to the absence of bodies. I introduce the concept of No-body techniques to describe strategies developed by relatives to make sense of reality and repair broken bonds. These techniques, rooted in individual and collective action, challenge the State and expand its boundaries of citizenship recognition. Ultimately, this article concludes that No-body techniques are integral to the quest for truth and memorialisation, embedded in mourning practices that allow the deceased to persist in the social world even after decades of uncertainty.