States of conception: Renegotiating the mnemonic order amid crisis

A memory breach is an action, statement, or sociopolitical crisis that calls into dispute the mnemonic order, which is defined as an underlying orientation toward the past that serves to justify the political order and social order within a society. Following a memory breach, the society enters a “state of conception.” Related to the “state of exception” commonly associated with political crisis, the state of conception is a liminal space that follows a memory breach in which a society reexamines the mnemonic order. This article examines three recent memory breaches in Argentina, Germany, and the United States. By comparing three different breaches, each with different outcomes, it offers a framework for understanding memory breaches and the states of conception that they produce.