Concluding remarks: Exile and the setting of future research agendas

Exile opens a series of prospective and retrospective assessments of personal and collective projects while imposing conflicting demands on individuals. Studies show that the experience of exile gives rise to a wide range of personal and collective responses to the constraint, challenges and possibilities presented by translocation. Through research, the impact of exile on people, political processes and national memories of the years of political repression could be quantified. Against this background, it is critical that scholars give consideration to the detailed study of émigrés from different countries living abroad. Furthermore, they should also pay special attention to gathering and preserving personal and institutional archives and elicit oral histories from those who have experienced exile. The challenge is to connect these microhistories and testimonies in systematic studies of the macrodynamics of exile, with greater emphasis on transnational political trends within Latin America.