The “street corner policeman”. The role of nostalgia in the construction of Argentinean police stories

Abstract

Memoirs have an important role in the literature written by policemen. Stories about the “street corner policeman” stand out among them, showing the policemen of old times and their trusty relation with community. In this paper, the connections between past, memory and emotion that underlie the construction of this particular story are analyzed, proposing that nostalgia is an inherent tool to the construction of a certain flow of time. Examining the “street corner policeman” story will imply analyzing the values with which the police institution represents itself and rescuing the role that emotions play in the reproduction of institutional traditions.