How Films, Social Media and Novels Channel the Transitional Justice Process

Films, media, social media and novels have since long influenced any TJ process around the world. The fact that films or TV series such as ' Cuenta me como pasa?' in the post-Franco era in Spain, or the TV series Holocaust in post-war Germany have let to direct or indirect impact on TJ measures and the democratic culture in these countries, may not be surprising. But the time and the sequenzing of these novels or films and their consequence impact is. Whereas we find a number of documentaries, features, novels and social media activities to remember and atone with the past injustice shortly after conflicts, war or the dictatorship; then they usually do not lead to widely discussions or public debate. Instead novels, theater plays or films about past wrongdoings and injustice do trigger atonement only after some decades. This is the time when they target the second generations. They have most impact when directing to a new generation that has no direct relationship with the past wrongdoings, but use them to issue political debates about moral and democratic behavior that are important for political and democratic reforms and regime consolidation. This paper will give some expamples from Latin America and Europe on how these means impacted the TJ process over a longer period of time