Using a methodological framework based on cultural studies concerning transgenerational memory and trauma, on the one hand, and theoretical contributions on affection and emotions, on the other, this article analyzes and compares a series of novels and films written and made by Chilean and Argentine novelists and filmmakers in which they reflect on exile, forced disappearance and the violence perpetrated by the dictatorships of the Southern Cone. In particular, it investigates the way in which affection is encoded in the contemporary literary and audiovisual production of these sons and daughters of the disappeared and of former militants. For this purpose, the relationships of tension, resignification, dialogue and / or questioning about the role of fathers and mothers in the lives of these children and their configuration in some illustrative works are analyzed. We begin with a consideration of the compositional and formal resources of these stories in order to then, on an interpretive level, link these aesthetic decisions with different strategies that are used to deal with the complex situations experienced in childhood and with relationships with parents. Finally, the interpretation leads to identifyingdifferent aesthetic choices and possible resolutions related to the affective world that help to promote memory and build a present and an identity.