239887 The Politics of Truth -Testimonio (S) (WiSe 2012/2013)

Testimonios are arguably the most difficult textual genre to define; they are neither literary nor non-fictional but persistently in-between. Literally meaning "to testify" or "to give testimony", these narratives speak of injustices, grievances, cruelties, hope and survival. They are geared towards ethics via the power of the word and often unite many voices as one, hoping to inspire affirmative action and social change. Through their particular speaking position and their basic notion of resistance, these narratives challenge truth monopolies and common literary theories.
In this class, we will discuss the controversial concept "truth" and interrogate the containers "fiction" and "non-fiction" together with paradigmatic requirements for storytelling in our culture. This will help us approach and critically examine various testimonios in their own right.

Literaturangaben

Texts will be made available on stud.ip