230220 Testimonio: Narrative Counter-Discourse, Power, and Voice (S) (SoSe 2016)

The Latin American narrative genre called 'testimonio' could be understood as a form of ‘life writing’—despite the fact that “any formal definition of it is bound to be too limiting” (Beverley). Further, the testimonial narrator “gives his or her personal testimony ‘directly,’ addressing a specific interlocutor” (Yúdice), recounting a “significant life experience” (Beverley), and relating it to the politics of “liberation movements and other social struggles” (Beverley; Zimmermann). Most importantly, this narrative genre is known for its original purpose to “effect change” (Gugelberger; Roth) or “at least raise consciousness” (Gugelberger).
This seminar studies the testimonio as an option for political output of the politically and culturally oppressed. We will first discuss theoretical approaches to the genre that negotiate national identity, autobiography, community, and ‘narrative voice’. We will also read different, short testimonios as well as extracts from famous Rigoberta Menchú’s testimonio for an application of these ideas. Moreover, this seminar seeks out to the Digital Age, suggesting an ongoing development of the genre. Do New Media applications enable the oppressed to participate in the political protest with their testimonial narratives? How does this transform the ‘original’ genre?