TESTIMONIO HANDOUT

 It is shown in Latin American literature.  This narrative is an attempt to create “global reordering of

a social and economic context of power/ differences within

 It is also called Testimonial Literature, which traces its
which “literature” is produced and consumed”
origins to autobiographical literature.
(Gugelberger&Kearney 1991,6).
 Both (testimonio and autobiographical literature) are
EXAMPLE:
first-person accounts. But that is where similarity ends.

 The first testimonial narrative emerged in 1966 by the

 Autobiography
Cuban Miguel Barnet, Biografia de un Cimarron
- Dwell on the authors’ personal accomplishments
(Biography of a Runaway Slave).
(rising from poverty, finishing their education, becoming
 It told the story Esteban Montejo, a Cuban man African
successful invidual.)
descent and his hardships as a slave fugitive slave and a
 Testimonio
soldier during the Cuban War for Independence.

- Concerns itself with the issue of marginality.

EXAMPLE:

- The author should be one from a traditionally

 I, Rigoberta Menchu
marginalized sector of society who experienced oppression
- edited by Elisabeth Burgos- Debray
in more ways than one.

- A story of a young Guatemalan Quiche Indian

-Is an authentic narrative, told by a witness who is
woman and the tragic experiences Indian communities in
moved to narrate by urgency of a situation (war,
Latin America, dealing with military oppression, moral
marginalization, oppression, revolution)
endurance and the struggle for justice.
OTHER DEFINITION
 This testimonial narrative caught so much global interest
 Yudice 1985
that Rigoberta Menchu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

- Emphasizing popular oral disclosure, the witness in 1992 for her efforts to end oppression if the indigenous

portrays his or her own experience as a representative of a people in Guatemala .

collective memory and identity.

 Testimonial Narrative does not simply tell a story of one

-Truth is summoned in the cause of denouncing a person rather it tell the story of marginalized group.

present situation of exploitation and oppression or

 Testimonial Narrative means to tell the story of
exorcising and setting aright official history.
marginalized group, call for awareness and global

 This emerged as backlash to the mainstream Latin consciousness of the oppression and violence committed to

American literature. these group.

 It is a way to write back and correct the the mainstream  These narratives function as a way to create an

literature. evolutionary process to the social institution, it is not only

a movement in literary genre but it is also a call for change

 It is similar to ethnographic work, but it emerges from a
in the social and political situation.
need to create social awareness and consciousness to

marginalized groups and the exploitation they face.

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 Testimonio has no fixed structure--- it is largely narrative,

it comes in any form (letters, oral histories, songs. Etc.)

 What really matters is the author’s experiences, abuse,

poverty and exploitation are brought to public attention so

they may be addressed adequately.

 Testimonio’s calling is for the readers to emphatize with

the author and, ultimately, take action.

 The main point of Testimonio is the purpose.