Testimonial literature in Argentina: a historical itinerary (1957-2012)

Abstract

The history of testimonial literature in Argentina, whose origins are linked to the politicization of the cultural field after the second half of the 1950 decade, poses relevant questions for literary critic. Although critical interest in testimony has increased lately, critics have focused on postdictatorial testimonial production; therefore continuities and ruptures which can be analyzed if different stages of testimonial literature are compared, have been rarely explored. In such sense, this paper provides an introduction to the history of testimonial literature in Argentina, basing on an analysis of four texts which represent different stages of the genre’s development: Operación masacre (1957) and the "Carta de un escritor a la Junta Militar" (1977), by Rodolfo Walsh, Recuerdo de la muerte by Miguel Bonasso (1984) and Diario de una princesa montonera (2012) by Mariana Eva Perez. The analysis shows relevant inflections of testimonial genre in different moments of its history, from the politicized 60-70s to a present in which memorial rituals took backward to such years. More specifically, the study exposes different textual expressions of the tension between literature and politics– between fiction and testimony, invention and truth-, which shapes the genre from its origins to its present.