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Testimonio Handout

Testimonio literature originated in Latin America as first-person accounts that aimed to bring awareness to marginalized groups and call readers to action. Unlike autobiographies that focus on personal accomplishments, testimonios emphasize experiences of oppression by narrating events from the perspective of a witness to important historical situations like war or revolution. Famous examples include The Biography of a Runaway Slave and I, Rigoberta Menchu, which told the stories of marginalized communities in Cuba and Guatemala and sparked global interest in ending their exploitation. The genre is defined not by its structure but by its purpose of exposing abuse and poverty to address injustice and empower oppressed peoples.

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372 views

Testimonio Handout

Testimonio literature originated in Latin America as first-person accounts that aimed to bring awareness to marginalized groups and call readers to action. Unlike autobiographies that focus on personal accomplishments, testimonios emphasize experiences of oppression by narrating events from the perspective of a witness to important historical situations like war or revolution. Famous examples include The Biography of a Runaway Slave and I, Rigoberta Menchu, which told the stories of marginalized communities in Cuba and Guatemala and sparked global interest in ending their exploitation. The genre is defined not by its structure but by its purpose of exposing abuse and poverty to address injustice and empower oppressed peoples.

Uploaded by

mary claire nangit
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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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.

1
 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.

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