Testimonial discourse and its literary analysis in Chile

Abstract

This article deals with testimonial literature produced in Chile since the beginning of the dictatorial era, a literary form which was initially categorized within the tradition of the literary memoir. This article argues that such a theoretical approach overlooks two important aspects that are essential to trace the particularities of the testimonio, namely: the exercise of a different concept of subjectivity, and the interplay of other subordination dynamics. It also confirms that this literary form presents the researcher with the need to closely examine the dichotomy between fiction and reality, which is still very relevant, in order to establish what constitutes literature.