Testimonio as Resistance in Alicia Partnoy’s The Little School

Abstract

For societies and cultures that experience mass torture and trauma, giving voice to the story of what happened is significant for both the individuals who have survived or witnessed the trauma, and the culture that incorporates the experience into its collective identity. Testimonial literature that resulted from the detention and torture of "the disappeared"(desaparecidos) under the military dictatorship in Argentina in the 1970s and 80s reveals many different approaches in the ways that people write about torture and trauma. In attempting to find a voice to describe trauma, wide accounts range from factual histories to artistic endeavors intended to capture the truth of the experience involved. For many survivors, telling their stories is an act of resistance against the perpetrators’ attempts to silence them. Examining these voices in the context of literary trauma theory allows the story itself to be read and transmitted through generations and cultures having its powerful implications on both individual and collective identity.