VOCES QUE RESISTEN:EL TESTIMONIO CHILENO DE LA DICTADURA ESCRITO POR EX PRESAS POLÍTICAS

My doctoral thesis analyses testimonial literature written by former political prisoners between 1973 and 2017 and its title is "Voces que resisten: el testimonio chileno de la dictadura escrito por ex presas politicas". It offers a thematical analysis of a corpus of thirteen texts and is developed in three chapters. The first chapter traces the history of testimonial literature and the Latin American theorical debate about it, with specific attention to Chilean context. I divided Chilean testimonial literature chronologically in three stages, in order to tie it to its historical background, as similarly done by Peris Blanes (Cfr. 2002, 2005, 2008), Moulian (Crf. 1997) and Richard (Crf. 2001, 2010, 2017). Thus it is read first as a form of resistance to the dictatorship, then within reconciliation policies and at last as realized in the contemporary world. In addition to this theoretical and historical introduction, the first chapter presents also the examined works, placing each one into the threefold historical context previously observed. Narrative differences between works are then taken in account: the narrative construction of the heroic woman and / or widow immolated to the cause (typical of the first stage and for this reason we speak of 'classical' texts); the one close to confession (which falls within the historical period of reconciliation); and, finally, contemporary texts (published between 2000 and 2017 and presenting diversified narrative modes). In the second chapter, the methodology is explained, and the analysis is carried out. It performs a gender study which takes on the feminine nature of the writers, by enlightening typically female themes such as the difficulty of reconciling political militancy with womanhood, motherhood and sexual violence - often a weapon of state violence during political imprisonment. The chapter also focuses on the thematic novelties of contemporary texts, the modification and evolution of which can bring to reopening the debate on the dictatorial past and bringing back 'forgotten' themes (such as militancy, the concept and importance of friendship networks). Finally, in the third chapter, the analysis is carried out with the usual diachronic approach and through three proposed thematic axes: resistance, resilience and solidarity. Testimonial literature is considered as an act of resistance itself since "el testimonio es una forma de organizar la resistencia a las violaciones de los derechos humanos [...] escribir sobre la revolución es hacer la revolución" (Nofal 2002: 34 -35). Writing is a way of denouncing the horror of dictatorial violence and telling how resistance has developed in different forms, such as the clandestine struggle, the reconfiguration of a dissident organization in exile and the return to continue the fight. For this reason, within the texts is looked for all those acts that can be linked to the resistance, that is understood also as mobilization of forces - even hidden and "lateral" - which undermine central power (Calveiro 2003: 92). Resilience means to outline gestures born/blossomed in a profoundly violent context, such as detention and torture centres, and that count for the human capacity to adapt to extreme situations without however losing their dignity and remaining "human". In this part, all those artistic and cultural productions born as a form of elevation and rebirth are also examined. The third theme, called "solidarity", highlights all the forms of solidarity, of sisterhood and brotherhood, which allowed the survival of friendship bonds between militants, even in extremely difficult situations. Clearly, these three themes dialogue and intertwine one another, recreating the social and political community these authors were part of. Therefore, the conclusions clarify how the community constraint has remained strong, despite the passage of time and the dictatorial attempt to annihilate all the dissidents in the regime. Through the reading of these texts, the announced cartography is created, since, as Santos-Herceg claims, it is only thanks to the testimonies that the unique attempt to enter the prison universe is realized: “único medio de acceso a la prisión y tortura". Testimonies therefore represent “una fuente inestimable" of information (in Scarabelli-Cappellini 2017: 63) on this world of community and solidarity, for too long forgotten. I therefore hope that this work will be considered as a timely contribution and, concluding, I suggest that there are many other voices just like these authors waiting to be heard.