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Testimonial literature of denunciation in Mexico and Central America: Persuasive strategies
Abstract
Testimonial literature in Latin America is noted for its non-literary quality since it serves extraliterary purposes such as the efforts of individuals who bear witness to social injustice. However, those who compile, edit or arrange testimonial texts give these witnesses' testimonies a literary elaboration when they are presented in a book form. To make the book appealing and convincing, the editor structures the text and uses a variety of stylistic devices to create persuasive strategies that convince the reader of the importance and validity of the narrated acts. Visuals, such as photos, act as persuasive non-verbal evidence. This work analyzes the primary rhetorical strategies used in three testimonial texts of denunciation, to persuade the reader of the truthfulness of the content of the discourse as well as of the ideology imbedded in the discourse. Editors make use of classic rhetoric to persuade by logic, by an appeal to ethics, or by appeals to the emotions. This last appeal is one of the most powerful in testimonial literature. Other political persuasive strategies such as those contained in the rhetoric of the agitation are identified in these type of testimonial texts. Furthermore, intertexts in the form of popular language, songs or slogans are used as persuasive strategies. Three testimonial texts of Latin America were studied. Los dias de la selva (1984) by Mario Payeras, is an account of the life of a Guatemalan guerrilla fighter. The testimonial chronicle, Fuerte es el silencio (1982) by Elena Poniatowska, is a collage of voices bearing witness to political and social realities of contemporary Mexico. Hear my testimony: Maria Teresa Tula. Human Rights Activist of El Salvador (1994), edited by Lynn Stephen, is the testimony of an exiled political activist who worked with the group CO-MADRES to secure basic human rights in El Salvador.
Subject Area
Latin American literature|Latin American history|Rhetoric|Composition
Recommended Citation
Gonzalez-Martinez, Silvia, "Testimonial literature of denunciation in Mexico and Central America: Persuasive strategies" (1997). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9734618.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9734618