Literature and historical catastrophes in the 20th and 21st centuries. Testimonial literature in Europe and Latin America

SIMÓN, PAULA

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Congreso; Poetry and Testimony; 2015

Louisiana State University Program in Comparative Literature, Louisiana State University

This presentation reflects on the relevance of studies about testimonial literature about concentration camps and exile. This is a typical writing in which it is possible to identify close relations between literature and historical catastrophes. Comparative Literature develops as a compelling perspective to study these texts from a supranational perspective in order to establish some important links between them and, at the same time, to delve the reflection on each particular case. I support the proposal that the study of testimonial literature of concentration camps as discursive representations of violence belongs to the themes inherent to Comparative Literature.