Testimony

In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter.

Testimony in literature

Some published oral or written autobiographical narratives are considered "testimonial literature" particularly when they present evidence or first person accounts of human rights abuses, violence and war, and living under conditions of social oppression. This usage of the term comes originally from Latin America, and the Spanish term "testimonio" when it emerged from human rights tribunals, truth commissions, and other international human rights instruments in countries such as Chile and Argentina. One of the most famous, though controversial, of these works to be translated into English is I, Rigoberta Menchú. The autobiographies of Frederick Douglass can be considered among the earliest significant English-language works in this genre.

Related Topics:
Oral - Autobiographical - Narratives - Literature - Evidence - First person - Human rights - Violence - War - Oppression - Latin America - Tribunals - Truth commissions - International human rights instruments - Chile - Argentina - I, Rigoberta Menchú - Frederick Douglass - Genre

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