Displacement and Testimony: Recent History and the Study of Exile and Post-exile

This article analyzes the testimonial literature of Latin American exile within the wider framework of studies of exile and post-exile. It claims that testimonies have an important role in providing access to the multiple and reflexive voices of exiles and expatriates, which are relevant to the reconstruction of the recent history of Latin America. Their relevance lies in enabling analysis to move beyond the heroic, Byronic vision of exile towards a less idealistic yet more intimate understanding of the gains and losses of territorial displacement, as well as the tensions, ambiguities, and conflicts developing within the communities of exiles, as they face new challenges. Exile testimonies also allow research to trace the development of a broader sense of identity extending beyond territorial borders and expressed in the awareness of being part of national Diasporas and, for many, also a Latin American transnational consciousness.