Beyond autobiography: Hybrid testimony and the art of witness

Boswell, Matthew ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0041-5583 2014. Beyond autobiography: Hybrid testimony and the art of witness. Rowland, Antony and Kilby, Jane, eds. The Future of Testimony: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Witnessing, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 144-59. (10.4324/9780203743836-11)

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Abstract

This essay identifies a particular mode of testimonial writing, ‘hybrid testimony’, which is produced through creative collaborations between victims of historical violence and professional writers. Through analysis of two autobiographical responses to the civil wars in Sudan — Slave: The True Story of a Girl’s Lost Childhood and Her Fight for Survival (2004), by Mende Nazer and Damien Lewis, and What is the What: The Autobiography of Valentino Achak Deng (2006) by Dave Eggers — it considers whether hybrid testimony should be considered a distinct genre in its own right, reflecting on the cultural, historical and political forces that determine the ways that this literature is written and read.

Item Type:	Book Section
Date Type:	Publication
Status:	Published
Schools:	Schools > Journalism, Media and Culture
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0080 Criticism P Language and Literature > PN Literature (General) > PN0441 Literary History P Language and Literature > PS American literature
Uncontrolled Keywords:	testimony, witnessing, Eggers
Publisher:	Routledge
ISBN:	9780415854450
Date of First Compliant Deposit:	2 April 2025
Last Modified:	02 Apr 2025 10:45
URI:	https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/176758

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