La narrativa de Diamela Eltit y los límites del testimonio hispanoamericano

Abstract

This paper attempts to analyse the narrative testimony written by the Chilean novelist Diamela Eltit focusing on the limits and transformations of “testimonio” in Latin America during the last decade.  Through the rupture of the conventional linguistic codes, the author tries to materialize and “name” the unnameable, creating alternative cartographies of representation. The use of the schizophrenic language disorder as a new form of expression and the peculiar treatment of the madness produce unusual possibilities of symbolizing and re-figuring the nation. The analysis of the discourse in El Padre Mío and El infarto del alma provides unusual perspectives in order to study the representation of mental infirmity.