Authoring War Memories: War Memoir Writing and Testimonial Theatre Performances

• Authors: Andrea Roxana Bellot
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

This paper will discuss aspects concerning authorship, memory, and war representation, as well as trauma and healing. In order to do so, I will explore the writing of war memoirs and/or the re-enactment of war experiences on the stage as two ways of expressing and coping with war trauma. In both cases, the concept of the author, a war veteran as first-person narrator or self-performer, is central to the representation of the traumatic memories of war. It is precisely through this interaction between the author, as a legitimate witness, and source of authentic and reliable information, that the readership/audience connects emotionally with the experience of the combatants and can empathise with their situation. A theoretical conceptualisation of war memoir writing, and testimonial theatre will be illustrated with specific examples of texts connected with the Falklands War (UK-Argentina, 1982). The dominant perspective of the reflection are veterans’ stories.

Keywords

EN

war memories; witness literature; theatre of testimony; re-enacting war experiences; trauma; autobiographical writing; war memoirs; self-representation

• Publisher: Uniwersytet Łódzki. Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego
• Journal: Analyses/Rereadings/Theories: A Journal Devoted to Literature, Film and Theatre
• Year: 2020
• Volume: 6
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 18-27

Dates

published

2020-12-30

Contributors

author

Andrea Roxana Bellot

• Rovira i Virgili University, Tarragona, Spain

• https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0561-2132

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Identifiers

DOI

10.18778/2353-6098.6.03