Latin American Documentary Narratives: The Intersections of Storytelling and Journalism in Contemporary Literature

Description

What defines the boundary between fact and fabrication, fiction and nonfiction, literature and journalism? Latin American Documentary Narratives unpacks the precarious testimonial relationship between author and subject, where the literary journalist, rather than the subject being interviewed, can become the hero of a narrative in its recording and retelling. Latin American Documentary Narratives covers a variety of nonfiction genres from the 1950s to the 2000s that address topics such as social protests, dictatorships, natural disasters, crime and migration in Latin America. This book analyzes – and includes an appendix of interviews with – authors who have not previously been critically read together, from the early and emblematic works of Gabriel García Márquez and Elena Poniatowska to more recent authors, like Leila Guerriero and Juan Villoro, who are currently reshaping media and audiences in Latin America. In a world overwhelmed by data production and marked by violent acts against those considered 'others', Liliana Chávez Díaz argues that storytelling plays an essential role in communication among individuals, classes and cultures. Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Contents Figures Preface Foreword Acknowledgements Introduction The journalist as storyteller Intersections Part I: Courage Chapter 1: Naming the real Non-fiction genres Crónica Literary journalism Testimonio Towards a theory of documentary narratives The self The other Chapter 2: Publishing to survive Gabriel García Márquez chooses to hide Newspaper fictions The author and the sailor Rodolfo Walsh’s conversion to journalism A story that never happened Crafting the truth Part II: Belonging Chapter 3: Out of place Elena Poniatowska: The lady behind the notebook Lilus, Mariana and other strange women A guilty catrina goes out Carlos Monsiváis: A protestant reporter in a Catholic country The centre of all margins Mexico ‘camp’ The chronicler meets the people Chapter 4: A certain effect of truth Tomás Eloy Martínez and the Peronist palimpsest Memories and news A parody of journalism History and the fictions of Evita Deconstructing the myth Searching for a magical-realist corpse Part III: Listening Chapter 5: Local conversations in globalized times The journalist as protagonist Martín Caparrós around the world Juan Villoro’s aftershock stories Approaching strangers: A dialogic method Chapter 6: Being there Who are you? Empathic listeners, unreliable narrators The potter’s hand The vulnerable ‘I’ Conclusion An erotics of testimony Is there a new other? Appendix interviews Interview 1: Cristian Alarcón (La Unión, Chile, 1970) Interview 2: Martin Caparrós (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1957) Interview 3: Arturo Fontaine (Santiago de Chile, 1952) Interview 4: Francisco Goldman (Boston, United States, 1954) Interview 5: Leila Guerriero (Junín, Argentina, 1967) Interview 6: Elena Poniatowska (Paris, France, 1932) Interview 7: Santiago Roncagliolo (Lima, Perú, 1975) Interview 8: Juan Villoro (Ciudad de México, 1956) References Index