“I Rigoberta” and the Politics of Discourse "For common people such as myself, there is no difference between testimony, biography, and autobiography... What we do is tell what we have lived, not just alone" (Menchu, 1999).

Rigoberta Menchu 1959 Quiche maya CUC (Committee of the Peasant Union) RUOG 1992: Nobel Peace Prize

"What has happened to me has happened to many other people too: My story is the story of all poor Guatemalans. My personal experience is the reality of a whole people” (menchu, 1983: 1).

The allegations The land story a family feud not a government action Educated in Schools not self-taught No evidence of death by starvation of brother Nicholas

" It tells my personal testimony, but it also has parts of the testimony of the collectiveness of Guatemala," she said. "For common people such as myself, there is no difference between testimony, biography, and autobiography... What we do is tell what we have lived, not just alone."

The origins of testimonials Move away from documentary reportage Eyewitness story: individual, collective Linked to social context Critique structures of power Latin american Fiction and documentary reportage Different form and content