Central American Testimonio as World Literature: English Translation and the Canonization of a Genre

Based on a socio-narrative and comparative (para)textual analysis, this chapter examines the canonization of two Central American testimonios in English translation I, Rigoberta Menchú: An Indian Woman in Guatemala (1984) and They Won’t Take Me Alive: Salvadorean Women in Struggle for National Liberation (1987). The concept of canonization is redefined used to explain the narrative shifts that these testimonios undergo in order to become part of the world literature canon. Both the overreliance on English translation and the concept of location are then interrogated as key factors determining the marketability, consecration and academic consumption of testimonial texts. Moreover, this analysis underscores the importance of gender, and its intersection with politics, as a key but often sidestepped dimension in the canonization and reception of these two texts.