Staging cross-border (Reading) alliances: feminist polyvocal testimonials at work

Abstract

Practitioners of contemporary feminist testimonios are more than writers; they are textual activists who employ writing as a social tool. Corresponding with the "deliberative" strain of testimonio (Nance 2006), feminist testimonios utilize sophisticated modes of narrative address to self-consciously direct readers towards empathetic interpretations of their works for the purpose of social change. This desired effect is realized through direct address, a focused deployment of pathos (an appeal to the emotions), and polyvocal narrative frameworks. By creating a textual bridge to bring disparate cultural and material worlds into affective proximity my study argues that feminist testimonios enact a model of cross-border feminist alliance building attentive to the possibilities and challenges of forging coalitions across social differences and geopolitical locations for the purpose of social change.