Abstract

MUDROVCIC, María Inés. The Debate on the Historical Representation of Limit Events of the Recent Past: Testimony as Source. Diánoia [online]. 2007, vol.52, n.59, pp.127-150. ISSN 0185-2450.

In recent debates about the scope of historical representation for giving a proper account of events beyond the limits of human comprehension and experience, some theorists and historians have tended to favor the immediacy of lived experience -which apparently would be transmitted by the witness. The retrospective point of view, then, has been obscured. The latter point of view implies a degree of detachment from lived experience and is present not only in testimony but also in historiography. This article will thus analyze the role played by testimony in a theory of history, as "evidence or proof of" real past or as "access" to it.

Keywords : testimony; historical representation; limit events.