Witnessing Torture

Perspectives of Torture Survivors and Human Rights Workers

Alexandra S Moore editor Elizabeth Swanson editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Springer International Publishing AG

Published:15th Aug '18

Should be back in stock very soon

Witnessing Torture cover

This book demonstrates a new, interdisciplinary approach to life writing about torture that situates torture firmly within its socio-political context, as opposed to extending the long line of representations written in the idiom of the proverbial dark chamber. By dismantling the rhetorical divide that typically separates survivors’ suffering from human rights workers’ expertise, contributors engage with the personal, professional, and institutional dimensions of torture and redress. Essays in this volume consider torture from diverse locations – the Philippines, Argentina, Sudan, and Guantánamo, among others. From across the globe, contributors witness both individual pain and institutional complicity; the challenges of building communities of healing across linguistic and national divides; and the role of the law, art, writing, and teaching in representing and responding to torture.

“I would strongly recommend this book to anyone working in the field of life narrative. … I am very glad that I did, because it forced me to shift my understanding of the work that I do—for the better, I hope.”  (Annie Pohlman, Biography, Vol. 42 (4), 2019)

ISBN: 9783319749648

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: unknown

248 pages

1st ed. 2018