The Debate on the Historical Representation of Limit Events of the Recent Past: Testimony as Source

Abstract

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.