Weaving memories

reflections on absence and testimony in poetry and photography in times of dictatorship

Abstract

With a view to analyzing the literary representation of those who disappeared/were killed by the civil-military dictatorship in Brazil, which occurred between 1964 and 1985, this paper establishes a dialogue between the poem “Os desaparecidos” (1984), by Affonso Romano de Sant'anna, and photographs from the work Ausenc'as (2012), by Argentinian Gustavo Germano. The latter produced a series of photographs about families whose members disappeared during both the Argentinian and Brazilian dictatorships. When analyzing the verbal and non-verbal poetic works proposed in this paper, we notice that poetry and other forms of visual art play a crucial role in testimonial literature, enabling not only the creative expression of personal experiences, but also a deeper understanding of lived reality. The theoretical foundation is based on reflection of scholars in the field of “testimonial literature”, such as Márcio Seligmann-Silva (2008), Jaime Ginzburg (2017) and Wilberth Salgueiro (2021).