June 2014

'.

an1a

Volume 97

Number2

...
. ..

A Postwar
Perversion of Testimonio
in Horado Castellanos Moya,s
El asco
Megan Thornton
John Carroll University
Abstract: Salvadoran writer Horacio Castellanos Moya offers a provocative example of postwar cynicism in
h1s 1997 novel El asco: 1homas Bernhard en San Salvador. By telling the story of Edgardo Vega. an emigran!
who returns to El Salvador in the mid -1990s after living in Ca nada for eighteen years, El asco rcpresents
the mass cxodus ofSalvadorans during and after the country's Civil War ( 1979- 92). Because Vega recounts
his story in an oral monologue, his narration recalls the testimonial project of the revolutionary years;
however, Vega's narcissistic story distorts the testimonio to capture the disillusion and contradiction of
the postwar years. Through a perversion of the testimonio's form and content and also by parodying t he
post- World War 11 Austrian wrter Thomas Bernhard, El asco, meaning dsgust or repulsin , criticizes El
Salvador's postwar reality and imagines the Salvadoran transnational community. Furthermore. the use
of fiction allows Castellanos Moya to denounce the testimonio's claim on authenticity without abandoni ng
its social project.

Keywords: El asco, El Salvador. Horacio Castellanos Moya. postwar literature/literatura de posguerra,

testimony/testimonio

hile the testimonial form dominated much late twentieth-century Central American
literature. since the 1990s Central America has also experienced a boom in fictional
narrative. This in crease is due in part to the end of civil wars in El Salvador. Nicaragua, and Guatemala and the perceived failure of leftist po[itical agendas and social utopian
projects. During the revolutionary years of the 1970s and 1980s, testimonial writing, as the
privileged form of expression in Central America, was linked to idealistic grassroots movements, otfering an alternative to the "official" story and giving voice to the subaltern. 1 Literary
critic Beatriz Cortez explains that fiction sutfered in comparison: "[L]a ficcin con frecuencia
fue vista como un instrumento de evasin, como una forma de alienacin de la urgencia de la
realidad centroamericana" (26}. 2 The postwar period. however, has allowed writers to explore
how literature and politics may be connected in ways beyond the testimonial and to reevaluate
the role of fictional narrative. Because human rights abuses, poverty, and poltica! corruption
still abound in postwar Central America. new works of fiction continue to examine important
social issues, such as violence, urban life, migration, and national identity, but the release from
the testimonio's "truth telling" or "witnessing" allows authors to imagine the nation and its
citizens in creative ways. Postwar literatu re still otfers a critica! perspective on society. but it has
exchanged revolutionary idealism for postwar cynicism, employing a style Cortez identifies as
"una esttica del cinismo" (23). This new aesthetic has allowed writers of fiction to rise from
the ashes of the armed conflicts.
Salvadoran writer Horacio Castellanos Moya otfers a provocative example of this crit ica!
cynicism in his little-studied novel El asco: Thomas Bernhard en San Salvador ( 1997) . Becauseof
its overt criticism of postwar El Salvador, Arturo Arias describes El asco as the most representative text of postwar disillusion (23). El asco, meaning disgust or repulston, represents Edgardo

.
-

Hispania 97 June 2014

Vega'snegativereactionstothe people politiics,and religion ofhisnativecnuntry u pon returning

homefor h is mother's funeralafterhavinglivedinCAnadaforightce n years. Vega recounts in an
oralmonologue his atypical livedexperiences asan educatedand affl u ent Salvadoran immigrant
whocarnsCanadiancitizenships 1 k nlso giVl'S tcstinwny. a lbeit cynically. tcl the more traditional
('t\\1~1\II >It ,,f tht w rl..m~ d uss. By ti.ucgrounding the orality uf Vega's fictional narrative, the
11\Wd ~~,ttls tlw lt'sll nwn inl p roit.,t uf t ht nvolut iunary ycars, fo r im m igrants o ften told their
sl\>r its ''' hdp ~.tnwr support ti.>r solidarity movcmcnts that worked to end t he violence in
(. 'tnt ml :\ nwrk.1. \. ".tstd ht1ws f\ h>ya's liSl' of t he spokcn word to rcpresent Vega's narcissist ic story,
"''"''-'''t'r, .tistll'ls tlw ttstilll'tlitl to l..'aptul'l' thl disillusion ofthe p ostwar years and also to connect
tv 1'\.'.lJas ~mpplin~ with tlw kgll'Y of thc Civi l War (1979- 92). Through a perversion of the
tc'$tillh'"'''s tl.,r m and ,.l>llll'l\1 ami also by cmploying graphic d escriptions of purgation , El asco
..:r it kius El Snlv:td,>r's P'>stwar r~ality and imagines the Salvado ran tra n s national comrnunity.
furth"rnl\>1'\.' . thl ust ot' tk t iun allows Castellanos Moya to denounce the testimo'nio's daim on
~mthtntkit y withlut rdinquishing its social project.
Tr~l,\i ti,,n.tlly ...\nsi,krcd a nonfic tion genre. the test imonio has been defined by Jo hn
1\"nrlty .ts "a thwd l>r nuvdla-length narrntive ... told in the first person by a narrator who is
lliSl th<. r"alp mt a~,,nisl 1.>r witness of thc evcnts !he or she recounts" (30- 3 1). The distinguishing
.:hl\m...-tt.r ist k ,,f this Pl' rsonal tHtrn\lion is that the narrato r, who is a member of a marginalized
grt,up. sp l'ltks t\l the upprtssiun of a .:ollecti vity and also highlights an urgent need to communknt'-'llkwrlcy .\0- 32: Yudice 17). This urgency then translates into a call for solidarity and
so dnl <t,:tit>n. Bc:.:ause ofthe narrator's marginalized status, a testimonio is often a negotia ted text
mt'dhttc:d ))y an \>ut sidc intdle...tual. such asan anthropologist or a translator, who records o r
tmns ... ~ihls th"' eyl' witnlss's uml account of an irnportant life experien ce, th e n compiles and edits
th" wnttc n '"'XI ( ~"'''lrl~r .\2). As m y analysis will show, this mediation raises many questions
1\b\~UI r'-'l~rc:senhtllon o t lhe subaltern. such as t ensions abo ut authorial voice, articulations of
selt <m d ltn~ c:xpc~ienct: and discursive claims to lruth-telling.
El ti.~<'<. ' 1s thc hrst ot severa! of Castellanos Moya's novels to dialogue 'th th

L 11

W1
e
testrmonw,
C(ll1tmmnR 111 111 w' ti t'll t' cspco (2000) El arma en el hombre (2001)
d
.
. '
.

'
an nsensatez (2004)
l\hsha l\.(>k(liOVll..' a.:knowledges the similarities in all four novels re

h .

.
. .
, cogmzmg t e1r oral con versatton<ll style as renuntscent of the testimonio Her analys s
rh
'
1 10cuses

on t e three latt t xt
and h~r studv ot I IISc?rlsMa is particularly relevant to my arg
t5B
e r e S.

umen . ecause the

t
f h
2004 m wd is reading and revising Guatemala's REM H I hu
. h
narra o ro t e
.
.
man ng ts report Kok t .
that the tcxt hmlttons as a "m eta-testimonio or t estimon.
'
o OVlc a rgues
.
. .
.

o o nce removed that

hrsthand expent>nc~ (\f oppression communicated 1. n te r
.
'
represents not the
.

s rmomo proper b t th th
transtormati\'e exp~rienc~ of reading su eh acco unts" ("~ .
. , u ra er e potentially
tht p ossibilitv (\fa .:all tor collective social actt'on . 0
esttmomo 5 5 9). While Kokotovic sees
'

<
1 1nsensate:z for 1
M .
n(lvel comple~t'l}' n:jt'cls tht' testimonial paradigm of solidari ' . gnac1o
Sanc~ez Prad o the
as a post-t"'sttmomal narrative that ex poses the inabilit
ty. San~~ez P rado descnbes the n ovel
soda! contli...'ts th rough writin g. While these s tudies h Y of the pnvtleged intellectual to resolve
otfers a uniqu e p erspective. B~cause it was th fi
elp_tease out rny o wn argume n t, El asco
.m 1997. and becaus"' il was thl! o n ly one bl" eh drstb novel m
ths

. . 1, senes to e wntten, appearing

15
inR housc of the tc!stimonicJ 11 s r"lat
ph~
e
Y A rcOtn s Press, El Salvad or's main pubtt sh

'
... tons tp with th
seems to ha\'e sc:t the s t ag~ 10 r a d '
e revo ut10nar y forrn merits attentio n f.or . 1
- ...
ta 1ogue that e o 1
.

'
1
re t',;oren ec: 10 the ''rovo,ative
.
.
n mues m Castella nos Moyas later works.6 Th
r

postwar Aust nan w 1 Th

B
d . h
,
e
lit k also s"ts it an1 rt fr0111 th
h
n er
o mas e rnhar 111 t e text s compi t

r
eot erworks. Wr'1 tt
. d
f
. .
e e
" .:ham.:tl!nslk .:mtank ,
en as a paro y o Bernhards ve rbose styJe """ th
'
c:rous narrator the 11 d
o
h d .

C:lstellam>s !\hw" prohl
. .
.
o t(l nern ar 1s central to understanding h
. . , ~::matJzes the testtmnnial form in E/ asco.
ow
Th t' nral stv1e 10 El c1 ~ o

.
.

1. re p et tttve
prose,
represents a
l"(lnvers.ltion betwel!n
Ve ~t
a . rcmm1scent ot Bern h ard's mustca
'. . . .
g:l. and the narrator Moya. m u ch like an interaction between a test ......
n 1.111..51 .111~1 h 1s
n.trralor -e, tto r TI . , d h
.
. ..o .
.

1t: rt:a l'r cars Vegas story asan o ral outpouring ofth o u ght
ex penenc~s . .:omments and .
s,

'-r11tc1snts through long. verbost.'. and subordinated sentences that

. . 11 f 11
1f.l isulls l hl\Vtt n lpnsiWilf' Jl,l SAIV~tdnt,
repeat and. cirde back to the p rotagcuHst s cnet.t e<' ~~~ 1 .
.,1
1' ttl ttt' nrllllt v with " "
c'XC' IIIJ11ihc~ t IC 1111\'(' S ll
1
lne following quotation, a 11 partol. une ~en 1... , t 'e

. l . .
Vq~as'
. l'-'
l'sillllctdiMo\'thisshll
}'
repetitio n a n d verbosity a n cl '' 1so exp1;uns
'
,
.. f\.1 " 1 'ntl p ml q tH' \ ' 11)' 1 h ,1hln.
Desde que te vi en el vd11rio de tni 111<111\il. 111<' '11Jc': ~~~ 11 es 1 1 ' '
,
. 1 .1 1 ,

'' 1'11 1 111 f1 11 1C1'111'I ' I IIHih' 11 11\S ~~ . oiUIIl

1 ' 1
nadie rns de mis .:ontpaikros ,k .:o 1<.'~1\.l lpa rc,H
.
.

,
. , j \11 1 1 1111 \'i(ojol Sl' 111111111, 1<1 1111 V III<,
rn ninguno d~olos que se d~od;lll 1\HS ;tllll.l.l1l< lll'illl< '' '"' ' '
-11
1 .\ 1
1 <lll'

1' 1 1 .
IIIIS<t>l1 11'10t'fll)lll'
Mova, pero quiz<S haya si de nwi n, pwqu<.' l'll 1'\.';1 " "' 11111~1111" '

'
.

1
1 >1 ujp 1111'1111' qtll' ltt 1111}'111
fue nti amigo. ninguno vc1lvi '' V<.'l'llll.' luq.l,ll l(\1<' '' "'' H\11111:< <. u 1 "
1
U\11\\l de 1111~ CS\t>11111flf)t' I' IIS,
ap<lrecido, mejor que ;ti velorio de mi '"'"n'\ 111.11lltya 11 <'tl'" "" n,.

excepto vos, Moya.... (Castdhtnos Moy l ,l - 11)

1" vos" 1wrc. nn' ltl l a\ ltauhnut
t ia lhl l'l'ltimnll
ttl )ltl
While referr ing to Moya. the use o t the mlornHt
re
.

!Cates t h e rea d er tn
t h.ts satn e .:otlvtasataon;

1l\lWC\'c.' l, un tik l ., tcl

itltllt titl lcxt
/ . ltt.~~~
,, dt~
rs
1n1p
"

.
. .
not explicitly call tor solidar ity. In general, the nral tlnw ,,ftlw tc~x t snlkn~ Vq~11 s hilllll!. '- yn ic. lslll
by facilitating the reading process a nd making it pnssibk lo rc..ad thc tli1Vl'l's 1111<.:' hiiiHi r-td plus
pages with in the san1e two-hour tirne fra nw during w h h.: h V(gn a nd l'vlnyt's cnnvcrstll inn ll l'l' lll'~
This conversation, however, is actually a m o n ologtw h cnnesc. tlu.- l'l';1dc.1 11\.'V\'1' hc.tii'S IVh yn ~
opinion, o nly Vega's occasional retc rt;;'tKes to him and thc npcatl'd phntsc. "ml' dljn Vq(n
throughout the narration. ~ Th e ti rst f<.:w lines of tlw 1\0\'C I lllitkc this stnatc:gy dcur: "Suc.l'll' qur
viniste, Moya. tena mis dudas que v inients, porque <.:'stclu ga r .,,, k ~ust11 a nnadw ~e nte cn ts t.t
ciudad, hay gente a la que no le gusta para naJa este lugar. /lvh' Y'' pc11 <'so'"' C'slnhu sc'~ lii'O s i
vos ibas a venir, me dijo Vega" (Castellanos Moy;.t 1 1). 'l iH.' intcrjc:d ion 1f " Moy L" 1h c ud\kd
commas, and the circ ular nature ofthe scntencc "'r<.';tlc' an illusi,n ,,r,,n tlil y and 11 sl ntuhtc:l'ltlll
of a spoken dialogue. Addin g "me dijo Vega" <lt thc c.nd ~::xplid tl y m nrks Muy.,~ prc'SII.'IIl'c.' in
the conversation and makes clear h is role as th e t l'<lltSlTihll c~f Vc~;t's s tor y. a prcsc'lll.'c.' 1hnt 11
traditional editor o fthe testimonio may hide. Vega's monnlogu~o .:nnt'inucs th nnaght~u l thc 1\(.IVc.: l
witho ut paragraph or chapter d ivisions. similar lo Bcnth;trd's styk. ,.l'l.'llting u s cns(' nf vcrhnl
spontan e ity that reads as a strea rn o f cons..-iousn<.ss. 'lhe n.:ad ..r lcarns lhat Vc.gn h ns lttvlttd
Moya for drinks after spending fifteen days in San Salvad or ill lH'<.kr tn '\mttar 1sus 1 lmpns inll l.:'l',
las ideas horribles que [ha 1 ten ido estando nqu 1" ( 13 ). Moya il\ t lw on ly ptrson 1h t ptutn..,.on 1st
trusts or even likes. He is a lso an intelle..::tual anda wrill.'r. W hilc th<:i r rdnti\lllShip ntay parnlld
that of a testimon ia list and his narrator/editor, Vega is n ot a subaltcrn and h is ~.: y n k ni ll lt lludt
parodies the testimonio's perceived idealism and tptimism.
The use of such rhetorical strategics as repetit ion and intc.rjl'l'l ions alh1ws ( :1\stcllnaH,s M(' YII
to si~ula_te orality in El asco and to n~gotia~c th t r~~i on's ..::uh ural h ltcro~<.ndty. d is pl uyin~
contmUi t~es between past and presl'tn l dasc.u~save. t radat a on~. In Voi,cs.Jiol /1 t l l l'}c lllc' l'iaa. An ly
Nauss Mtllay traces an oral gen e alogy ot Spam s h Amerao \n litl' n\lllrc. of w h kh test itnnnin l
writing pla.ys an impor~ant par t, d <~ting ba.:k lo tl~e ~{lo nial p c riod. Sh c.. idcntl lic:s untllly 11
such c?lomal works as ~1 Inca G(lrqla:;? de IH Vegas ~. tmlctlla rio~ t<calc~ ( INl\1 1.\) lllh..l l:tllpc
?uaman P'oma d e Ayala s ~u e va cor m ca y bu el'/ go/11cnw ( 160R- I ~) wit h a parl k\llar illknsl
m h~w these forr:'s negot1ate two.cultures: one tlra l and a uto.:hthntHlUS. and tlw olhcr, oftc.ll
co~stdered s upenor, wntten and. Eu.r opean ( ll ). ~)ne could c.~xll'nd lwr 1lnwliaw l'Vl'll llltll'l.:' b y
gomg back to th.e fol~ tales and ~~~<ltgenous. cr<.:at ton m y ths liikl tlw M ;\y an l'nf'nl \ 'u/ 1, w h ldt
refl~ct the ~re_-_Haspa~1c o ral tradata~n asan amportant part nfcultu ral st 111ytl'l lin~ in thc. l'l' iun .
Whtle orah ty as perceaved as authenl'tc, ..::ommunal. and autod1thunuus tll .1.. 11111.. .
1 ~
. t
d b
,
' '' ' .~\.
SC' 1 ~ 1\\('l lllll'l 1
111 errupte
y our knowledge ot writing .:ulture. Nauss Milla v th ..rd')' stiH-''sts tlt 11
. . '
th
1

r
<'C"~ '
1
1\ ~l'l' l "'' ll\l!
e ora m wntten texts 1nay be an attc mpt to s ubvlrt vVcsll.'rn iJc\1hwi . . . 1 . 11
. ~.
cult
h
1
" - hf
.
.

C" ~.~ IUII l lt~o:c~

' }' wr11i11 u
u re rat er t 1an a faat ul cxpress1on ol th~ <".~S~IICI' uf o r\l c..: ult u r ; ( ( 14) 1 .
....
rhetori ca
1s t ra t eg1es
l'k

'
c.
'

'"'"'I'PI'nl
int-t
1 e repet 1tto n , 1nterje..::tions, cllipscs, and c.li grc.s~it 1 n s ~..-c. at . .
. 1
.
that linguistically manipulates read<.:ms (14 1 - 4 2) Tinas t~)' sa'ltttal , ...
: 1' ~.:~lnn ~,, ,, llluslcll

' a n~ c.11 n 1t v rnt wr 1h 11 1

mg o ra 1 a u thenticity, Caste llanos Moya mnrks knsio n in tlw lc'xt '"' 1 i
lit '
l ' ~ 11 111

'
' l n
ae~ 1W ll n :nli 1k s.

1:

ahu.
the

tena-ton work.a w unravd che die~ ot onl*lylltt

acy 8Dd lnllhlft.c:tioft.. e: , .

(.onttU4t&-~ naturc o( the tnllmortiD aad che~ ~ ol pea' martl.ed t., chao&

ln p&HIIWI I'J ~lvad<Jr.

~ .. uw thc- author and the narrMOt' .nu~ tJw ..me natne. thec.al abo ptay. with dw noticJa

of uthunl ~ontrol and uucribn Barthea'a reatity dfect"' - tht ~ ot vnisirnilirude. Thr
'ommon namC' and ~red biofvaphical nlormaton-bodt wn-e bonl in tiondu.ra. but ~ up
in t.l Salv.u.lor ; both apent the rn-oluuonary yean nikd in~ MM! bolh are ~-may
m.ac-ad r~.edcn tu recogntu: the narrator-ulitor u an authentic .MM! aam:biogJ aph.ical ~ ucuuUun uf e aaterllanul Moya. N(!vertMicu. one ihoukl not conhuc dv n.o. 1he novel S ~
tidc, El a ..s,o: 'lhomas Bernhard en San Salvador, and the Advertencia al lhe bqpnnintl o( the
text add another lay(!r to this perceived manipulation. 1he latter reads:
1:-dprdo V~ el per~ untral <k este rdato. ~ reside en Montreal b;o un n.ombft
d11tanto- un nombre sajn q~ tampoco es 'Iboma$ Bc:Tnhard. ~comunic sus oplJOCX$
-1uramente con may~ nfas~ y descarno dd qut contienen en cstt texto. Qui.K ~-iz.ar
aqudloa puntos de vista q~ hubin'an escandalizado a dn'tos lectores. (9)
With thls preface, the narrator daim.s to have changed certain rem.arlcs by Vega and thus makes
c-xplicit his control as the editor of the text. His comment about softening- Vega's words is
ironlc considering the biting criticism and strong disillusion represented in the text. He also
emphaslzes that Vega is a ~real" person, alJuding to the testimonial representation of lived
expericnces, and raises questions about the protagonist's identity, for his name is neither Vega
nor Thomas Bern hard as suggestedl by the title. Elzbieta Sklodowska draws u pon Foucault to
!?ro~lcmati ze the articulation of authorship and authority in testimonial "Titing, noting that
~aun Amer ican m~dia!ed testimonios are rife with naming. renaming, and refusing to name"
( Authur- (dys)functton 203). She also writes that prefaces by the editor s how a need to both
control t~e wit.ness and ~nfl~ence the reader (204). Castellanos Moya ironically employs these
same tes t1momal strategtes 10 E/ asco to deconstruct the testimonio's daims to truth
The inter~lay between truth, cr~ativity, and doubt emphasizes a tenual perfor~ativity in
El asco. The rcference to Bernhard ts central to this performativity for Bernh d al
-~
.
h' 1

ar
so mLXcu
t o b 10grap te a e ements and real - life characters and experien~es wt' th
au

bl

h
.
....
c rea1tve tnven tto n s
urrmg t e hne bet':een fact and fiction. In his memoir Gathering Evidence ( 1985), for exam le.
Bernhard problemattzes the notion of obJ'ectivity and (self- )represe n t a 1ton.
H e wntes:

p '

Truth. it seems tome, is known only to the person who i.s affected b .
.
co mmunicate it to others, he automatically becomes a li
Wh
y~ and tfhe chooSC'S to
only ~ faJsehood and falsification ; hence it is only falseh~ an~~ve~ tS c<:>mmunicatcd can
munacated. The aspiration for truth, like eve other
. .
. alsifications that are com at fabehoods and falsifications with regard to~
. asptatt~n, 15 the quickest way to arri'e
o( one's life . .. means accumulating hundr ds
ydS:te 0 affaars. And to write about a period
falsi6cations.. .. ffis memory adheres pree . anl thousands and millions of falsehoods and
.
.
b ut w h at emerges is something quite .... ,... Clse yf to e events and therr
prectse chronology
.
uuaerent rom what thing

matters 1s whethn- we want to lie orto tell and writ he

S were really like. . . . 'What
truth and never is the truth. ( 160- 61 )
et
truth, even though it never can ~ the
As this quotation explains, the autobiographical and
.
.
One can only approximate the truth beca
ficttonal are tnterchangeable for Bernhard.
acts but fo r B ern h ard the s ignificance of
use remembering
h
.
. and
communicating are both c reative
sBhowhs thde' verbose s tyle and use of repetiti~~cth:~tCs hesllwtth one's intentions. This passage al so
e r n .ar s memoir is wntten
.
.m the same styl
anos Mo ya un1tates
. .
haste
.
in El asco. Beca~
gen re 10 both form and content, which agai e~ sllnovels, he subverts traditional notions of

n,
te anos Moya seems to follow.

Bcrnhard's assertions about gen re and truth-tclling echo Hayden White's ideas about histori cal narrative and also approach the debates about the testimonio's claim on authenticiry. The
Culture Wars of the 1980s and 90s prompted re-readings of the testimonio and revisions of its
definition. Critics concluded that, although a reader may be inclined to trust a personal narration
as more authentic and real, the testimonio is still a re-creation and a re-presentation of a past
expericnce that is inOuenced by memory, intcntion, ideology, and also elements of storytelling
(Beverley xv; Sklodowska, "La forma" 379). Sklodowska, for example, identifies testimonial
writing as a "palimpsest -like structure" and advocates taking into account its various textual
interplays ("Afterthoughts" 92). She writes, "By establishing an explicit interplay between factual
and fictional, between aesthetic aspirations to literarincss and scentific claims to objectiviry,
testimonio has consistently defied the critics by departure from a traditional system of assumptions about truth and falsiry, history and fact, science and literature" (85). Ooris Sommer, in
"No Secrets: also addresses thc issue of truth in tcstimonialnarrative. She describes Rigoberta
Mench's famous testimonio as a discursivc performance that purposefully withholds informalion frorn the reader lo remind her of a foreignncss that locales meaning elsewhere (136-37).
In a later cssay Sommer draws u pon Wittgenstein's notion of "language games" to identify
Me.och's secrets as a strategic "speech act" within the game ofhistory ("Las Casass Lies" 241-42).
Beca use Wittgenstein was one of Bernhard's modcls, as shown through his fictionalization of the
pltilosopher in his novels Correction ( 1975) and Wittgenstein's Nephew ( 1982). Sommer's use of
Wittgenstein aligns nicely with Castellanos Moya's testimonia l games in El asco.
Castellanos Moya takes the debate on the testimonio one step further in his postwar essay
Recuento de incertidumbres to validate the role of fiction when thinking critically about the
nation . He writes:
Un $ igno de desarrollo cuhuraJ seria precisamente el hecho de que un;o. nacin haya recu-

perado y asumido su historia a tal grndo que a sus escritores les sirva paro la ficcin . ...
La ficcin como ejercicio de libertad. como prctica de invencin. asusta a quienes todo

qu ieren conlrolarlo, a aquellos para quienes la imaginacin debe "ajustarse a las necesidades
de la revoluci n . Una izquierda que busque renovarse. que se plantee con1o proyecto

libertario. debera entender que la ficcin es una rica fuente de conocimiento y proyeccin
na.conal. y que- como sostiene Mario Vargas Llosa- "la literatura no describe a los paises:

los inventa." {67)

Here Castellanos Moya cmphasizes the creative power ofthe imagination in its abiliry to engage
wrters and rcadcrs, and spccifically crilicizes the Left's privileging of testimonial writing. He
addresses the longstanding debate that divides historicaltruth and literary fiction, a dichotomy
that Nietzsche argues is false beca use of language's inability to affirm anything (Sommer. "No
Secrets" 136). 'Dle textual perfo rmance in El asco. thcn. is used to criticizc a history told via the
te5timonio that Castellanos Moya already perccives as fiction. The novel's aesthetic elements
invite rcaders to investigate the complexities oflanguage and the constructed nature ofthe text
and also to establish c ritica! distance from topics like migration, allowing for such techniques
as parody lo prcscnl latgcr philosophical C)Ues:tions about meaning that the testi1no11in in lts
urgency to tell a prcssing story may sidestep.
All of thesc strategies- simulated orality, parody, and doubt - call attention lo the act of
represcntat ion and lead the rcader to question the boundaries between fact and ficlion. Castellanos Moya confronts thc reader with thc same questit>rl facing Central American writers in
the postwar ycars: what are thc similarities and differcnces between testimonial and fictional
narrative? By blurring and parodying elements associated with thc authenticity of testimonial
ditc<:>urse, El asco offers a pervcrsion of the testimonio through the kns of fiction, rem.inding
readcrs that histor itself is a construction and interpreta! ion of reality. The text plays with

...! 1 '

111/ 111 111 V '7 IIIH } O 1,1

' '"" 11 J/1111 ,JI,..,.,.. . . '""' s i ylt-s 11 . hnw t h~ ~rit k ni val u~ nf' fi<.:t ion whcn n:flect ing on the nat ion and
lo,.,.,,,.,,. ''"Y ldtPIII!<(h ,, d111111 lt> lh< "uflkinl" story.
'llu ~kf'hit dL"''"' l111illln c.: nl uf 1:1 11sco is c.:~nlral tn thc text's perversin because .the
l '''"'''~"" f." t dws ""' xpnss sulidarity with El Salvador but rather openly criticizes t he natJO~
Wldll' Ve~u.~ 1'<')<'<'111111 uf' ull thin~s Sulvadornn may be dinicult fnr the reade r to digest, hls
ynh. l.""' n.~ wlll ,,. dls~ ws .l. is sl rutq.(k lo tht. nnvcl's social project. Contrary to the typical
llllllllt'l'll lll lt.sllrnoninllst whu fh-d tlw wn1 during the 191:!0s, Vega was notlooking for political
moyltllll .. ,. lwllt'l' t't'ollot11k t.:ondil ion s lo mcel bask needs; he simply left El Salvador before the
wur t.'l'llptnl lw n urse of h is t.'X l l't.'lllc dissatisf'ac.:tion with the country. He explains his reasoning
tu Moyn : "'11u. purt.t.lu la ~osa tu;\s c;:rud e inhumana que habiendo tantos lugares en el planeta
u 1111 nw hnyu lot.ndo tHrc.:t.r t.'ll t.stc sitio.... en el peor de todos, en el ms estpido, en el ms
t.'f'lrnlnul. ... ll lt.' fui Prquc 11\.IIIC.:il n:eptC: la broma macabra del destino que me hizo nacer en
t.s tns 1krrus" ( 17 ). Vt.~n rcject:-o sud-1 nal ion al symbols as Plsener beer and pupusas, stating that
b o t h pn\hK~: d i n rr h~:n ( 1 1- 12, 1) , and seems to be asking the question: why would anybody
rclurn tu posl wa r El Snlvador? H e had no dcsirc to visil but has done so on this occasion to collect
tlll' inhcri1ann from his molhcr's dcalh and also bccause he now has a Canadian passp ort that
~uarantl'l'S h is n.:t u rn lo Ca nada. Vega dcscribes t h is documentas "lo ms valioso que tengo e n la
vida .... m i vida dl'St.:ans<J en el hecho de que soy u n ciudadano canadiense" ( 115). His Canadian
pnssporl i:s so i mportant thal Vcga's n a r ration ends with an anecdote about momentarily losing
t h t. doc llllll'lll whil t. out f'or l hc cvening wil h his brother lvo. He was so dist raught about the possih ility ofbcing t rappcd in El Salvador that he describes the si.tuation as "una pesadilla siniestra"
( 11 5 ). 11 is in this monH~ nt at the end of the novel when Vega also informs Moya and the reader
l hal alo11g wilh hct.:oming a Can aian citizen he also changed his name from Edgardo Vega to
'Jh omas 1\crn h ard. Both of lhcse c hanges solidify Vega's rejection of all things Salvadoran, and
by ending his story with lhis information he emphasizes their utmost im por tance to the reader.
Vcga':s Canadi<Jn c.:itizcnsh ip and the death ofhis mother otfer a path for (self) re-invention.
With no molhcr and no mcntinn of a father, Vega is now an orphan, signifying the loss of
t radit ion . H is mothlr can al so h e understood as representative of the n ation, or madre patria,
ami hcr dcath, t h crdre. stands fo r the dcath ofthe Salvadoran nation, further emphasized by
Vega's d t i zc nsh ip c hangl'. Castellanos Moya, then. secms to suggest t hat like Vega, El Salvador
musl l'l~- invlnl itsdf and re- imagine l h c nation. Perhaps confronting the country's perpetuated
soda! prohlcms. Jikc emigrat ion. would be a step in the righ t dircction. With an estimated 25
pcrcent of the population flt.t.ing t h~: nat~onal b?dy betwet>n the wa r-torn ~ears of 1979 and
1992 , Salvadorans have t.:ontin ucd lo t.'tlllgnttc SlllCl' the end of the war, w1th large numbers
S\.'ltling in 1he United Statt.s .md <: ana,~a (Gammagt'). Th~ signing of the Peace Accords in 1992
and thc govnnrm.'nt's adoptit.H~ ol a ~rdo.r~11 pro gram that m~luded lhe_2001 dollarization ofthe
t.conorny. thc 2006 approval nf th~; Fret. I radc Agreemcnt w 1th the U m ted States, a n dan end to
thc right - wing party's twenty-ycar politic.:al rcign in 2009 did n ot solve issues ofpoverty, social
injustit.'t.'. ,111 d gang viok ncc. Migrttion continues to serve as a safety valve for the countr y's
postwar c c.:onomy. and the latest c.:c:nsus data shows that Salvadorans now constitute the largest
group ofCcntral Amcrit.'an immigrants in hoth thc United St ates and Canada.8
ht. t llt.'matit.' similaritics b e twce n El asco and Bernhard's works, especially his 1986 novel
l ix ti11ction. suggt.st parallds ht'twecn postwar Austria and El Salvador. Much like Vega, the
protagon ist of l:'x tin ction sc:t.s his Austrian identity as a burden but must confront it when forced
out of his sdf- impost.d t: xile to t.:ollt-ct his family inht'ritance upon the deat h ofhis parents. I n
th1. s\\lll'-' rqwtitivl', oral styk. tlw protagonist ..:ynk;\lly r~.s po nds to the news abou t h is family:
"Only two days aftcr rdurning from thc: wedding l)f my sistoe'r Cacdlia . .. 1'11 have to repack
my suitl'ilSl', . . . 1'11 havl' f<) rl'lurn to \1\l,)lfsq~g. whit.'h has in recent years bc:come more or Iess
rt.pugnant to nw- a11d thb timt. not tr \ ridiculous nd grotesque occasion but tr one that fiUs
nw with drt.ad" (5). fkrnhard oticn rc:pt.atc:d thc: orphan scc:nar io in his works to bring up issues

Thornto n 1 Testimonio in Castellanos M oya's El tUco

'-.

213

of identity, heritage, and family and to c r iticize in Austria what h e perceived as "a climate of
silen ce and conformity seemingly overcome by postwar reforms" ( Konzett 9). Similar to C astellanos Moya and oth er Central American postwar writers, Ber nha rd captured the disillusio n of
the postwar years in Austria, questioning national identity a nd the illusion of change. H e used
irony, exaggeration, and parody to play purposefully the devil's advocate and to criticize Austria
both polit ically and socially, contr ibuting to what Mark M. Anderson describes as Bernhard's
overall goal as a writer: "to denounce, scan dalize, and just pl.ain get on people's nerves" ( 175).
Castellanos Moya's stylistic and thematic parody of Bernhard in El asco is thus a purpose ful act
to b ring the same type of social and political awareness to El Salvador. Edgardo Vega is Thomas
Bernhard in San Salvador, and his purpose is to scandalize readers, to c r iticize b oth left- and
right-wing politicians, and to denounce postwar social problems like emigration in an attempt
to deconstr uct the notion oftruth and to challenge readers.
Because Vega is a professor of art history at McGill University in Montreal, he represents
the role of the intellectual, once again a departure from the testimono's representation of the
subaltern. He is the opposite, however, of Moya and the more traditional intellectual committed
to bettering the nation, for Vega is unable or unwilling to relate to El Salvador and its citizens.
H e even avoided Salvadorans in Canada who sympathized w ith the revolution: "no me met ni
ayud a ninguno de esos tipos q ue se decan mis compatriotas, yo no tena nada que ver con
ellos, ... por eso los evit siempre, me parecan u na peste, con sus comits de solida ridad y
todas esas estupideces" ( 18). Aman who h as dedicated his life to studying high cultu re, Vega
feels disgust toward a country that, in his opinion, has been brainwashed by low-brow television
programs and ignorant politicians. He is disillusioned by the lack of interest in literature a n d the
arts: "No creo que exista otro pueblo con las energas c reativas tan atrofiadas para todo lo que
tenga que ver con el arte y las manifestaciones del espritu, me d ijo Vega" (75). H e c r iticizes two
of th e country's most celebrated writers, Salarru and Roque Dalton, for being too committed
ideologically, which is an implicit attack on the testimonio. In Vega's opinion, intellectuals like
M oya and himself are better off leaving th e country instead of trying to help it.
In general Vega equates being Salvadoran with violence, killing, and military power, all of
which cau se him to feel asco or repulsion (22). In Vega's eyes, El Salvador is a grotesque nation
that was horrible before the war and is now vomitiva (22). The country has only traded one type
of violen ce for another : "Qu gusto el de la gente de este pas de vivir ater rorizada, M oya, q u
gusto ms mrbido vivir bajo el te r ror, qu gusto ms perver tido pasar del terror de la g u erra
al terror de la delinc uencia" ( 108). With all of these criticisms, Vega s ums up his visi.t to San
Salvador in one phrase: "la degradacin del gusto" (84). Moreover, he describes Salvadorans as
"una raza podrida" with animal-like qualities (21 ), and his refe rences to women are part icularly
stereotypical and misogynistic. Thus, for Vega, El Salvador has no redeeming qualities. and his
criticisms seem to echo the refrain of Bernhard's c:ontroversial drama Heldenplatz ( 1988 ), which
states, " It's worse now than fifty years ago!" (qtd. in Dowden 52). C hanging nationalities and
names was Vega's ticket to freedom and validation, and per haps the ultimate revenge on the
country h e Jeft behind. His outpouring of criticisms and repetitions of words like "vomit" and
"diarrhea." evoke bodily expulsions and reinforce the o ral style of the narration. With t h e theme
of migration and the title meaning repulsion, Vega's o ral purgation of his experiences seems
to represent his own (auto-)expulsion from the national body as well as those who h ave been
forced to leave El Salvador for political or economic reason s.
Vega's positioning outside of th e national body stands in sharp contrast to his brother lvo,
who embodies everything that Vega detests. He states, "Mi h ermano en realidad es peor que
un energmeno, Moya, es el tpico negociante de clase m edia que a travs de las llaves busca
acumular cantidades de dinero para tener ms autos, ms casas y ms mujeres" (37-38). lvo
represents the obsessive consumerism that, in Vega's opinion, p lagues Salvadoran society, and his
profession as a key maker speaks to the lack of security in El Salvador. As Vega notes, ''no creo

. llaves y las cerraduras" (38). lvo also

h - ,,,\n por as
.
d
.
.
h
'-t\t(" <''-l.St.t '""' l''"S ,t;'''"-t(~ la t.:'-~ntC' h-'''~" ta 1 ,, ~e,; .
. _ . , ...ual contldence: an promascu1ty. t_ at
.'
_ .
h-lu' 11llf. ~c.: .... ._

.
t\~,,,,-s th<" Hhh'hlst., :'1-..:npt ,,,,. nl~\k hd1a' hJr. 11 .
_
r brings together all of Vegas anx1etJes

1
tth hos brot

d
1 d

J . '"
,., .sria. nausea. an repu srvo 0m 1nate
i .
nh:" ,,or ~ e1 . .._ 11
"~"'' Vh~<"n,~....tttn'nslu ' " ' 'nlc.'n. nh. :-ex.
J ' . u t bv the bars and brothels they visit and

1 , 1\ll'lktC l:-g .:!o

h~ '"'"'"1'1 '''" ,,, lhe <'"'"' tr h< t<'< ' '''

'}'} - l l-t). Because the phystcal act of vomoting
<'n,l~ lh<' <'"-'""'-" lw '"""""!'. '" th<' hathro"''
( re1n
t'o rce< Vega's expuls~on from the national
,1 11 .,.ene

k isms Vega's negativ~ reac lio also

l<tk~s '1!:~,..._, t\wm\.1 1hc <'lid''' lh<'
m"" "' : ' .
. 1 .. ,un.., 1tataon o 1 e n 1 ....

1
"-"h
""''
l'r"~~ t\l" "''~<' '" '"' n:l': ._, . .
.
d" describes asan "anxious and fragil
tlh_t~t~t\."S what K,,k,,...h_,,~t .. in~ 1C.:"tun..uud Oth.e rt!nto'e
.
.
.
e
.. .1 .11." 0111 r.1st lo 1he conhdently mascuhne hero1cs of revo, , ,...t\\'l'-1' tna$\.uluutv t 1l~\1 ~t..uH.l :-; tn s '- r- ' .
.
.
.
.. (~ ~O) R3 1her than p:trllcopale w11h hos brolher and perform
.
1u ttt.\t\.arv ~"'"'n.:' ,1uru'S 11h .' "~u ..
.
'
.
.

h
.
,
,
.
,
.
.
., , t't'fu,e in lh<' balhroom. thus embodymg a tenuous postwar
1
1
h lS ""(."a-~ nHh ,, tn.a 1c.:. t'\! ... c.: ,
._
m~ulhlil\' lh.ll '"" !be un:krsl'""' :~s expres.sing anxiety about nalional idenlity in poslwar El
~""''''" <.'.tsldlan<\S :'>k"' ' S<'<'lliS 1,, sug.g.<'SI 1ha1 neither lhe over-condenl and macho lvo nor
lh<''<tl"'..tt><i,l ,111,tmr"lus \,!'' represent 1he ideal Salvadoran 10 enacl change for the nation.
y..,__,.:< ,,ni>al nmt is f'trtiularly .:rilkal ot' 1he country's military and political leaders.
mdu,li;~ 1h~ krtisl 1-.,lilki:ms. Th<' Ca1holk C hurch is no1 immune eilher, for il too represenls
31\ instttuli<'ll ,,f ''"llnL By att.1.;king lhost in power. Vega acknowledges those who died during

\ ~' '-'('h"~t~

;Hht

l'\'tt"\:~. ,,nd" tu~ 1lt ' '"' ''

.,:1

lh(' ""'"
L-.'-S "'hti..."\.'S ~l"<."St'.ln en k"-.itts partes.. i\toya. pero en este pas los polticos apestan particute l'U~"' .,_lSc.""S\11"-.tr ..:uc: nun..:-a habia ,isto polticos tan apestosos como los de ac.
~uu:.ls Sc."'a l''r 1~~.."-S ..:o1 m il 4(fd,''n:.' que t.:..\rga cada uno de ellos. quizs la sangre de esos cien
m 1l ,, ...._.J,Y't\"'$ <"S l..t ~ue l~o.)S h.t...'c:"' .t.._)(',:;t.lr de c:"'Sa ma_n~ra tan particular. quizs el sufrimiento
,k t"':'''' ."ir~: nul tt:l'f'":\\.{ le.":' inlpf\~no C:$-.\ manc:ra panicular d~ ap~star. me dijo Vega. (2:6.
l~nu<>nt-c.

t"m'~h.,~i$

.h.IJc.'d)

re-.lili<'ll oi lh<' phmse ".: ien mil cad:heres" refuses 1he facile e rasure of the trauma of
lr.mm. 1h.11 lh<' Pt'.l'-'<' A..:.:ords att,mpled lo erase by granling asylum to the military
..u'h..i ~\,,..t.'rtHllt.'tlt "'tll ...i.tl:-0 re~I'('nsible. Even thoug.h he t.:On:tiders it a sacrifice made in vain,
~, .h.:kth'''..h."\..l~in~ th,,s.c. wh"' ..lic..'J. th." dc;"noun~es the atrodous acts that occurred during the
r\'\'\}Ut\,,n,try r c.."..U'S. \'c.."~,\ u:;c.."S thc.. phrase "1nt: d.l 1stin1a.. to specifically desc ribe his feelings
t\'r thc." kftbt ~uc.rrill ..t ri~htt.r~ " "lh' Jic.."J ( 29) . lt is o ne of the fe,, titnes in the narration ,._rhe re
h.~ c..'t'n.~e;,':-> .\ t'c.""'lin~ ~o.'thc."r th._ul Ji:o:gust or anxicty. p~rhaps $Uggesting an an1bivalent solidariry
""r .ul l.nhi~"rlyin~ .... ~.,n ..~rn t~'r c...'tht.r!'. nlis ex.:.tntplt." ~tlso Hlustrates how post'''ar narrative, like
thc." r,~,,rutJllHi~,. ~till ..tttc."llll't~ h.' Jc.."Htstru.:t hc,;~gc."tlH.'nk dis..,.ourses and reveal the unt ruths of the
\,rll.:i ..tl'" !'t,,rv.
\"~~.\s. -.:y~tk.tl . _.._,nunc."nts .tbc.,ut S..lh'!tdr:.tn enligra.nts serve to further dismantle the notion
.._,f ..l }'c:.",\,..t."t"ul..lnJ .Jenl"'"~ttk P'-'St\,';l.r n.ltional idc.uity. Be;,~~ause the no,el re-presents the fact that
S'-' ntJ.ny S....tlv~h.i""'r..nt:oo Hvc.." ""'utslJe thc.: .:ount ry"s borden:.. lt underscores the un resolved politicat
c.~~.'lrh'lnk . .tn ...i :-;.~,-...;ktl pn.'hknt!' th.u .:ontinu~ t() pl ..tgue the nation. Con :sidering his attitude
\'<~.is

" ' .\T. ,,

.tnJ ..t~ti,"'ns Slll't.rk,r. \ eg_..t ...i~tinc.~s hintsdt in l.ll't' osition to o ther Sahadorans lhing o utside the
"'UI\try. Hi~ .:.l,l~$ ,l<'nl ily is .1 di$linguishing t',~.:lor. t'or he is wdl eduatt'd a nd comes from 3
w~.1hhY t..,.l-.:.k~n.'un ...L ~lth <.'t whi-.:h t.h.ilit:.lte hb c.ntr.tn.:~ into C anada . \ .\ rh ile his Canadian citiz.en:.'.hi\-.. in ...ti.:...ltt::-o. that ht. .1rriv~ in CanJ.d~t ,,ith J'fl"'pt'r inlnligration.docurnents. it is inlportant
" ' n ..,te th:.tt \l\,._\J.\ h.\:00 le..~~ st rin)::.c!'nt rule-s th.an thc..~ l'nited St~ltt"S. otlering ..:itizenship to anvone
wh._, h:.\:00 h<en in the ""'lnttry k~;lly fc.'lr at lea.:-Ot thr\."C: ye . .\rs."' Getting toCa nada.. howcver. does
rt.'q\lirt."' "'"'re '""'"'-"Y c.xte-nd~'-d tr..\nsport;.Uion .utd l_..ettt.r ~Ot~t;,l.:t~. sin..:~" it is further ;n "ay from
El S..\h~..,J ..,r anJ thu::. unattainJ.t-.le tOr ntany un ...h.""~ ... ~l nlc:-nt:d tnlnug.r~nts ,,~ho tll:\}' be t raveJing
~o.lll t\......,,t or h y frdg.ht. This susgt"Sts that Can..\J.t tltlc:-rc.."d \ eg...t J.n dtt1st stattus. whereas senling

c.

Thornton 1 Testimonio in Castellan os Moya's El a.1co

............

21 S

in the United States would have aligned him w>th working-class Salvadorans and signitied a
s tep down economically.
Vega's attitude toward the country's migrant population becomcs clear during hs initial trip
south when he is horrified and dismayed by other Salvadoran emgrants who board hs plane in
Washington, DC and begin to share ther experiences as "jardineros" and ''empleadas domsticas"
in the United. States (86). He cannot relate to their work situations orto their excitement about
returning borne and describes the experience ofl;stening to ther stories as terrorlfica (87). Such
words as confesitJ, exhalar, escupir, and vociferar, used to describe the conversations, provide oral
cues that re in force the notion of expulsion from the national body (85-86). U pon arriving in San
Salvador, Vega is even more s urpriscd by the "masas furibundas ... procedentes de Los ngeles,
de San Francisco, de Houston y quin sabe de qu otras ciudades, ... que se arremolinaba[ n i
en la sala de migracin en un agobiante caos" (89-90). Vega also expresses shock and disappointment by thc gloritication ofSalvadoran emigrants as families receive with codicia, or greed,
thc gfts their loved ones bring from the United States (92) . for him, the ultimate disillusion
is the Monumento al hermano lejano because of its tribute tO Salvadoran emigrants and their
contributions to the national econo my. Vega explains to Moya, "[El Monumento) es la obra
cumbre de la degradacin del gusto: un gigantesco mingito rio construido en agradecimiento
a los sombre rudos y las regordetas que vienen de Estados Unidos cargados de cajas repletas
de los chunches ms inusitados" (95). Por Vega, emigration, particularly that of working-class
individuals, contributes to the larger social problems of chaos, corruption, and consumerism
that haunt El Salvador, thereby caus ing him more repulsion.
Vegas critical stance on El Salvador and its diasporic population problematizes the identity
ofthe postwar nation. Because Vega specifically criticizes Salvadoran immigrants in the United
$tates. he implicitly comments on thc nation's perceived class identity as a country of uneducated
and uncultured, working-class individuals. For Vega, exporting this population and identity is
humiliating and detrimental to El Salvador. His d ismay at their re turn "home" also s peaks to the
Americanization of El Salvador, for they are importing U.S. culture and products and further
contributing to the country's postwar degradation. He even compares San Salvador to Los
Angeles: "San Salvador es una versin grotesca, e nana y estpida de Los Angeles, poblada por
gente estpida que slo quiere parecerse a los estpidos que pueblan Los ngeles, una ciudad
que te demuestra la hipocresa congnita de esta raza. la hipocresa que los lleva a desear en
lo ms intimo de su alma convertirse en gringos_ .. : (46). Vegas disapproval of imitating the
gringos adds an ironic twist to his discourse, for the Un ited States is partially responsible for
the country's current situation after fueling its civil war. training n1embers ofthe military, using
Central Ame.r ica a s a frontline defense against the Cold War, and insisting upon the adoption
of neolibcral economic policies. His view that the United States has exacerbated El Salvador's
problems further expla ins Vega's decison to settle in Canada.
Because Vega does not dent ify with the traditional Salvadoran emigrant o r the nation's
transnational commu nity. he distances himself from the typical testimonialist who speaks for
a marginalized and oppressed group. His refusal to serve as a representativc of the emigrant
subaltern speaks to questions of fetishizing the "other" through testimonial writ ing. Castel lanos Moya seem s to heed the advice of Alberto Moreiras, who warns critics in "The Aura of
Testimonio" of this tendency. He writes:
(T)he restimonial subject . .. has a tendcncy to become epistemologically fetishized prccisely
through its (re)absorption into the literary sys1em of reprcsentation. In o ther words. solidarity. which remains the essentia1 summons of thc testimonial text and that which radically
distinguishes it from the literary text. is in perpetua! risk of being turned i nto a rhctorical
tropology. But there can be no poetics of solidariry when it is the function of solidarity to
produce a break away from poetic:s. (198)

!16

"'-

HispQiwill 9 7 Ju n e lOH

lack of S..'"llidarity with th~ subah~rn. then, ..:onfronts snany uf thl.' issul.'s nlised hy testi monial representation and me-diation.
. .
.
A tO.:us on th~ individual rather than the ..:ommunity is ch ara..:ten st 1<.: ol postwar 11armt lvc
trends. as s.rn.:hez Prado and Koko tovk both p o int out in their analyses of lnsL'tJ satcz. Huwcvcr,
Vegas individualism and non-..:onformism <\re perhaps evcn mor~ extreme in El tiS(o, for his
reje.:tio.n ofthe Qother" and all things Salvadoran makes it difficult for re<ldt>rs to l.'mpat hi:~.c wit_h
him. A reader mav ev~n feel disRust toward the protagonist in much thc samc way a s Vega s
repulsed by post"~ El Salv..ador. A n alternative reading, however. might see underlying con cern
in h is disatle.:tion, as it is ditfi..:ult to express so much rage about an issue that does not matter.
On some levd it reveals a sen se o f commitment to the nation be..:ause disi llusion implies a prior
feeling of hope and optimism. Beatriz Cortez suggests that the n ovel's strongest criticism is
to"'-ard Salvadora.ns who do identify with Vega. those who also define themselves in opposition
to the marginalized sectors of society and negate the heterogeneity of El Salvador (258-59).
:!'vloremrer. Castellanos Mova stated in an interview in 2001 that the narrative originated with the
Salvadora.n people. He said. "Digamos que era una sntesis d e todas las crticas al pas, que haba
escuchado.. y mas, porque a veces el personaje hace comentarios con los que no estoy de acuerdo"
(de la Fuente). The text is therefore rooted in oral criticism s. gossip. and hearsay, which helps
to e.'q>lain the protagonisfs visceral and often ruthless reac tions to the country he lcft behind.
By making publk the " hidden transc ript:' o r oftstage interactions. about El Salvador, t:l asco
represents open res istance to the status quo and makes evident social problems overshadowed by
government reforms and postwar memorials, otfer ing a critica! perspect ive through cynicisll1. 11
Although the text has been critidzed for being too pessimistic and cven anti-Salvadoran,
in 20 10 Arcoiris P ress published its eighth edition ofthe novel, confirming ts popularity and
readership. Perhaps. then, the strength of El asco is its ability to produce disparate reac tions in
diverse readers. \Vhatever the reader response, the text invites an (auto- )an alysis of one's reaction
to Vega and the postwar nation, suggesting the possibility of social action. In her study C an
Literaturt: Promote justice? Trauma Narrative and Social Action in Lati11 American Testimonio,
Kimberly Nan..:e (re)evaluates the extraliterary function of testimonial writing that critics ha ve
either celebrated as a utopian dream o r mourned as a failed alternative. She concludcs that the
testimorlio "demands ultirnately that we face ourselves. our action, and our inaction- not only
in the text but in the world" ( 165). Nance also (re)d efines the testimonio as a "space of potential
action" that calls readers to make concrete ..:hoices in everyday lifc, privileging a prosaics rather
than a poetics of solidarity ( 158). Nance's view of testimonial discourse aligns nicely with
Ana Patricia Ro drguez$ descriptio n of the new "f( r)ictions" of Centra l America, a term she
coined to describe the discursive crossings of the region. as "productive sites of signification
and interpretation" (235). Both suggest textual spaces of possibility and an opcning for social
pro.i ects. Cortez also sees a point of contact between testimonial and postwar narrative, affirming
that both atternpt to "poner en evidencia la inexactitud de las versiones oficiales de la realidad
centroamer icana" (27). In this view a shift from idealism to cynicism has not compromised a
cultural and literary commitme nt to dismantle hegemonic discourses and to expose the reality
of the postwar region.
Following this line of thinking. E/ asco does challenge the reader with a social project: to
confront one's own attitude, to question postwar normalization in El Salvador. and to be suspect
ofpower structures. wheth er ..:ontrolled by the Right, the Lcft, or the C hurch. C astellanos Moya
thus ofters a difterent type ofwitnessing th rough Vega and E/ asco that is rcminisccnt of Bernhard.
Vega, much like Bernhard's many protagonists, is an intellcctual anda social outcast who chooses
not to conform to the status quo, as conformism and silence cqual inactivity and injusticc for
Bernha.rd. 1\tatthias Konzett argues that Hernhard st r ivcs fnr ";m acsthet ics of witnessing,"
through irony. victmization. lnd violen ce. that r~lkc ts thl.' ills nf soccty amdst thc normaliza tion and rehahilit\lion pro.:csscs in p ost - vVurld War 11 Austria ( IJ- 15). BecattSl.' fur tkrnhan.J,
re aders had to be rcmindcd nfth~ nnt -so-distant past ofNazi .:ontrol so that hiswry wvuld not

Veg~is

'lhornton 1 Te1tlmonlo In Cattellanos Moya' EI~Ua~

""'-

217

repl'lll lts(.l f..Whilc many of Bcrnharc.l's protagoni5ts die or comm it suicide, Vega remains in
llmho In 1.1 Salvador. suggcNiing a po~osible transformation. C astellanos Moya seems to o ffer a
bit. ruorc hopc than Bcrnhard, forcng thc rcac.ler to cometo her own conclusions. Refusing to
ofkr prod~ll: tlvc altc.:rnatlvcs fi>r thc pm.twar nation follow~ Nictzsche's argument that language
cunnot afhrlll anythmg. A~o Bcrnhard would :.uggest, an attempt to ddine El Salvador's truth
would only he a Iic.
Wlh IICI c~sy.solut inns, asco thcreby rcpresents thc tensions o f postwar El Salvad o r: peace
ami .:haos, optrn11sm and disillusi<m, national and transnational communities, home and host
so.:ktics. li.:ticm and thc testimonio, writing and orality. The novel's parody of Bernhard and
pervl'ts ro n uf thc testmoni11 use fiction to criticizc a hstory that is itself an interpretation of reality amito show t he proc.luct ivc ways fictional discou rse can retlect u pon the nation, en couraging
rcadcrs te~ c~gagc such difficult socio-cultural issues as migration, violence, and corrupton in
postwar 1~1 Salvador. By rcfcrcncing Hcrnhard, Castellanos Moya thus problematizes testimonial
dis.:oursc without abandoning its social project and reminds Salvadorans ofthe not-so-dstant
past, e ven if it mcarns gctting on thcir nerves.

NOTES

1
f

' By addrcssing thc importancc of testimonial nar rative and poetry during the revolutionary yeacs.
Bcverlcy and Zlmmc r man offcr a detailcd discussion of the relationship between literature and politics
in Central Amcrica.
' In 1966, Cuban writer Miguel Barnct announccd the death offiction andan end to elitist tendencies
in Spanish American litcraturc with thc advent ofthe testimonio, which he defined as a new narrative based
on th e cxpcricnccs and scnsbilitics of discnfranchised individuals (Nauss Millay 121 - 22).
'Castellanos Mo-ya was born in Honduras in 1957 but grew up in El Salvador. He lived in exile during the war, residing mainly in Mcxico City, and after publishing El asco in 1997, he left IEI Salvador once
again duc to death threats he received for the text's blng criticism. Castellanos Moya currently lives in
the Unitcd Statcs.
'Hcfore Bl asco, Castellanos Moya published La dispora (1988) and Baile con serpientes (1996), as
well as short stories, poctry, and essays.
' In "After thc Revolution: Central American Literature in the Age of Neoliberalismft Kokotovic
describes La diabla en el espejo and El arma en el hombre as "a kind offrustrated mystery nover (33). She
latcr charactcrizes L.a diabla en el espejo as " neoliberal noir,ft or detective fiction that crit icizes the sociopolitc:al effects of ncoliberal cconomic poli ces in postwar Cen tral Ame rica ("Neolibera! Noirft 15-16).
"Castellanos Moya's most rccent novcls Desmoronamiento (2006) and Tirana memoria (2008) secm to
break thc pattcrn Marted with El asco. Desmoronamiento continues to tellthe story of the Aragn family,
which bcgan with the novel Donde no estn ustedes (2003), with such narrative techniques as theatrical
dia logue and epistolar y corrcspondcnce, whilc Tirana memoria adopts the diary formal with most of the
action occurring in 1944.
' Padilla notes that other Central American writers. including the Salvadoran Jacinta Escudos and the
Guatcmalan Rodrigo Rey Rosa, employ this same narrative techn ique ( 144).
'lhc lates! census data shows that there are approximately 1.7 miUion Salvadora.ns in the United States
and ahout 43,000 in Ca nada. According to Migration lnformation Source, over 25% of aU Salvadorans in
the United Sta tes arrivcd in 2000 or later. and in 2009 remittances accounted for 16.5% of El Salvador's GDP.
'''1 he officia l websitc for Citizenship and lmmigration in Canada (www.cic.gc.ca) outlines the details
for obtaining citizenship. In addition to the three-year requirement, an appli~ant must be at least ei~hteen
ycars old, have knowlcdgc of English or French, and hold permanent resrdency status, whrch rs only
obtainahlc for thosc who ha ve authorization to live and work in Canada or for those who have been granted
refugl'C status. Undocumented individuals are not eligible for citizenship. For more information regarding
immigration policics in Ca nada. Maria Cristina Garca's See~ing Refuge ~rovides a comparative analysis of
thc US, Canadian, and Mcxican responses to Central Amencan mrgratron.
'" In contras! to thc Unitcd States, Ca nada took a more hands -off approach to the Cent ral American
civil wars. lnstcad c)f gt:lting directly involved in whatthey con~i?ered to ~e domestic issues, Canada offered
suppnrt through thc Unitcd Nations, NGOs. and refu.gee ~olrcre~ (Garcta 124- 40).
.
" 1 borrow thc tcrm "hidden transcript" from Scotts Domrnatron and the Arts of Re.srstance. Scott
delinl.'s thc hiddcn transcript 35 offstagc ntcraction s that are kept hidden from those in p o wer whereas the

.....

.._.

.............. " ' IU.W"'

.au"" ..

public trans.:ript describes 0 :>en interactions between subordinates and their superiors_<2-4). The frontier
1

understandmg evcryday fonns

ts t5 always
be tween pnvate
an d pu bl'K transcnp
. . in tlux and thus
. essenualto
.
14).
o( resistance and cultural patterns of dommauon and subordmauon (4

W O RKSCITED
s Jack Dawson New York: Vintage,

Anderson, Mark M. Afterword. The Loser. By Thomas Bernh ard T ran

1991.1 73- 90. Print.
. M'
li UofMinnesotaP,
Arias, Arturo. Taking Their Word: Literature and the S.igns ofCentral Amenea. mneapo s.

2007. Print.
.
.
P.
o Pr'nt
1
Bernhard. Thomas. Correction. 1975. Trans. Sophie Wilkins. Chtcago: U of Chtcago 199

- - . Extinction. Trans. David McLintock. New York: Knopf, 1995. Print.

.
- - . Gathering Evidence. Trans. Carol Brown Jan.eway. New York: Vintage. 2011. Pnnt. .
- - . Heldenplatz. Trans. Andrea Tierney and Meredith Oakes. London: Oberon.2010. Pnnt.
- - . Wittgenstein's Nephew. Trans. David McLin tock. New York: Knop.f, 1989. Prmt.
.
.
Beverley, John. Testimonio: On the Politics ofTruth. Minneapolis: U of Mmnesota P. 2004. Pn.n t.
Beverley. John, and Mark Zimmerman. Literature and Politics in the Central American Revoluttons. Austm:
U ofTexas P. 1990. Print.
Castellanos Moya, Horado. El arma en el hombre. Mexico: Tusquets, 2001. Print. .
- - . El asco: Thomas Bernhard en San Salvador. San Salvador: Arcoiris, 1997. Pnnt.
- - . Baile con serpientes. 1996. Mexico: Tusquets, 2002. Print.
- - . Desmoronamiento. Barcelona: Tusquets, 200-6. Print.
- - . La diabla en el espejo. Ourense: Linteo, 2000. Print.
- - . La dispora. San Salvador: UCA, 1988. Print.
- - . Donde no estn ustedes. Mexico: Tusquets, 2003. Print.
- - . Insensatez. Mexico: Tusquets, 2004. Print.
.
- - . Recuento de incertidumbres: Cultura y transicin en El Salvador. San Salvador: Tendenctas,
1993. Print.
- - . Tirana memoria. Barcelona: Tusquets, 2008. Print.
Citizenship and Immigration Canada. Canadian Govemrnent. Web. 3Ju1y 2009.
Cortez. Beatriz. Esttica del cinismo: Pasin y desencanto en la literatura centroamericana de posguerra.
Guatemala: F&G. 2010. Print.
De la Fuente, Daniel. "Arma desafos con sus letras: Entrevista con Horado Castellanos Moya." El Norte.
25 Feb. 2001. Web. 19 Feb. 2009.
Dowden, Stephen D. "A Testament Betrayed: Bernhard and His Legacy." A Companion to the Worlcs of
Thomas Bernhard. Ed. Matthias Konzett. Rochester: Camden, 2002. 5 1- 67. Print.
Gammage, Sarah. "El Salvador: Despite End to Civil War, Emigration Continues,'' Migration Information
Source. July 2007. Web. 22 Apr. 2009.
Garca, Mara Cristina. Seeking Refuge: Central American Migration to Mexico, the United States, and
Canada. Berkeley: U of California P, 2006. Print.
Guamn Poma de Ayala, Felipe. Nueva cornica y buen gobierno. Caracas: Ayacucho, 1980. Print.
Kokotovic, Misha. "After the Revolution: Central American Literature in the Age of Neoliberalism."
A Contracorriente: Una Revista de Historia Social y Literatura de Amrica Latina/ A Joumal of Social
History and Literature in Latn America 1.1 (2003): 19-50. Print.
- - . "Neoliberal Noir: Contemporary Central American Crime Fiction as Social Criticism." Clues 24.3
(2006): 15-29. Print.
- - . "Testimonio Once Removed: Castellanos Moya's Insensatez:' Revista de Estudios Hispnicos 43
(2009): 545-62. Print.
Kon zett, Matthias, ed. A Companion to the Worlcs of7homas Bernhard. Rochester: Camden, 2002. Print.
Mench, Rigoberta, and Elisabeth Burgos-Debray. Me llamo Rigoberta Mench y as me naci la conciencia.
Barcelona: Argos Vergara, 1983. Print.
Migr~tion Information Source. Migration Policy Institute. Web. 26 July 2011.
More1ras, Alberto. "The Aura of Testimonio." The Real Thing: Testimonial Discourse and Latn America.
Ed. Georg M. Gugelberger. Durharn: Duke UP, 1996. 192-224. Print.
Nance, Kimberly A. Can Literature Promete fustice? Trauma Narrative and Social Action in Latn American
Testimonio. Nashville: Vanderbilt UP, 2006. Print.
Nauss MiUay. Amy. Vo ices from the fuente viva: 1he Effect ofOrality in Twentieth-Century Spanish American
Narrative. Lewisburg: Bucknell UP, 2005. Print.

Thornton 1 Testimonio in Castellanos Moya's El .uco

""'-

2 19

P..tdiUa. 'iajair.1 M. "Setting ' La diabla' Free: Women, Violence, and the Struggle for Representation in
Postw.tr El Salvador." L<ltill American Perspectives 35.5 (2008): 133- 45. Print.
p,,pt,l Vuh. Trans. Dennis Tt'dlock. New York: Simon. 1985. Print.
R,\\lriguez. Ana Patricia. Di,iding the lsthmus: Central American TraiiSnational Histories, Literatures, and
Cultun:s. Austin: U ofTexas P. 2009. Print.
$.in..:hez Pmdo.. Ignacio M. "La ficcin y el momento de peligro: I11se11satez de Horado Castellanos Moya.
Cuaderno lnterne~dona/ de Estudios Humansticos y Literatura: CIEHL 14 (20 10): 79 - 86. Print.

Scott. James C. Dominution and the Arts of Resistance. New Haven: Yale UP, 1990. Print.
Sklodowska, Elzbieta. "Author-(dys)function: Rereading I, Rigoberta Mench. Foucault and l.Atin A.meriaJ.
Ed. Benigno Trigo. New York: Routledge, 2002. 197-207. Print.
- . "La iorma testimonial }' la novelstica de Miguel Barnet." Revista/Review lnteramericana 12.3
( 1982): 375-84. Print.
- -. "Spanish American Testimonial Novel: Sorne Afterthoughts.K The Real Thing: Testimonial Discourse
ancl Latin Amtriw. Ed. Georg M. Gugelberger. Durham: Duke UP. 1996.84- 100. Print.
Sommer. Doris. "Las Casas's Lies and Other Language Games." The Rigoberta Mench Controvvsy. Ed.
Arturo Arias. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P. 2001. 237-50. Print.
--."No Secrets." The Rt!al Thing: Testimonial Discourse and Latin America. Ed. Georg M. Gugelberger.
Durham: Duke UP. 1996. 130-57. Print.
US Census Bureau. US Government. Web. 26 July 2011.
Vega. El Inca Garcilaso de la. Comentarios Reales. Buenos Aires: Plus Ultra. 1967. Print.
White. Hayden. The Content of the Form: Narrative Disco1me and Historical Representation. BaJtimore:
Johns Hopkins U P. 1987. Print.
Ydice, George. "Testimonio and Postmodernism." Latin American Perspectives 18.3 ( 1991 ): 15- 31. Print.