The “ other ” side of history as depicted in Isabel Allende ’ s

The “other” side of history as depicted in Isabel Allende's O f Love and Shadows The proceedings o f the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South Africa have once again foregrounded the trauma involved in reconstructing a past fraught with political and personal violence and have, at the same time, also illustrated the therapeutic quality o f testimony. Literature has always played a vital role in the process o f coming to terms with reality. As a woman within a postcolonial context,^ Isabel Allende bears witness to political oppression and gender discrimination in her novels. They serve as examples o f testimonial literature which focus on the plight o f women as marginalized citizens and represent a collective conscience in testimony to the atrocities o f the past. This is accomplished through the interaction o f her fictional characters with a recognizable historical context. In O f Love and Shadows, her female protagonist, Irene, asserts her individuality through writing/reporting which questions the validity o f the male-oriented and so-called "objective " historical reportage. By creating disparate and complementary perspectives which accentuate the female/personal as well as the male/public aspects o f experience, Allende proposes a recognition o f the personal and the peripheral in the documentation o f historical events; she underlines the validity o f the “other” side o f experience and history. 1 For the benefit o f readers who are not famihar with Latin American literature and to avoid fragmenting the argument with too much detail, I have introduced additional information in the form of explanatory footnotes. 2 As Colás (1995:382) indicates in his article on this subject, the term poslcolonial cannot be summarily applied to Latm American studies without amplification. However, I wish to argue that Allende’s awareness o f history and her position as a woman within the Latin American context as a native o f Chile with its own burden o f a “colonial” heritage presuppose her participation in a discourse which subverts and challenges the dominant discourse(s) of colonizing forces Literator 17(3) Nov. 1996 l-;3 ISSN 0258-2279 1 1. Literature as therapy Although the proceedings of the Truth and Reconcihation Commission in South Africa have ehcited controversial reactions, they have once again foregrounded the trauma involved in reconstructing a past fraught with political and personal violence. However, they have also illustrated the therapeutic quality of testimony and, as experience has shown, it is only by coming to terms with reality and recording the injustices committed in the past, that the ghosts can be exorcised and reconciliation can occur. Literature plays a vital role in this process as it provides a means of selfexpression to aid in the reconstruction of a fragmented sense of identity and ultimately serve as an act of restitution. Manzor-Coats (1990:158) emphasizes the cathartic value of writing when she states that “by being able to name the terror and physical pain of torture, the fragmented subject is able to reconstitute him/herself and companions, dead or alive, tlirough writing” . Allende (1989b:43) places it in an even broader context when she explains that In the process o f writing the anecdotes o f the past, and recalling the emotions and pains o f my fate, and telling part o f the history o f my country, I found that life became more comprehensible and the world more tolerable. I felt that my roots had been recovered and that during that patient exercise o f daily writing I had also recovered my own soul. Within this context, it would seem appropriate to question whether Latin American literature, and in particular the novels of Isabel Allende, could serve as an example of how to come to terms with our South African past. I would like to suggest that South Africa has many issues in common with the Latin American situation and that writing about these issues could only strengthen our understanding of ourselves and others. My article proposes that Isabel Allende, in her novel O f Love and Shadows, bears testimony to the therapeutic value of literature and stresses its significance as an alternative source of history.^ Such an approach could only benefit South African literature in an attempt to “re­ write” the past. An overview of Latin American literature reflects a close relationship between history and literature similar to the South African literary scene where the The "other ” side o f history as depicted in Isabel Allende’s O f Love and Shadows Two disparate articles published in Lileralor by Mabel Erasmus (1995) and Cathv Maree (1995) respectively, also draw attention to the importance o f confronting the past While Erasmus stresses the value o f literature as an alternative source o f histor>' in South Africa, Maree illustrates how a comparison of Ariel Dorfman and Athol Fugard could enhancc an understanding of the past ISSN 0258-2279 Lileralor 17(3) Nov. 1996:1-13


The proceedings o f the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in South
Africa have once again foregrounded the trauma involved in reconstructing a past fraught with political and personal violence and have, at the same time, also illustrated the therapeutic quality o f testimony.Literature has always played a vital role in the process o f coming to terms with reality.As a woman within a postcolonial context,^ Isabel Allende bears witness to political oppression and gender discrimination in her novels.They serve as examples o f testimonial literature which focus on the plight o f women as marginalized citizens and represent a collective conscience in testimony to the atrocities o f the past.This is accomplished through the interaction o f her fictional characters with a recognizable historical context.In O f Love and Shadows, her female protagonist, Irene, asserts her individuality through writing/reporting which questions the validity o f the male-oriented and so-called "objective " historical reportage.By creating disparate and complementary perspectives which accentuate the female/personal as well as the male/public aspects o f experience, Allende proposes a recognition o f the personal and the peripheral in the documentation o f historical events; she underlines the validity o f the "other" side o f experience and history. 1 For the benefit o f readers who are not famihar with Latin American literature and to avoid fragmenting the argument with too much detail, I have introduced additional information in the form o f explanatory footnotes.

2
As Colás (1995:382) indicates in his article on this subject, the term poslcolonial cannot be summarily applied to Latm American studies without amplification.However, I wish to argue that Allende's awareness o f history and her position as a woman within the Latin American context -as a native o f Chile with its own burden o f a "colonial" heritage -presuppose her participation in a discourse which subverts and challenges the dominant discourse(s) of colonizing forces

Literature as therapy
Although the proceedings of the Truth and Reconcihation Commission in South Africa have ehcited controversial reactions, they have once again foregrounded the trauma involved in reconstructing a past fraught with political and personal violence.However, they have also illustrated the therapeutic quality o f testimony and, as experience has shown, it is only by coming to terms with reality and recording the injustices committed in the past, that the ghosts can be exorcised and reconciliation can occur.
Literature plays a vital role in this process as it provides a means o f selfexpression to aid in the reconstruction of a fragmented sense o f identity and ultimately serve as an act of restitution.Manzor-Coats (1990:158) emphasizes the cathartic value of writing when she states that "by being able to name the terror and physical pain o f torture, the fragmented subject is able to reconstitute him/herself and companions, dead or alive, tlirough writing" .Allende (1989b:43) places it in an even broader context when she explains that In the process o f writing the anecdotes o f the past, and recalling the emotions and pains o f my fate, and telling part o f the history o f my country, I found that life becam e more com prehensible and the w orld m ore tolerable.I felt that my roots had been recovered and that during that patient exercise o f daily writing I had also recovered my own soul.
Within this context, it would seem appropriate to question whether Latin American literature, and in particular the novels o f Isabel Allende, could serve as an example of how to come to terms with our South African past.
I would like to suggest that South Africa has many issues in common with the Latin American situation and that writing about these issues could only strengthen our understanding of ourselves and others.My article proposes that Isabel Allende, in her novel O f Love and Shadows, bears testimony to the therapeutic value o f literature and stresses its significance as an alternative source o f history.^Such an approach could only benefit South African literature in an attempt to "re write" the past.
An overview o f Latin American literature reflects a close relationship between history and literature -similar to the South African literary scene where the realist novel dominated for a long tune It was ni reaction to political oppression that literature ni Latin America acquired its distinctive innovative thrust and subversive quality: in resistance to the restrictions of censorship,'* the "boom writers''^ invented magic realism, in opposition to the patriarchal system and their absence fi'om history, feminist writers raised their voices and, in objection to the oppression o f political regimes both women and marginalized societies began to question the validity of historical documentation * They constructed their own versions of historical events that resulted in testimonial literature or, the "other" side o f history and proved to the world that the inexpressible needs to be expressed and reconstructed in order to come to terms with reality and contemplate a viable future.
In South Africa, people now have to confront similar problems in coming to terms with their past: they have also suffered from the limitations of censorship, the injustices o f racial discrimination and the marginalization o f women -double marginalization in the case of indigenous women7 Consequently, similar to the Latin Ainerican example, autobiographical and testimonial writing have also assumed significance as contemporary genres.
4 Doris Meyer (I988a:6) comments on the scope of colonial censorship which extended ''from the burning o f Mayan bark-papcr books', effectively silcncing an entire indigenous culture, to the cloistering o f women's minds, virtually denying female participation in the power structure" 5 Latin American literature became more popular in the 1960s and 70s due to various causes, among others, the influence of exiles fleeing from political oppression and the translation of Latin American texts written in Spanish into European languages.This period, referred to as the " Boom" period, includes authors such as Cortázar, Vargas Llosa, Garcia Marquez and Fucntes (Laguardia & Chcvigny, 1986:29) 6 The main criticism against official historical documentation and the literary canon has been that thc>' rcflcct a predominantly male and elitist perspective on events It is generally argued that women, nimoritics and the voice o f the collective have been excluded from these processes, and that this situation has resulted in a distorted representation o f historj' and literature in particular.
As Irvine (1986:24) clearly pomts out: " the abscnce o f women's perspective within the culture, within the critical community and within the fictional universe affccts contexts, and also affects the very structures o f narratives" .

7
In discussing the plight o f women, Elleke Bochmcr (1995:224) refers to the situation of indigenous women and claims that "colonized women were, as it is called, doubly or triply marginalized That is to say, they were disadvantaged on the grounds not only o f gender but also o f race, social class, and, in some cases, religion and caste"

Testimony and the collective conscience
Allende not only considers herself as a part o f history but also feels responsible for her part in it* Her attempt to bear witness to oppressive practices is to keep them alive in the collective memory and to avoid their repetition and perpetuation because as she (Allende, 1986:43) claims: [At some mom ent in time these horrible events will come to light and when that happens my collected stories will not have been lost but will serve as historical testim ony -translated: MJW.] En algún momenta esos horrendos acontecimientos saldrian a la luz y cuando eso sucediera, las historias recopiladas par mi no se habrian perdido, servirian como testimonio histórico.Allende (1986:46) regards violence as another dimension o f our being and says that when we cross the frontier to that side we can only attempt to survive by clinging to the familiar.This statement is reminiscent of Marlow's in Heart o f Darkness by Joseph Conrad.Wlien Marlow is confronted with the unknown, the "heart o f darkness" represented by his physical environment as well as the dark reaches of the human mind, he can only retain his sanity by clinging to matters of routine, to the superficial but safe realities of everyday life.In the same manner, Allende acknowledges the potential for violence in each one of us but maintains that the known, familiar circumstances or the power of love and compassion could serve to contain these forces.These paradoxical emotions and experiences of violence and love (Allende, 1986:43) are clearly expressed in the title o f her second novel.O f Love and Shadows.In a paper given at Montclair State College, she translates these contrasting elements in her writing into "ink, blood and kisses" (Thomson Shields, 1990:79).
For Allende, the act o f writing then assumes a tliree-fold meaning: it is a cathartic exercise to come to terms with the past and to establish an identity; a personal testimony to political oppression and a means of preserving an unofficial "record" o f events.Consequently, Allende's first two novels, 7'he House o f the Spirits and O f Love and Shadows were both written with specific historical events^ in mind: The House o f the Spirits represents her youth while O f Love and Shadows The "other " side o f history as depicted in Isabel Allende 's O f Love and Shadows__________ Like Elena Poniatowska, she is well educated and from a privileged background As a result of these facts, she finds it even more important to fight all forms o f oppression Although not explicitly identified, the novels refer to the regimes o f the marxisi Salvador Allende (1970Allende ( -1973) )  has served to exorcise the rage and hatred*** which festered inside her as a result of pohtical crimes committed against the people of Chile.By writing these texts, she was finally able to write Eva Luna and to reconcile the past with the present in an attempt to construct a new future.
Although AJlende's response to oppression is cast in a fictional mould, her novels reflect a testimonial quality similar to the testimonies given by victims of oppression who, in their personal capacity, also bear witness as part of a collective experience."Manzor-Coats (1990:159) astutely points out the subversive quality of such literature when she claims that "this collective 'w e' can also be read as a challenge to the fimction and textual presence of authority" .Allende's personal experience informs her fictional characters.They constitute an unmistakable part of the collective conscience within a particular historical context and illustrate "the connection between political forces and individual lives" which Stone (1989:35) considers to be the key element in a successful political novel.As one of her devoted readers claims, she recreates "the forbidden and secret history that nevertheless is still alive in the memories of most Chileans" (Allende, 1989b:57).

Personal versus official history
As a woman and victim of political oppression'^ in her native Chile, Isabel Allende is acutely aware of the disparity between personal and official history.Like several other contemporary Latin American women authors, such as Elena Poniatowska in Mexico and Luisa Valenzuela in Argentina, she subscribes to social equality for women and justice for the oppressed.'^Consequently, the female protagonists in her first three novels Eva Luna (1989b), The House o f the Spirits (1990a) and O f Love and Shadows (1990b) all assert an independent spirit and exercise the freedom of choice.They represent the "other" side of history by subverting official discourse through disparate perspectives in order to constitute a collective conscience.
It is Allende's particular concern that the personal histories of political oppression -the voices of women and the people -have been neutralized by ostensibly "objective" historical reportage.Her main objective is then to illustrate how unrepresentative historical reportage is and to plead for a composite record of events which would take the personal histories into account and keep alive the memories of atrocities committed in the name o f justice.She (Allende, 1987:56) asserts that [The loss o f the past created an anxiety in me.On a historical level, and within the context o f a country, it is serious to forget the past.O ne has to recover mem ory in order to extract experience for the future.That is w hy it is im portant for me to keep mem ory alive -translated: MJW.] Me producia anguslia la pérdida del pasado.A nivel histórico, a nivel de un pais, es grave olvidar el pasado.Hay que recuperar la memoria para sacar experiencia para el fuluro.Par eso es importante para mi mantener vivo el recuerdo.
Her profession as a reporter and her experiences as a woman and an exile have provided her with sufficient material to construct "her" version of "his" story/history.The result is a dissolution o f the boundaries between fiction and history, creating a dialectic between fiction and reality and subverting the official versions o f events.Allende (1989b:47) conflates fiction and history, the personal and the political when she states that "there is a worid o f fiction created by the official discourse, and another world of blood and pain and love, where we have struggled for centuries".Her fictional versions o f history become metaphors or allegories o f experience which include the reader in the reconstruction o f events to create a dimension of personal involvement and responsibility.The open endings of her novels then force the reader to assess his/lier own stance and realize his/her complicity in the past and in future developments.The reader must realize that he/she has the power to change the future and discredit the past.
In correspondence with the rich texture of Latin American history and its relationship to literature,*-* Allende transfonns the past to explicate the present or, as Coddou (1987:12) states, she writes to question the past in order to acknowledge an understanding of a present conflict ["cuestionar el pasado para acceder a una comprensión de un conflictivo presente"].It is this quality in literature that Earle (1987:544) identifies when he claims that the Latin American context "invites storytelling and sharpens historical awareness, for history is something that needs constantly to be deciphered through literature -probably its best instrument".A constant dialectic then exists between telling stories and telling stories -fabricating and re-constracting.

Women and identity
Her second novel, O f Love and Shadows, was constructed around a political incident concerning the theme of desaparecidos^^ in the vicinity of Lonquén in Chile (Allende, 1986:43).In an interview with Moody, she points out the significance of the novel (1986:43) as a first attempt to expose the crimes of Chile's authoritarian government.In O f Love and Shadows, Allende subverts the official account of a specific historic event in Chile by describing a personal interpretation o f the event which puts the historical account's "veracity and objectivity" (Muiioz, 1991:62) into question.She becomes an indirect witness (Muiloz, 1991:64), and in the process makes the reader aware that [a reading of De amor y somhra as a fictionalized testimonial presents a dramatic image of the human beings, good and bad, who breathe behind the official history]: La lectura De amor j? de somhra nos proporciona mediante la ficcionalización del leslimonio una imagen dramálica de las seres humanos que, buenosy malos, palpitan detrás de la historia oficial (Weaver, 1991:79).
Irene Beltrán becomes the fictional representative of the historical Allende in duplicating her attempts to record events with the aid of a tape recorder, from notes written down in Sergeant Faustino Rivera's notebook (Love:246), with photographs taken by Francisco or by attempting to publish articles.These "records" all serve to point towards the government's duplicity.
O f Love and Shadows relates the story of a young reporter, Irene Beltrán and her boyfriend Francisco who is a photographer.In the course of her work, Irene becomes involved in the story of a young peasant girl, Evangelina Ranquileo, who is reputed to be able to perfonn miracles and has consequently acquired the reputation of a saint.Her mysterious disappearance, similar to many other people under the authoritarian goveniment, causes Irene and Francisco to start a search for her.This experience triggers an awareness of personal and political Like The House o f the Spirits, O f Love and Shadows also depicts the limitations o f traditional womanhood.The mother, Beatriz, epitomizes traditional values while the daughter is given the opportunity, through her relationship with Francisco, to develop into an independent woman.She to resist con ventions and reject petty and meaningless restrictions on her freedom as an individual and to depend on her own intelligence and resources for survival.Gordon (1987:536) notes that Beatriz, true to the social mould into which she has been cast, clings to appearances and she refuses to accept the government's duplicity -just like she refuses to admit that her husband has finally deserted her.Her stance is clearly described as conscious ignorance: She adjusted to the new system as if she had been bom to it, and learned never to speak of what it was best never to know.Ignorance was indispensable to peace of mind (Love:257)>* When Irene is shot, Beatriz claims that the bullets must have been intended for some thug (Love:266).
Unable to face the truth {Love-211) and accept responsibility, Beatriz wallows in her own selfish pursuits remaining "oblivious to the public outcry that, in spite of censorship, swept the nation and traveled around the globe, once again making front-page news o f the desaparecidos under Latin American dictatorships" {Love-261-26%).
Irene Beltrán is also at first "partly imprisoned in her mother's world" (Gordon, 1987:536), a situation which appears similar to the predicament o f Rosa Burger in Gordimer's novel.Burger's Daughter { \9 ilh ) -although in this novel Rosa lives in her famous father's shadow.However, in both cases the operative word is "choice" as both these young women show resilience, courage and inventiveness in choosing their own futures.Caught up in a middle-class environment and values (Love: 148), Irene Beltrán has her comfortable world rudely disturbed when she investigates the story of the disappearance o f Evangelina Ranquileo.Like most people, Irene only realizes the impact of political events in the country when she becomes involved with this story at first hand.Meyer (1988b: 156) describes Irene's political awareness as her "fall from innocence" and claims that this central metaphor in De amor y de sombra is an incentive for women to "turn silent complicity into outspoken activism" (Meyer, 1988b: 157).He furthermore claims that instead of shielding their daughters from the truth, women must demand the truth and so "reclaim their share of control over history.Women's condition as exile must end" (Meyer, 1988:157).
As Gordon (1987:537) observes, Evangelina's case can be regarded as symbolic o f the oppressed forces in the Chilean society.In her attempt to come to terms with political reality, Irene delves into the mystery of Evangelina and unearths unpleasant "truths": the discovery o f Evangelina's body in a mass grave.This discovery changes Irene's life because until then she had been "educated to deny any unpleasantness, discounting it as distortion of the facts" (Love: 123) and it also serves as a concrete example of the military regime's duplicity, or hidden agenda.The truth cannot be ignored indefinitely because Irene's search produces irrefutable evidence which contradicts official versions o f history.Irene's personal life then becomes inevitably linked to political events.She is forced to take a stand and obey her conscience in order to realize her responsibility as a woman and a citizen and she illustrates how a woman can transcend conventional and political barriers to trust in her instincts and sense o f justice.
By relating her personal experience of events, Irene not only gains a clear perspective of her own position and responsibility, but also exposes the hypocrisy and blatant lies of official accounts.Her account therefore contradicts and under mines the validity of official documentation.

Relationships and responsibility
Irene's transition from submissive fiancée to independent woman is clearly illustrated in her relationships with Gustavo Morante and Francisco Leal respectively.Whereas the first relationship is subject to conventional behaviour, the second is based on equality, the sharing of responsibility and the lack of restrictions.It is this latter situation which Allende regards as the ideal as she (Allende, 1989b:54) explains: It's not a question o f changing male chauvenism {sic) for militant feminism, but o f giving both women and men a chance to become better people and to share the heavy burden o f this planet.
The various other relationships in the novel illustrate different facets of male/female cooperation and reveal interesting interpretations of marital responsibility.The partnership experienced by Irene and Francisco is not evident in the other marriages: whereas the Leals seem to enjoy a comfortable marriage, the Ranquileos ostensibly enjoy a satisfactory marriage because the wife, Digna, makes all the sacrifices and assumes all the responsibilities.The belief that women should be subservient to men is ingrained in society, as Pradelio's perception of liis parents' marriage illustrates.Yet, althougli he "had witnessed similar scenes before, and in his heart even believed that a man has the riglit to keep his wife and children in line" (Love.170) Pradelio still interferes when he sees his mother's suffering.
Apart from illustrating the ideal male/female relationship, Irene and Francisco's relationship also illustrates how the personal is inextricably linked to the political and is intended to create political conscientization (Cainpos, 1989:197-198).
Evangelina's death sets in motion a chain o f events which expose the hypocrisy and deviousness o f the government.Irene's involvement causes the various people and officers concerned to face the facts of political oppression.Their personal implication in the events force both Pradelio Ranquileo, Evangelina's brother, and Gustavo Morante (Love:26\), Irene's ex-fiancé, to recognize their responsibility and to feel betrayed by the army that they had until then supported in the interests o f their country.They had succumbed to the feeling of power and had been fed lies about the political situation and the secret enemy supposedly poised to take over the country.Pradelio's innocent opinion becomes an ironic comment'' on the machinations o f authoritarian regimes: The enemy must truly have been dangerous and skillful, because to that day no one had ever learned o f their bloodthirsty plans except the comm anders o f the armed forces, w ho were always vigilant on behalf o f the nation's interests (Love:\73).
The government then manages to evade criticism by claiming patriotism as an excuse for suppressing the supposedly subversive activities aimed against the country (Love:238), Consequently, the unnatural becomes natural and common place -violence becomes an ordinary occurrence (Love:2\9).This situation is echoed in many countries around the worid where people refuse to become involved and assume political accountability.Censorship, oppressive regimes and fear create cowardice and blunt initiative, with the result that few people take positive action to correct injustices.Allende (1986:47) pinpoints this obvious flaw in human nature and appeals to our conscience when she claims that people had all the proof in front of them but they refused to see it.

A question of perspective
Similar to A Sport o f Nature (Gordimer, 1987b) where the photograph of Hillela's mother represents a moment in time and a memory which does not capture the complexities of life, memory also acquires an interesting dimension through the concept of photography in O f Love and Shadows.Francisco Leal, Irene's friend and a photographer by profession, is at hand to photograph the subject Evangelina and any other events which might be of interest.Yet, the concept o f immobilizing histoiy and memory in a photograph only presents one dimension o f reality and therefore does not provide sufficient evidence of tlie muhiple versions o f reality.Barbara Harlow (1987:83) points out that photographs, "while they preserve the memories and genealogical existence of a culture and a heritage, nonetheless stop short of disclosing the context within which they are implicated".In the same way, the official history only conveys one side, or the public side of events.For a complete account, the multiple perspectives of witnesses should be included.
O f Love and Shadows could then be read within the tradition o f testimonial writing because an awareness of a collective consciousness is introduced through the account of personal experience.Allende's account of events could represent the account of a historical witness and her text could serve as the countemarrative -including different perspectives -to historical documentation.In fact, Allende becomes the mediator between the protagonist and the reader in the same way as Moema Viezzer interprets Domitila Barrios de Chungara's experience (1978) and Elsa Joubert interprets Poppie Nongena's life (Joubert, 1978).

Conclusion
For Allende, writing becomes a means of confronting and exposing official silence by keeping the collective memory alive.Coddou (1989:90) implicitly admits this dimension in literature when he refers to it as this other form of conscience that is literature ["esta otra forma de conciencia que es la literatura"].
The idea of survival features strongly in Allende's works, especially women as survivors, and Gordon (1987:535) observes that De am or y de som bra instead seems to be saying that love can survive even in the shadow o f Big Brother steadily watching, can survive physical agony and the threat o f death, and perhaps also that love needs the shadow to become most fully love.
However, love might be too simplistic a tenn for the sentiments that Allende is trying to portray.Perhaps hope would be a better description of her intention as the title of one of her articles, "Writing as an act o f hope" (1989b), illustrates.In her novels, she attempts to reconstruct the lives o f the "other(s)" whose experiences have been absent from recorded history/official documentation; she creates different versions o f history which subvert the official one and attain a testimonial quality emphasizing the interrelationship between personal and political experience.By constructing a dialogue between male and female as well as a dialectic between personal and official, historical and fictional, she can represent both sides of the "story".
But, most important o f all, writing gives us hope as Allende (1988b:45) clearly indicates when she maintains that In a novel we can give an illusory order to chaos.We can find the key to the labyrinth of history.We can make excursions into the past, to try to understand the present and dream the future.
Perhaps the message that South Afncans should heed would be to use their past in constructing a better future.

10
Allende felt enraged because she had to live the life o f an exile and therefore had to come to terms with the injustices o f a repressive system and the loss o f her family and friends 11 Lillian Manzor-Coats (1990:158) explains that although testimonial literature was already used by the "chroniclers o f the conquest of the New World", the contemporary type o f testimonial literature constitutes "a collective document representative not of an individual but o f a common collective struggle" Examples o f testimonial literature would be; Si me permiten hablar by Domitila Barrios de Chungara (1978) and M e Uamo Rigoberia Menchú by Rigoberta Mcnchú (1985), 12 As the niecc o f Salvador Allende she was forced to flee Chile with her family after the coup in 1973 to find asylum m Venezuela (Allende, 1988:240) 13 Both these authors have written about oppression in various forms, for example, Poniatowska's novel Hasla no verle Jem s mio (1984) and Valenzuela s novel The lizard 's tail (1983) [Cola de lagariija] address the plight o f women and the perpetration o f social and political injustices Literator 17(3) Nov. 1996:1-13 ISSN 0258-2279 The "other " side o f history as depicted in Isabel A llende's O f Love and Shadows__________ 14 The early chronicles about the history o f Latin America display a significant combination o f history and fiction 6 ISSN 0258-2279 I.ileralor 17(3) Nov. 1996:1-I3

15
Tlic tcmi de.scifKirccidosIs usuall> used to refer to the countersubversive tactics o f the military regimes o f Argentina, Chile, etc in the 1970s l.itera/or 17(3) Nov. I996.I-J3 ISSN 0258-2279 responsibility in Irene and gives her the courage to assert herself as a woman Against the background o f pohtical intngue, Allende then traces the lives o f two young people and their reactions to political injustice.It is by intertwining the personal and the political, the fictional and the histoncal, that Allende constructs her testimony.