The Writer as a Listener: Understanding War Through Compassion.

• In Event: Márgenes, violencia y narrativa

Abstract

"We shall hear this man’s voice and the voices of other combat veterans many times in these pages. I shall argue throughout this book that healing from trauma depends upon communication of the trauma –being able safely to tell the story to someone who is listening and who can be trusted to retell in truthfully to others in the community. So before analyzing, before classifying, before thinking, before trying to do anything" –we should listen (4). Psychiatrist Jonathan Shay echoes some of the most recurrent ideas about the needs of trauma survivors. Few have studied in detail the moral and emotional told of those who listen to those survivors, as well as the real impact of the product of their encounter with the victims.
This paper will explore the works of Patricia Nieto, journalist based in Medellín, whose work with the desplazados and whose crónicas about the experiences of the victims of war living on the Medellín comunas, show the meaningful ways in which journalists could modify a collective experience of trauma. Taking heed on seminal works on the theories of affect (Brennan, Amhed, Cvetcovich), in this analysis I concentrate on concepts of compassion, solidarity and commitment, as key elements to understand Nieto’s prose and journalistic production.

Author

• Gabriela Polit, University of Texas/Austin