The unequal affect of testimony and the hierarchy of victims: New perspectives on the Uchuraccay incident as a contact zone

Abstract

The Eichmann trial, conducted in Israel and was broadcast around the world cemented the Holocaust in the memory of the global community and highlighted the power of testimony. Today, the collection of testimonies has been important in the investigations of Truth Commissions in Transitional Justice. In the case of Peru, 75% of the victims of the Internal Conflict were speakers of indigenous languages, meaning that the majority of victims were illiterate. This paper examines the “contact zones” and the imbalance of testimonial affect between the Spanish and Quechua languages and their speakers, as well as the hierarchy of victims at the base of the Uchuraccay case.