An Apology for the Literature of the Disappeared

Abstract

This essay argues that the stories of the disappeared and their loved ones have great potential to be an overarching literary genre. Given the worldwide practice of disappearing the vulnerable for political and other reasons, there is an abounding reservoir of trauma and suffering which can provide sufficient material for artistically representing the experiences of its direct and indirect victims. Since the powerful are involved in promoting and facilitating the crime of enforced disappearance, its victims remain in positions of multiple vulnerability and limited access to the justice system. Chronicling their ordeal in the form of a vibrant literary genre – the literature of the disappeared – will empower them to reclaim agency over their stories. Based on this observation, in this essay I shall argue for the artistic potential and growth of this truly global literary genre.