Rigoberta Menchu And The Story Of All Poor Guatemalans

The Story

Questions the authenticity of the events portrayed in the Nobel Peace Prize-winning I, Rigoberta Mench This book is about a living legend, an orphaned Guatemalan schoolgirl thrust into the role of spokeswoman for a defeated guerrilla movement. Her story about her life, family, and village, published under the title I, Rigoberta Mench, aroused so much sympathy that she won the 1992 Nobel Peace Prize. Like the Ch Guevara legend, the imagery surrounding Rigoberta Mench served the ideological needs of the urban left. Her story also helped shape the assumptions of an era of human rights activism in Guatemala. But what old neighbors say about the violence that destroyed Rigoberta's family and village is different from what appeared in her 1982 autobiography. By comparing her account with those of other violence survivors, this is a book that goes to the heart of contemporary debates over political violence, revolutionary movements, postmodernism, and the ethics of scholarship.