Nelson H. Vieira

The Wandering Signifier: Rhetoric of Jewishness in the Latin American Imaginary (review)

Th e following chapter, “Fiction and Lies” explores the eff ect of Brazilian Air Force offi cer Pedro Corrêa Cabral’s confessional novel, Xambioá: Guerrilha no Araguaia. A fi ctionalized account of the infamous Araguaia massacre, Cabral’s text highlights the role fi ction can play to catalyze memory and debate about an event that had been eff ectively silenced. Yet Payne notes the paradox of fi ctional confessions: while on the one hand the fi ctional realm allows for greater freedom of expression regarding a taboo subject, on the other, Cabral’s work yielded no tangible results for family members searching for answers. At most, fi ctional confessions serve as catalysts for debate, and as Payne ironically observes, given the military silence, “most of what Brazilians know from perpetrators about authoritarian state violence comes from fi ction” (214). Th e comparative perspective off ers a thoughtful contrast between Cabral’s fi ctionalized yet truthful confession and other perpetrators whose supposedly true confessions prove fabricated or false, leading Payne to conclude that fi ction and lies may at times yield a fuller truth about the past than one might expect. Th us the chapters dedicated to Brazil, although brief, prove invaluable for placing the public confessions of the other countries in perspective and demonstrating how even an apparent lack of confessional material can serve the goals of increased debate regarding past violence. In Unsettling Accounts, Payne provides a convincing argument for the importance of contentious coexistence as a way to strengthen democracy. A challenge to common beliefs regarding the possibility (or desirability) of achieving consensus regarding a violent past, the book is an invaluable contribution to the critical discussion regarding the complicated legacy of societal violence.