LITERATURE AS A PRACTICE OF TRUTH: WOMEN, MEMORY, AND THE ARMED CONFLICT IN COLOMBIA

Abstract

In the context of the Colombian armed conflict, literature written by women has become a tool for resistance, denunciation, and memory reconstruction. This article analyzes how Colombian authors such as Laura Restrepo, Piedad Bonnett, María Emma Wills, and Mary Grueso Romero have addressed violence from a female perspective, resignifying women's experiences in war. Drawing on a theoretical framework focused on gender, resistance, memory, and violence, the article reads these narratives as forms of counter-memory that challenge the hegemonic account of the conflict. Through a qualitative and hermeneutic approach, it identifies common elements such as identity fragmentation, sexual violence, redefinitions of motherhood, and resistance through Afro-Colombian oral traditions. The findings suggest that these works not only make historically silenced experiences visible but also contribute to a more inclusive collective memory and help reconfigure the role of women as political subjects in Colombia's post-conflict context.