“Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources

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This paper analyzes the phenomenon of the inexpressible in testimonies from victims of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church in France. Based on a corpus of four transcripts published by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), we explore the linguistic st...

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Autor principal: Bustos Bonacci, Federico
Formato: Artículo revista
Lenguaje:Español
Publicado: Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires 2025
Materias:
indescribableness
sexual abuse
testimony
discourse linguistics
trauma
indescriptibilidad
abuso sexual
testimonio
análisis del discurso
Acceso en línea:http://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/filologia/article/view/16777
Aporte de:
Filología de Universidad de Buenos Aires
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spelling I28-R253-article-167772025-07-18T20:46:48Z “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonios de abuso sexual frente al reto de la indescriptibilidad: estrategias y recursos lingüísticos Bustos Bonacci, Federico indescribableness sexual abuse testimony discourse linguistics trauma indescriptibilidad abuso sexual testimonio análisis del discurso trauma This paper analyzes the phenomenon of the inexpressible in testimonies from victims of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church in France. Based on a corpus of four transcripts published by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), we explore the linguistic strategies used by the subjects to verbalize traumatic experiences suffered during childhood. Drawing on discourse analysis and studies on the description of traumatic experiences, our study shows that the inexpressible does not equate to absolute silence, but rather reveals a discursive struggle in which language proves insufficient when faced with the horror experienced. Among the linguistic markers identified, we highlight reformulations, explanatory glosses, deictic ambiguities, enunciative shifts, and analogies, all of which disclose an intense enunciative effort. These strategies, far from representing communicative failures, underscore the tension between the desire to testify and the structural limits of language. We conclude that testimony is not only an act of memory or denunciation but also a process of symbolic negotiation, in which the subject attempts to (re)construct their experience through words. El presente trabajo analiza el fenómeno de la indescriptibilidad en testimonios en francés de víctimas de abusos sexuales cometidos por miembros de la Iglesia católica en Francia. A partir de un corpus de cuatro transcripciones publicadas por la Comisión Independiente sobre los Abusos Sexuales en la Iglesia (CIASE), exploramos las estrategias lingüísticas utilizadas por los sujetos para verbalizar experiencias traumáticas sufridas durante la infancia. Inspirado en el análisis del discurso y en estudios sobre descripción de relatos de experiencias traumáticas, nuestro análisis muestra que la indescriptibilidad no constituye un silencio absoluto, sino una lucha discursiva donde el lenguaje se torna insuficiente frente al horror vivido. Entre las marcas lingüísticas relevadas, identificamos reformulaciones, glosas aclaratorias, ambigüedades deícticas, oscilaciones enunciativas y analogías, todas ellas signos de un trabajo enunciativo intenso. Estas estrategias, lejos de representar fallas comunicativas, evidencian la tensión entre el deseo de testificar y los límites estructurales de la lengua. Concluimos que el testimonio no es solo un acto de memoria o denuncia, sino un proceso de negociación simbólica donde el sujeto intenta (re)construir su experiencia mediante la palabra.  Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires 2025-07-17 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf http://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/filologia/article/view/16777 10.34096/filologia.n57.16777 Filología; Vol. 1 Núm. 57 (2025); 55-74 Filología; Vol 1 No 57 (2025); 55-74 2422-6009 0071-495X spa http://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/filologia/article/view/16777/14906 Derechos de autor 2025 Federico Bustos Bonacci https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0
institution Universidad de Buenos Aires
institution_str I-28
repository_str R-253
container_title_str Filología
language Español
format Artículo revista
topic indescribableness
sexual abuse
testimony
discourse linguistics
trauma
indescriptibilidad
abuso sexual
testimonio
análisis del discurso
trauma
spellingShingle indescribableness
sexual abuse
testimony
discourse linguistics
trauma
indescriptibilidad
abuso sexual
testimonio
análisis del discurso
trauma
Bustos Bonacci, Federico
“Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources
topic_facet indescribableness
sexual abuse
testimony
discourse linguistics
trauma
indescriptibilidad
abuso sexual
testimonio
análisis del discurso
trauma
author Bustos Bonacci, Federico
author_facet Bustos Bonacci, Federico
author_sort Bustos Bonacci, Federico
title “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources
title_short “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources
title_full “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources
title_fullStr “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources
title_full_unstemmed “Comme un trou noir”. Testimonies of Sexual Abuse and the Challenge of the Inexpressible. Linguistic Strategies and Resources
title_sort “comme un trou noir”. testimonies of sexual abuse and the challenge of the inexpressible. linguistic strategies and resources
description This paper analyzes the phenomenon of the inexpressible in testimonies from victims of sexual abuse committed by members of the Catholic Church in France. Based on a corpus of four transcripts published by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE), we explore the linguistic strategies used by the subjects to verbalize traumatic experiences suffered during childhood. Drawing on discourse analysis and studies on the description of traumatic experiences, our study shows that the inexpressible does not equate to absolute silence, but rather reveals a discursive struggle in which language proves insufficient when faced with the horror experienced. Among the linguistic markers identified, we highlight reformulations, explanatory glosses, deictic ambiguities, enunciative shifts, and analogies, all of which disclose an intense enunciative effort. These strategies, far from representing communicative failures, underscore the tension between the desire to testify and the structural limits of language. We conclude that testimony is not only an act of memory or denunciation but also a process of symbolic negotiation, in which the subject attempts to (re)construct their experience through words.
publisher Facultad de Filosofía y Letras, Universidad de Buenos Aires
publishDate 2025
url http://revistascientificas.filo.uba.ar/index.php/filologia/article/view/16777
work_keys_str_mv AT bustosbonaccifederico commeuntrounoirtestimoniesofsexualabuseandthechallengeoftheinexpressiblelinguisticstrategiesandresources
AT bustosbonaccifederico commeuntrounoirtestimoniosdeabusosexualfrentealretodelaindescriptibilidadestrategiasyrecursoslinguisticos
first_indexed 2025-08-13T08:47:29Z
last_indexed 2025-08-13T08:47:29Z
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