By Mariah Terry – November 4, 2018

           Freedom of speech is essential to the proper functioning of democracy. When journalists are unable to report the truth about a government’s actions, the people of that country suffer in fear and ignorance. In Argentina, the period from 1976 through 1983 was one of darkness. The press was effectively shut down, and an atmosphere of uncertainty eclipsed the country.

            Jacobo Timerman was the editor-in-chief and publisher of one of Buenos Aires’ largest newspapers of the 1970s, La Opinión.An influential and powerful voice within the national capital, Timerman was targeted by the Argentine military during its campaign of widespread kidnappings and mass murder, which began shortly after a coup that resulted in a military junta ruling the country for seven years.

             In the absence of democracy, Timerman was a vocal critic of the military’s violence. As a result, he was kidnapped, imprisoned and tortured. The military carried out the same actions on approximately 30,000 Argentines in a secret campaign of state sponsored terrorism. In Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number, Timerman recounts his time in jail, as well as the period of increased press censorship leading up the the demise of democracy in Argentina.

            First published in 1981, after Timerman’s release and subsequent exile, the book won the 1982 Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was also placed on the New York Times “Books of the Century” list. Through his written account, Timerman raised global awareness of the brutality of the Argentine regime. In 1983, the military released its power to a democratically elected civilian government, and Timerman returned to Argentina in 1984. He died in Buenos Aires in 1999.

            Timerman claimed, ”I did not become a journalist, I was born one” (Krebs, 1999). He began his career in the 1940s as a writer for several publications. In the 1960s, he founded Primera Plana and Confirmidado, two newsmagazines that he later sold. In 1971, he founded La Opinión, “which fared extremely well because of its unending attacks on abuses of power in high places” (Krebs, 1999). Its format was based off of La Monde from France.

            Timerman was “an outspoken champion of human rights and freedom of the press, he criticized all repressive governments and organizations, regardless of their political ideologies” (Sparks, 1999).

            Writing from a first person point of view, Timerman uses an inconsistent chronology to tell his story. Beginning with a description of his jail cell, Timerman then jumps from his time in prison, to the lead up to arrest, to his childhood, and every other period in between. He uses a mix of primarily personal anecdotal passages combined with summarized information about the history of Argentina and the dynamics of the country’s political atmosphere. The source of his information is his own life experiences and interactions with the Argentine governments.

            He often employs symbolism and metaphors. There are many parts of the book where he crafts something simple, such as making eye contact with another prisoner, into something much more meaningful and complex, which exemplifies both his skill as a writer and the delusion that one must suffer under such horrific conditions.

            The Kirkus Review references this style by writing, “Timerman limns the technique of being a ‘blind architect’ who creates an edifice of imaginative withdrawal, to which the greatest danger is a letter, a piece of candy, a kindness, a book–any reminder of the world outside.”

            After winning multiple international awards for defending the freedom of the press, Timerman’s work was turned into a made-for-TV movie that aired on NBC in 1983. In reviewing the book for the Texas Observer, Molly Ivins described it as “one of the most poignant testimonies ever written by a political prisoner. . . . A classic of world literature” (University of Wisconsin Press, 2002).

            Anthony Lewis of The New York Times wrote “It is the most gripping and the most important book I have read in a long time: gripping in its human stories, not only of brutality but of courage and love; important because it reminds us how, in our world, the most terrible fantasies may become fact” (Lewis, 1981).

          I certainly agree with these reviewers. While the book is rather short, Timerman does an excellent job of telling the whole story in an impactful and informative way. Although filled with emotion, at no point does the reader feel lost or lacking of background information to understand the political climate of Argentina. I think this book is a great example of how democracy can so easily backslide when citizens turn a blind eye to censorship of the press.

            Timerman’s account is both horrifying and truly moving. It highlights the significance of a free press to the functioning of democracy, as well as the strength that journalists often show in defending that freedom. Every year, journalists die while trying to inform the public about the world around them. This book is an important example of the courage that it sometimes take to be a fair and honest journalist.

            “Only public knowledge,” Timerman writes, ‘”can alter, to some extent, the course of these events, this downward slope in the march of history” (Timerman, 1981).

Bibliography

1. Krebs, Albin. “Jacobo Timerman, 76, the Torture Victim Who Documented Argentina’s Shame, Dies.” The New York Times. November 12, 1999. https://www.nytimes.com/1999/11/12/world/jacobo-timerman-76-the-torture-victim-who-documented-argentina-s-shame-dies.html.
2. Lewis, Anthony. “The Final Solution in Argentina.” The New York Times. May 10, 1981.http://movies2.nytimes.com/books/98/12/06/specials/timerman-prisoner.html.
3. “Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number by Jacobo Timerman.” Kirkus Reviews. May 21, 1981. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/jacobo-timerman/prisoner-without-a-name-cell-without-a-number/.
4. Sparks, Karen. “Jacobo Timerman.” Encyclopædia Britannica. December 31, 1999. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Jacobo-Timerman.
5. Timerman, Jacobo, and Toby Talbot. Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number. Madison,WI: Univ. of Wisconsin Press, 1981.
6. “Timerman, Jacobo.” The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. Encyclopedia.com. November 4, 2018. https://www.encyclopedia.com/reference/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/timerman-jacobo
7. University of Wisconsin Press. “Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number.” UW Press – : Prisoner without a Name, Cell without a Number, Jacobo Timerman, with a New Introduction by Ilan Stavans, Translated by Toby Talbot, with a New Foreword by Arthur Miller. September 9, 2014. https://uwpress.wisc.edu/books/2326.htm.