The Other as the Judge: Testimony and Rhetoric in Primo Levi’s Se questo è un uomo

This contribution examines Primo Levi’s testimony, Se questo è un uomo, focusing on the rhetorical strategies of the text. Following classic theory of judicial speeches and through a close comparison between the first two editions of the book, the article shows that the sense of “interior liberation” Levi spoke of as the ground of his testimony was not only an overwhelming drive to let “the others” know of the Holocaust: it is an appeal for a suspension of the judgment about his personal survival. In this regard, Se questo è un uomo is not only a testimony, but a confession.