“The Power of the Poor in History”: The Role of Testimony in Liberation Theology and Russian Realism

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

There is a lack of methodological and critical apparatus explanation, as well as a lack of contemporary and actual sources on liberation theology.

It is a good and clear article, but with clear deficiencies as a scientific paper.

You could clearly see the argumentation and coherence from the hypothesis to the conclusion, but the hypothesis is not well articulated and justified through scientific arguments.

Author Response

Dear Colleague

I would like to thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding my article. I have tried to follow your recommendations, especially those concerning clarifying methodological choices and expanding the bibliography on liberation theology.

I hope I have met your expectations, even if only partially.

Sincerely,

 

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

This is a great creative article. Bakhtin's concept of the "chronotope of the threshold" is an example arguing that both LALT and Russian novels emerge from peripheral spaces marked by violence, poverty, and social disruption. The parallels drawn are striking: both contexts feature youth deprived of biographical time, both grapple with institutional violence, and both develop from what the author calls "accidental families" existing outside established social orders. I love your use of testimony as a shared narrative strategy, particularly in how both traditions center the victims' voices against official narratives. The concept of nihilism in Russian novels and LALT draws clear parallels and at the same time they show how different they are from European philosophical arguments. 

I think that the biggest challenge of the article is how you deal with two very different historical periods. There is no historical and theological connections between LALT and Russian novels. For example, it would be great if you could provide any examples of a LALT using Russian novels. The use of Bakhtin's chronotopes could be an artificial imposition due to what I already told you regarding the two different periods, but also geographical locations. I would like to see more engagement with LALT and its concept of the preferential option for the poor and its Marxist critique, as you argue that both are in the periphery of capitalism.

While the article presents an intellectually stimulating comparative framework, the compatibility it argues for is more metaphorical and structural than substantive. The connections exist primarily at the level of shared concerns with violence, marginalization, and resistance rather than direct theological or philosophical influence. Actually, there is no direct link between Russian novels in the 19th century and LALT. The closest you get is in page 14 arguing that LALT drew inspiration from libertarian Judaism closely associated with Tolstoy and Dostoevsky.

Author Response

Dear Colleague

I would like to thank you for your comments and suggestions regarding my article. I have tried to follow your recommendations, especially those concerning clarifying methodological choices and expanding the bibliography on liberation theology.

I hope I have met your expectations, even if only partially.

Sincerely,

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The paper is much more improved after the revisions and can be consider for publication. It should have, nonetheless, some style and minor revisions in the text. Also, when speaking of improving the bibliography, the intention was also to look into the scientific bibliography. That mean historical and sociological works that studied liberation theology form a scientific perspective, not only the liberation theology texts.

Author Response

Dear Review,

I have carefully reviewed the paper and made the necessary corrections.

I have added the following works to the bibliography:

BINGEMER, M C. Teologia Latino-Americana. Raizes e Ramos. Petrópolis, Vozes; Rio de Janeiro, Ed. PUC, 2017

LÖWY, M. Georg Lukács - from romanticism to bolshevism. London, NLB,1979. 

LÖWY, M. Redemption and utopia: Jewish libertarian thought in Central Europe: a study in elective affinity. Stanford University
Press, 1992. 691 
LÖWY, M. The War of Gods. Religions and Politics in Latin America, Verso, New York/London, 1996 

These works provide an important analysis of liberation theology and underpin the theoretical choices made in the article.

Thank you for all your recommendations