Narrativizing Trauma: The Place of Silence in Rwandan Genocide Survivors’ Testimonial Literature

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 810-819
Author(s):  
Omondi . ◽  
Danlence Codo ◽  
Ogone James ◽  
Mosoti Edwin
Keyword(s):  
Testimonial Literature ◽  
Rwandan Genocide

Writing ‘Parrhesia’, Narrating ‘the Other Rwandan Genocide’

Matatu ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 418-434
Author(s):  
Nick Mdika Tembo
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Democratic Republic Of Congo ◽  
The Other ◽  
Narrative Form ◽  
Republic Of Congo ◽  
Testimonial Literature ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
Internally Displaced ◽  
Rhetorical Narrative

At the end of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, close to a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus had been murdered, and over 1.5 million people were either internally displaced or had fled over the borders into neighbouring countries and beyond for fear of reprisals from the advancing Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF). This article places Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter (2004) and Pierre-Claver Ndacyayisenga’s Dying to Live (2012) within the context of post-1994 Rwandan testimonial literature that writes what is feared to be “the other Rwandan genocide,” particularly against those who fled to eastern Zaïre (now the Democratic Republic of Congo). In the two narratives, I argue, Umutesi and Ndacyayisenga destabilise and deconstruct the claim of genocide to create a literature that captures the anxieties of genocide memories in Rwanda. Specifically, Umutesi and Ndacyayisenga deploy a rhetorical narrative form that employs cynicism, bitter humour and a harsh tone to suggest that the suffering of Rwandans must not be seen, or even told, from a single perspective, and that only a balanced engagement with extant issues would lead to genuine reconciliation in Rwanda. To illustrate the ideological purpose at work in the two texts, I reference Michel Foucault’s parrhesia as a framework for understanding how the authors contest genocide memories in Rwanda.

AMBIGUITIES OF FORGIVENESS IN LEFT TO TELL: DISCOVERING GOD AMIDST THE RWANDAN HOLOCAUST (2006)

Imbizo ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63
Author(s):  
Shingirirai Gabi
Keyword(s):  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Healing Process ◽  
Positive Thinking ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Crucial Component ◽  
National Reconciliation

To interrogate the ambiguities of forgiveness it is important to understand the historicity of the Rwandan genocide and the complexities of the interchanging roles of victim/perpetrator and ‘the enemy other’. Ilibagiza is credited for including the historicity of the ethnic animosity in her memoir, as she acknowledges that the 1994 genocide did not just suddenly erupt, but the work will be critiqued for its persistent portrayal of the Tutsi as victims and the Hutu as perpetrators, and for not acknowledging that the Tutsi were a ‘historically privileged’ (Mamdani 2001) group before the 1959 revolution. This article interrogates Ilibagiza’s comprehension of forgiveness and its importance during the genocide and in post-genocide Rwanda. Left to tell centres on the power of religion, positive thinking and compassion as major steps towards forgiveness on an individual level, but shows limitations concerning justice after the commission of ‘crimes of state’, as Orentlicher (1991, 44) notes. Forgiveness is necessary in the healing process, but justice is a crucial component of national reconciliation. Forgiveness is only the first step towards restoring the humanity of the victim/ perpetrator, and should be followed by restorative justice.

The Guatemalan Genocide Through Indigenous Mayan Literature Twenty Years After the Peace Accords: Rigoberta Menchú, Humberto Ak´Abal and Victor Montejo

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
David Caballero Mariscal
Keyword(s):  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Dark Period ◽  
Social Situation ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Contemporary History ◽  
Rigoberta Menchu ◽  
Testimonial Literature ◽  
History Of ◽  
Peace Accords ◽  
Historical Truth

Guatemala experienced a cruel genocide in the early eighties, in the context of a repressive Conflict. Due to the different governments´ repressive policies, this terrible social situation was little known abroad, and even in the own country. Just after the Peace Accords, several organisms worked to uncover the historical truth. In any case, we cannot forget that testimonial literature is a privileged mean to know this dark period of the contemporary history of Guatemala. This genre is particularly relevant, because the main writers are originally Mayans, and have directly suffered both repression and social exclusion due to ethnic reasons. Rigoberta Menchú, Unmberto Ak´abal and Víctor Montejo represent a new and original point of view in the measure in which they describe feelings and situations from the perspective of those who experience them personally. Testimonial literature or the Testimonio becomes an ethnographic document that allows us to know not just a period but a people who have suffered from repression and exclusion for centuries.

Cynicism and Guilt in International Law after Rwanda

Global Jurist ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (2-3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Luigi Russi
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Present Article ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Unintended Consequence ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
Formal Relations

AbstractFraming the Rwandan genocide as a “failure” of international law forces one to approach it as an unintended consequence of an otherwise benign system of formal relations between states. The present article looks at it instead as a physiological product of international law, disclosing the possibility to contemplate the latter as a fundamentally imperialistic system pegged on the controversial notion of “rule of law”. International law embodies a system of legalised extraction swaying between cynicism and guilt: despite its real face showing on occasions like Rwanda, it keeps revamping itself so as to prevent a fundamental appraisal of the contradictory nature of the system as a whole.

Report on 1994 Genocide in Rwanda: Independent Inquiry into Rwandan Genocide Faults U.N. and Member States for Inadequate International Response

2000 ◽  
Vol 11 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 137-150
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Armed Forces ◽  
Member States ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
International Response ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Independent Inquiry

Approximately 800,000 people were killed during the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. The systematic slaughter of men, women and children which took place over the course of about 100 days between April and July of 1994 will forever be remembered as one of the most abhorrent events of the twentieth century. Rwandans killed Rwandans, brutally decimating the Tutsi population of the country, but also targetting moderate Hutus. Appalling atrocities were committed, by militia and armed forces, but also by civilians against other civilians.

scholarly journals Rwandan Genocide Conflict Represented in the Novel “Led by Faith”

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (01) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
Marisa Santi Dewi ◽  
Mundi Rahayu
Keyword(s):  
Social Change ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
World History ◽  
Conflict Theory ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Rwandan Genocide ◽  
Analysis Techniques ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This study discusses the ethnic conflict in the Rwandan genocide in the novel Led by Faith: Rising from The Ashes of Rwandan Genocide written by Immaculée Ilibagiza. The novel is set in Rwanda, the country that was known as the place of the fastest killing in the world history, within 100 days killed more than 800.000 people. This novel is based on the author’s experience in surviving from the Rwandan genocide. Therefore, it is interesting to discuss how the author represented the genocide in the novel. This study applied conflict theory by Dahrendorf which focus on four aspect: Two aspects of society (conflict and consensus), power and authority, the groups involved in the conflict, and conflict and social change. The data are taken from the novel Led by Faith by using descriptive analysis techniques. The study reveals that the conflict between Hutu and Tutsi ethnics was represented as the power dynamics among the authorities. The conflict influenced the social change and social structure of the Rwandan society.

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