The Marginalised in Genocide Narratives: Revisiting Genocide Narratives and Reconciliation Initiatives

Description

This year marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Rwanda genocide. This volume, the product of over 20years of engagement with Rwanda and its diaspora, offers a timely reminder of the necessity of rethinking the genocide’s social history. Examining a range of marginal stories and using Rwanda as a case study, The Marginalised in Genocide Narratives’ analysis of the transformation of genocide into a powerful narrative of a nation establishes an innovative means of understanding the lived spaces of violence and its enduring legacy. In a distinctive approach to the social history of genocide, this book engages with the marginalised; foregrounds genocide’s untold stories; and uses the conceptual framework of the constellation of genocide narratives to create connections among multiple social actors and identify narrative themes that address the unequal power and interdependence of narratives. Adopting a multi-level narrative methodology that addresses the value of multiple narrative framings for understanding genocides, The Marginalised in Genocide Narratives will appeal to students and researchers interested in sociology, conflict and peace studies, history, African studies and narrative research. It may also appeal to policy-makers interested in genocide studies and contemporary social history. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Chapter 1: Introduction: Narrating genocide and the genocide narrative Introduction Narrating genocides: victims, perpetrators and the marginalised others The formation of the genocide master-narrative The constellation of genocide narratives Examining narrative engagements The Rwandan genocide and Rwanda Studies Situating narratives methodologically Narrative methodology in post-conflict contexts Overview of the book Conclusion Chapter 2: The formation of the foundational genocide master-narrative Introduction The formation of the master-narrative of the Genocide against the Tutsi The naming narrative of the Genocide against the Tutsi The commemorative narrative and the rescapé The justice narrative and the génocidaire The narrative of reconciliation and national unity of the Banyarwanda The genocide as the foundational master-narrative The counter master-narrative of war Naming the war, the massacres and the victims The commemorative narrative and the innocents The (unjust) justice narrative and the perpetrators of all crimes The (dis-)unity narrative: divisionism and authoritarianism The marginalised voices Conclusion Chapter 3: Reframing culpability, shameand guilt: Non-perpetrator members of the perpetrator group Introduction Shame and guilt – a brief overview Naming culpability, shame and guilt: non-perpetrator members of the perpetrator group Revisiting moral culpability through ordinary morality Challenging culpability: resistance, choice and power Non-involvement, passive resistance and the génocidaires Lack of assistance and the rescapés Collective and individual responsibility and the ‘innocenté(e)s’ The narrative of national unity and reconciliation: everyday relations and values Living reconciliation Conclusion Chapter 4: Revisiting the figure of the heroic rescuer: Communal rescue, care and resistance Introduction Rescuers and rescuing activities Naming the public figure of the rescuer: individual, exceptional, heroic From exceptional heroes to communities of care The ordinary people behind the heroic saviours The communal rescue narrative: care and resistance The ambivalent legacy of rescuing Revisiting the figure of the heroic saviour Reframing exceptionalism Embedding rescuing activities Conclusion Chapter 5: Families of mixed ethnic backgrounds: The intimate burden of those caught in-between the politics of ethnic identity Introduction Ethnically mixed families during and after conflict The erasure of the ‘mixed’ constituent in public narratives Rethinking the proxy categories of rescapé, génocidaire and orphelin du génocide Children of mixed ethnicity, during and after genocide Revisiting the category of the genocide orphan Caught in-between: narrating the intimate burden of ‘mixed’ belonging The narrative legacy of the genocide Crossing the ethnic divide: empathy, support and unity Articulating and reclaiming the ‘mixed’ Conclusion Chapter 6: Marginalisation and survival of the other minority group Introduction Minorities and conflict Naming the outside onlooker: the Twa Questioning the onlooker narrative: the insider and the struggle for survival The struggle for existential survival Post-genocide narratives: from autochthones to historically marginalised The justice narrative: doubly victimised The narrative of national unity: the struggle for symbolic survival Decentring the genocide narrative: national progress, vulnerability and material survival Conclusion Chapter 7: Civilian returnees: Intra-ethnic differences and continuities with the past and exile Introduction Long-distance nationalism and the post-return reality The Hamitic narrative: histories of mobility and belonging The RPF: the voice of the Tutsi refugees in exile The hegemony of the RPF-led national narrative and the diverse stories of the civilian returnees Breaking down the Tutsi returnees’ single story: differences, criticisms and mistrust Revisiting the narrative of the ‘new’ Rwanda: continuities with the past and exile Continuities with exile and social transformations: language, religion and work ethic Conclusion Chapter 8: The revised constellation of genocide narratives and the untold social history of genocides Introduction The marginalised voices in the revised constellation of genocide narratives The untold story of the genocide: ‘continuity, embeddedness and the everyday’ Narrative engagement: agency and dialogical strategies Rewriting the social history of the genocide that took place in Rwanda The ‘old’ and ‘new’ Rwanda: continuities, ruptures and value-laden meanings Breaking down the overlap of ethnic and social identities of victim and perpetrator The legacy of the genocide on post-genocide Rwanda Expanding and applying the constellation of genocide narratives Conclusion Glossary References Index