Negotiating Genocide in Rwanda

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 1-44

3. An Official History: Commemorating “the 1994 Genocide of the Tutsi”

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 45-80

4. Memorial Staff: Between Official Narrative and Lived Experience

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 81-116

5. Genocide Survivors: Complicating the Official Narrative

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 117-148

6. Convicted Génocidaires: Keepers of “Bad History”

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 149-188

7. Returnees: Looking Toward the “New Rwanda”

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 189-214

8. Considering Silences: Hutu Survivors? Tutsi Génocidaires? And What of the Twa?

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 215-236

9. Conclusion: The Danger of a Single Story

   • Erin Jessee

   Pages 237-267

10. Back Matter

    Pages 269-302

    PDF

This book is an oral history-based study of the politics of history in the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Using life history and thematic interviews, the author brings the narratives of officials, survivors, returnees, perpetrators, and others whose lives have been intimately affected by genocide into conversation with scholarly studies of the Rwandan genocide, and Rwandan history more generally. In doing so, she explores the following questions: How do Rwandans use history to make sense of their experiences of genocide and related mass atrocities? And to what end? In the aftermath of such violence, how do people’s interpretations of the varied forms of suffering they endured then influence their ability to envision and support a peaceful future for their nation that includes multi-ethnic cooperation?

• Rwanda genocide
• oral history of political violence
• "new" Rwanda
• genocide in modern history
• oral history methodology and interviewing

“Presents a critical and insightful analysis of the politics of history in post-genocide Rwanda. … This book is best suited for readers who have experience or prior background in Rwandan history because it presents more complicated frameworks, aspects of history, and narratives about post-genocide Rwanda. … this book will provide a fascinating and refreshing look at the politics of history present in Rwanda, and a nuanced view of the challenges of confronting official narratives that have arisen since 1994.” (Samantha Lakin, Oral History Forum d’histoire Orale, Vol. 37, 2017)

• The University of Strathclyde , Glasgow, United Kingdom

  Erin Jessee

Erin Jessee is Assistant Professor in the Department of History at the University of Strathclyde and the Scottish Oral History Centre, UK.

Policies and ethics