Genocide lives in us
Subtitle: women, memory, and silence in Rwanda
By: Jennie E. Burnet
Series: Women in Africa and the diaspora; Women in Africa and the diaspora
Publisher: The University of Wisconsin Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Madison
Language: eng
Number of pages: 277
ISBN-13: 9780299286446; 9780299286439
Subjects: Women in public life; Genocide; Social conditions; History; Atrocities; Women
Description: "In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, Rwandan women faced the impossible--resurrecting their lives amidst unthinkable devastation. Haunted by memories of lost loved ones and of their own experiences of violence, women rebuilt their lives from 'less than nothing.' Neither passive victims nor innate peacemakers, they traversed dangerous emotional and political terrain to emerge as leaders in Rwanda today. This clear and engaging ethnography of survival tackles three interrelated phenomena--memory, silence, and justice--and probes the contradictory roles women played in postgenocide reconciliation. Based on more than a decade of intensive fieldwork, Genocide Lives in Us provides a unique grassroots perspective on a postconflict society. Anthropologist Jennie Burnet relates the survival stories of ordinary Rwandan women and uncovers political and historical themes in their personal narratives. She shows that women's leading role in Rwanda's renaissance resulted from several factors: the dire postgenocide situation that forced women into new roles; advocacy by the Rwandan women's movement; and the inclusion of women in the postgenocide government."--Page 4 of cover.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.