The Politics of Mourning: Survivor Contributions to Memorials in Post-Genocide Rwanda

TitleThe Politics of Mourning: Survivor Contributions to Memorials in Post-Genocide Rwanda
Publication TypeJournal Article
Year of Publication2010
AuthorsRachel Ibreck
JournalMemory Studies
Volume3
Issue4
Pagination330-343
ISSN1750-6980, 1750-6999
Abstract

The memory of the 1994 genocide overshadows the present in Rwanda. The landscape is marked with burial and memorial sites, and April has become a month of mourning with national genocide commemorations held annually. The genocide memorials have been sanctioned and promoted by the state, but they are also the product of initiatives by genocide survivors. This article argues that survivors have made substantial and distinctive contributions to memorialization in Rwanda. It explores a survivor politics of memory and its relationship to trauma and grief.

URLhttp://mss.sagepub.com/content/3/4/330
DOI10.1177/1750698010374921
Short TitleThe politics of mourning