Uniqueness of genocide testimonies: textual and thematic analysis

Abstract

This PhD thesis, Uniqueness of Genocide Testimonies: Textual and Thematic Analysis, is a thematic discourse analysis of testimonies of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. It seeks to analyse main themes that are discussed in four written testimonies on the genocide against Tutsi. Yolande Mukagasana, a survivor of genocide, wrote three of them: La mort ne veut pas de moi/ Death does not want me (1997), N’aie pas peur de savoir/Don’t be afraid to know (1999), and Les blessures du silence/The Wounds of Silence (2001). The fourth one, Shake hands with the devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda (2003), was written by the Canadian Retired Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire, the Commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission to Rwanda (UNAMIR) during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi in Rwanda. To deeply analyse all themes that are in the above four testimonies, this study used three approaches: socio-political approach, axiological or argumentative dimension and a comparison of themes with each other in order to show similarities and differences in the four testimonies. The thematic analysis of the above four testimonies helps the audience to easily understand genocide testimonies that are normally not easy to comprehend as they are dealing with unfamiliar stories to the minds of human beings. Selected examples from the testimonies based on their importance visà-vis the aim of this PhD research and their accompanying detailed explanations make the audience consider what is unspeakable more expressible. The results of this study provide a valuable contribution to the study of testimonies in Rwanda of the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. It ends by proposing recommendations on how the change of the paradigm on the new leadership of the after 1994 genocide gives hope for the never again to genocide.