This ethnography of personhood in post-genocide Rwanda investigates how residents of a small town grapple with what kinds of persons they ought to become in the wake of violence. Based on fieldwork carried out over the course of a decade, it uncovers how conflicting moral demands emerge from the 1994 genocide, from cultural contradictions around “good” personhood, and from both state and popular visions for the future. What emerges is a profound dissonance in town residents'selfhood. While they strive to be agents of change who can catalyze a new era of modern Rwandan nationhood, they are also devastated by the genocide and struggle to recover a sense of selfhood and belonging in the absence of kin, friends, and neighbors. In drawing out the contradictions at the heart of self-making and social life in contemporary Rwanda, this book asserts a novel argument about the ordinary lives caught in global post-conflict imperatives to remember and to forget, to mourn and to prosper.

Eramian, Laura, author

New York: Berghahn Books

United Kingdom and Ireland, United Kingdom

New York NY Oxford, 2018

1, 2017

La 4 e de couv. indique : "This in-depth ethnographic study of personhood in post-genocide Rwanda, carried out over a decade, investigates how Rwandans grapple with what kinds of persons they ought to become in the wake of the violence. While Rwandans strive to be agents of change in a new era of modern nationhood, they are also devastated by the genocide and struggle to recover a sense of selfhood and belonging in the absence of kin, friends, and neighbors. The author explores the effect of this situation on ordinary lives, caught in global post-conflict imperatives to remember and to forget, to mourn and to prosper."

"This in-depth ethnographic study of personhood in post-genocide Rwanda, carried out over a decade, investigates how Rwandans grapple with what kinds of persons they ought to become in the wake of the violence. While Rwandans strive to be agents of change in a new era of modern nationhood, they are also devastated by the genocide and struggle to recover a sense of selfhood and belonging in the absence of kin, friends, and neighbors. The author explores the effect of this situation on ordinary lives, caught in global post-conflict imperatives to remember and to forget, to mourn and to prosper."--Back cover

viii, 192 pages ; 24 cm
Includes bibliographical references and index
Introduction: Person, nation, and violence in Rwanda -- The post-conflict moment in Butare and its antecedents -- Ethnicity's specter in post-ethnic times -- Living with absence -- Creativity, positive thinking, and their perils -- Making peace by remaking persons -- Conclusion: The post-conflict, the postcolonial, and peaceful selves

Introduction: Person, Nation, And Violence In Rwanda -- The Post-conflict Moment In Butare And Its Antecedents -- Ethnicity's Specter In Post-ethnic Times -- Living With Absence -- Creativity, Positive Thinking, And Their Perils -- Making Peace By Remaking Persons -- Conclusion: The Post-conflict, The Postcolonial, And Peaceful Selves. Laura Eramian. Includes Bibliographical References And Index.

2024-07-01