Echoes of Violence and Igitero: Means and Motive in the Rwandan Genocide - Essay Example

Historiographical review of two journal articles Introduction The essay is an analysis of two articles; Echoes of violence and Igitero: means and motive in the Rwandan genocide. In the former article, the author largely discusses the role of Rwandan radio in propagation and enactment of the 1994 Rwandan genocide while in the second journal, greater emphasis is given to the role that mob attacks played in actualizing these killings. How the authors approach the writing of history The author Darryl Li takes on a more analytical approach to the writing of history. He uses social scientific theories and explanations to unravel the Rwandese genocide. This author places more emphasis on language and communication as elements that can be utilized and interpreted in certain historic contexts in order to bring out certain meanings. In other words, he looked at the broader implications of radio broadcasts within the genocide.1 In contrast, Mironko is keen on bringing out a more direct approach to the writing of history. He uses a general way of articulating his thoughts and ideas because he derives these explanations from the locals themselves rather than from scholarly writings. One of the most interesting aspects about the latter author is the fact that he is Rwandese (an exiled Tutsi) and this could probably be the reason why he has placed himself very close to the subjects under study. 2 Type of history that the authors are writing Li mostly dwells on the social dimension of history. Particular reference is given to a negative pattern i.e. genocide. When analyzing such a topic, it is often inevitable for authors to draw upon other forms of history that include political as well as economic. They author has analyzed some of the governance and democratic challenges that could have been confronting the Rwandese community. Besides this, he has looked into the economic aspects such as umuganda (work), cultural aspects (modernity and the radio) and how all these elements could have intertwined to propel the mass killings. 3 Mironko also focuses on social elements of history. Similarly, the latter journal article also touches on some economic and political aspects of history. In the process of explaining his assertions, he strongly relies on culture and language of the Rwandese people to explain the genocidal killings. 4 Theoretical or methodological framework Li tends to base his arguments on social scientific theories of language and meaning. Additionally, his methodology is founded on this theoretical assumption. This is the reason why he draws on terms such as ‘performative aspects of radio’ and ‘ideological propagations’. 5On the other hand, Mironko is governed by culturally based theories. This is the reason why he believes that certain meanings could only be understood through the Hutu or Tutsi context. Whether they are discussing race, gender or class Generally speaking, one may imagine that Li is dealing with race/ tribe related issues alone, since this is an aspect covered by a large number of scholars dealing with genocides. However, the latter author believes that one must go beyond race relations in order to understand these atrocities. 6 Consequently, he places more emphasis on the interactions of dominant media forms and their society. Despite this focus however, the latter author still acknowledges that ethnic hatred (hence racial differences) played an important role in propagating the genocide. On the other hand, Mironko has delved into the tribal or race relationships between the ethnic Tutsi and their counterparts the Hutu. But like his counterpart Li, this author was quick to point out that relying on race differences alone is not sufficient to support this part of history. Mironko affirms that Hutus did not kill Tutsis because of their tribes alone, he points out that economic, political and cultural challenges intertwined. 7 How they use their evidence and to what larger question they are responding to Li tends to rely upon his three month stay within the Republic of Rwanda in 2000 and the interactions that he had with locals. However, the largest portion of this journal is dedicated to a wide array of evidence from secondary sources on the massacre. Most of the evidence is drawn from newspaper recordings in that fateful year - 1994, previously recorded interviews with victims and perpetrators of the violence, international observations, anonymous sources reported and many other indirect interactions with stakeholders in the genocide. 8 Li attempts to respond to the larger question of ‘how the media can be used to change society’. This question is analyzed through the Radio Television Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM); a Hutu backed radio station and it is also analyzed through the participants of the genocide. Through this case study, one can gain an analytical perspective on the relationship between such a diffuse, routinized and intimate genocide and the most dominant form of communication in that society- radio. 9 Mironko uses a wide array of evidence collected from primary sources. He conducted a series of interviews in prison cells and analyzed the research participants’ responses to come up with a comprehensive explanation on the genocide. He frequently, quoted a number of assertions made by interviewees in supporting his proposals. The latter author was responding to a totally different question from Li in that he wanted to find out the driving force behind mass murders especially in light of cultural ideologies such as the ‘igitero’. 10 Whether their argument are convincing Li provides a very convincing argument in his journal. He first points out inherent gaps on Rwandese genocide literature. In this argument, he claims that few authors have made reference to the role of the subject; instead much reference is given to the Rwandese as parties that are subject to manipulation, economic pressure or cultural obedience. Given these assertions, Li asserts that anti racists sentiments are not sufficient to explain the massacres, as an alternative, focus should be given to the role of the most dominant radio station RTLM in manipulating the historic, democratic and developmental discourses within this country. 11 The writer does a very good job of propelling this argument because he gives examples of how these three aspects are manipulated. Firstly, the RTLM drew on historic discourses by undermining the progress made thus creating a sense of crisis. Secondly, the RTLM tackled democratic discourses by claiming that the majority Hutu tribes were entitled to govern. Lastly, this radio station drew upon developmental discourses by associating the killings with work values (umuganda), Catholic Church values and feelings of patriotism linked to state sponsored principles. In other words, the author succeeds in proposing certain arguments and then backing them up with concrete evidence on the occurrence. This author also maintains a macro perspective throughout the journal in that he does not get lost in the vast sea of details about the Rwandese genocide. In this regard, he manages to make comparisons between materialism and idealism, language and media platforms or relationships between actors and subjects. All in all, in can be said that the author has offered a comprehensive coverage of the role that mass media communications (specifically radio) play in promoting violence. Mironko may not have offered an argument as convincing as Li’s. This is largely because the latter author did not identify existing gaps in literature. Secondly, he emphasized personal experiences of many genocide perpetrators and may therefore have been unable to draw broader conclusions on some of their assertions. Besides this, his examples are not directly linked to the thesis statement; in which he asserts that there was an underlying motive (aside from the state) that caused the attacks. Instead, the writer tends to give accounts of how the killings were committed rather than the motivations behind them. 12However, the latter author’s findings are still insightful in pointing out possibilities for prevention of further atrocities within this state. Things that are missing Despite the comprehensive arguments offered in ‘Echoes of violence.’ There are still a number of issues that have not been addressed in the journal. Firstly, the author is trapped in the same problem that most social scientists find themselves in when carrying out research; dealing with confusion about the subject matter. Li claims that he is attempting to bring in a subjective analysis into the Rwandese genocide issue. 13However, this contradicts the fact that he still analyses the topic from an object point of view. There is also another issue that the author has not addressed in terms of the very nature of the genocide. While the author has offered a comprehensive explanation of what could have caused individuals to participate in the killings, he has given very little attention to the other side of the story i.e. to those Hutu citizens who refused to participate in the killings. He has merely mentioned the fact that these individuals were simply trying to create their own understanding of normality. In order to provide sound backing for his arguments, he should have offered answers to counter claims i.e. for those who did not participate in the killings. Lastly, Li has not offered a lot of first hand information from the Rwandese citizens. 14 He has focused his attention on what had been recorded by others thus making his work seem distant from its source. This approach prevents readers from engaging with his text as much as they should. Mironko’s work would have been more thorough if he refrained from over-engaging in detailed explanations of the massacres and instead dealt with its motivations. If he did this, then he would have been in tune with his thesis argument. The latter problem could have been fixed if he had combined more secondary sources with his primary research findings. Secondly, the latter author should have explained what other writers before him had written about the Rwandan massacre and then focus on gaps in research. Thirdly, the author should have linked the igitero with motive. This would have created a comprehensive analysis. Conclusion The latter pieces are inherently different from one another. These differences stem from the fact that Mironko depended largely on primary sources and he therefore gave the ‘direct take’ on the massacres. On the other hand, Li was more distant in his research and he therefore offered a more analytical perspective to the Rwandan genocide. Bibliography Mironko, Charles. “Igitero: means and motive in the Rwandan genocide.” Journal of Genocide Research. 6, 1 (2004): 47-60. Li, Darryly. “Echoes of violence: considerations on radio and genocide in Rwanda.” Journal of Genocide Research 6, 1 (2004): 9-27. Read More