Literary realism focuses on everyday people, issues, characters, settings and situations that are real. Some writers engage realism to document their real-life experiences. The readers as well tend to gain access to real life events as vivid as the writers can recollect them. Fictitious approaches are avoided completely in these narrations. This is done to ensure that the readers can identify with the stories being narrated. Hence, the 1994 genocide has been the major focus of contemporary Rwanda prose narratives. They project the experiences of the people before, during and after the genocide. Also, some authors document their experiences as suggested by their therapists, because it usually helps as one of the coping mechanisms for trauma. This study delves into the analysis of two post-genocide prose narratives. It adopts the use of postcolonial and trauma theories as the tools for conceptualizing, understanding and interpretation of these prose narratives. Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter: The ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire and Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story and Why It Matters Today are autobiographies, they depict the causes of the genocide, the outcomes, specifically on the victims and hopefully the solutions. Edouard Kayihura suffers harrowing experiences of perpetual fear, oppression and extortion inside the Hotel des Mille Collines, this is his own truth, debunking the inaccuracies of the movie Hotel Rwanda. While, Marie Béatrice Umutesi, a Hutu woman witnesses and experiences inexplicable brutality and hardship. She endures the pains as she journeys towards safety. This study interrogates the contributions of political hegemony and identity crises to varying degrees of trauma and explains that the experiences and pains of these writers are factual. It also establishes that these prose narratives serve dual purposes of correcting a false claim and projecting the pain of a Hutu woman, a unique diversion from the popular focus on the Tutsis.
| Published in | International Journal of Literature and Arts (Volume 12, Issue 3) |
| DOI | 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15 |
| Page(s) | 80-87 |
| Creative Commons |
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Copyright |
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group |
Realism, Postcolonial Theory, Genocide, Pain, Trauma Theory
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| [3] | Norridge Z, Norridge Z. Introduction—Pain, Literature and the Personal. Perceiving Pain in African Literature. 2013: 1-25. |
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| [5] | Gandhi L. Postcolonial Theory: A Critical Introduction. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press; 1998. |
| [6] | Caruth, C. 1996. Unclaimed Experience: Trauma, Narratives and History. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press. |
| [7] | Umutesi, B. M and Emerson J. 2007 Surviving the Slaughter: The ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire. USA: University of Wisconsin Press. |
| [8] | Bamidele, L. O. 2003. Literature and sociology. Ibadan: Stirling – Horden Publishers Nig. Ltd. |
| [9] | Edouard K., Kerry, Z. 2014, Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story… and Why It Matters Today. Texas: Benbella Books. |
| [10] | Hussain, D. Healing Through Writing: Insights from Research. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion. 2010; 12(2), 19–23. |
| [11] | Newbury, C., Newbury, D. A Catholic Mass in Kigali: Contested Views of the Genocide and Ethnicity in Rwanda. Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue Canadienne Des Études Africaines. 1999; 33(2/3), 292–328. |
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Road to Peace. 2006 Surviving The Slaughter: The Ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire Marie Béatrice Umutesi Book Review with commentary. Retrieved from
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| [13] | Liedauer S. Dimensions and Causes of Systemic Oppression. InReduced Inequalities 2021; pp. 101-111. Cham: Springer International Publishing. |
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APA Style
Ayo-Afolayan, A. A. (2024). The Truth and the Pain: A Reading of Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda and Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter. International Journal of Literature and Arts, 12(3), 80-87. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15
ACS Style
Ayo-Afolayan, A. A. The Truth and the Pain: A Reading of Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda and Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter. Int. J. Lit. Arts 2024, 12(3), 80-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15
AMA Style
Ayo-Afolayan AA. The Truth and the Pain: A Reading of Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda and Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter. Int J Lit Arts. 2024;12(3):80-87. doi: 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15
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Download@article{10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15,
author = {Abimbola Afeyisetan Ayo-Afolayan},
title = {The Truth and the Pain: A Reading of Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda and Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter
},
journal = {International Journal of Literature and Arts},
volume = {12},
number = {3},
pages = {80-87},
doi = {10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15},
url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15},
eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijla.20241203.15},
abstract = {Literary realism focuses on everyday people, issues, characters, settings and situations that are real. Some writers engage realism to document their real-life experiences. The readers as well tend to gain access to real life events as vivid as the writers can recollect them. Fictitious approaches are avoided completely in these narrations. This is done to ensure that the readers can identify with the stories being narrated. Hence, the 1994 genocide has been the major focus of contemporary Rwanda prose narratives. They project the experiences of the people before, during and after the genocide. Also, some authors document their experiences as suggested by their therapists, because it usually helps as one of the coping mechanisms for trauma. This study delves into the analysis of two post-genocide prose narratives. It adopts the use of postcolonial and trauma theories as the tools for conceptualizing, understanding and interpretation of these prose narratives. Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter: The ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire and Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story and Why It Matters Today are autobiographies, they depict the causes of the genocide, the outcomes, specifically on the victims and hopefully the solutions. Edouard Kayihura suffers harrowing experiences of perpetual fear, oppression and extortion inside the Hotel des Mille Collines, this is his own truth, debunking the inaccuracies of the movie Hotel Rwanda. While, Marie Béatrice Umutesi, a Hutu woman witnesses and experiences inexplicable brutality and hardship. She endures the pains as she journeys towards safety. This study interrogates the contributions of political hegemony and identity crises to varying degrees of trauma and explains that the experiences and pains of these writers are factual. It also establishes that these prose narratives serve dual purposes of correcting a false claim and projecting the pain of a Hutu woman, a unique diversion from the popular focus on the Tutsis.
},
year = {2024}
}
TY - JOUR T1 - The Truth and the Pain: A Reading of Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda and Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter AU - Abimbola Afeyisetan Ayo-Afolayan Y1 - 2024/06/21 PY - 2024 N1 - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15 DO - 10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15 T2 - International Journal of Literature and Arts JF - International Journal of Literature and Arts JO - International Journal of Literature and Arts SP - 80 EP - 87 PB - Science Publishing Group SN - 2331-057X UR - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijla.20241203.15 AB - Literary realism focuses on everyday people, issues, characters, settings and situations that are real. Some writers engage realism to document their real-life experiences. The readers as well tend to gain access to real life events as vivid as the writers can recollect them. Fictitious approaches are avoided completely in these narrations. This is done to ensure that the readers can identify with the stories being narrated. Hence, the 1994 genocide has been the major focus of contemporary Rwanda prose narratives. They project the experiences of the people before, during and after the genocide. Also, some authors document their experiences as suggested by their therapists, because it usually helps as one of the coping mechanisms for trauma. This study delves into the analysis of two post-genocide prose narratives. It adopts the use of postcolonial and trauma theories as the tools for conceptualizing, understanding and interpretation of these prose narratives. Marie Béatrice Umutesi’s Surviving the Slaughter: The ordeal of a Rwandan Refugee in Zaire and Edouard Kayihura’s Inside the Hotel Rwanda: The Surprising True Story and Why It Matters Today are autobiographies, they depict the causes of the genocide, the outcomes, specifically on the victims and hopefully the solutions. Edouard Kayihura suffers harrowing experiences of perpetual fear, oppression and extortion inside the Hotel des Mille Collines, this is his own truth, debunking the inaccuracies of the movie Hotel Rwanda. While, Marie Béatrice Umutesi, a Hutu woman witnesses and experiences inexplicable brutality and hardship. She endures the pains as she journeys towards safety. This study interrogates the contributions of political hegemony and identity crises to varying degrees of trauma and explains that the experiences and pains of these writers are factual. It also establishes that these prose narratives serve dual purposes of correcting a false claim and projecting the pain of a Hutu woman, a unique diversion from the popular focus on the Tutsis. VL - 12 IS - 3 ER -
English Department, Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
