Start Date
11-1-2012 9:30 AM
End Date
11-1-2012 11:00 AM
Description
Memory after violent conflict is a contentious issue. The way in which the past has been remembered has often been the impetus for renewed violence rather than healing and reconciliation. Exploring collective memory in the Rwandan and South African contexts, this paper argues that how we remember is more important than what we remember if the process of remembering is to contribute positively to the recovery process. Memory making has taken place through memorials, monuments, ceremonies, education, the media and social discourse since the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. These processes will be analysed in the context of Nigel Hunt’s psycho-social framework of personal and collective memory. Further, Miroslav Volf’s suggestions as to how to remember well, in a way that brings healing and reconciliation, will be applied to the contexts of Rwanda and South Africa. The argument will be made that integrating all the conflicting and contending narratives after a traumatic event and remembering together is key in terms of how to remember.
Remembering together in Rwanda and South Africa
Memory after violent conflict is a contentious issue. The way in which the past has been remembered has often been the impetus for renewed violence rather than healing and reconciliation. Exploring collective memory in the Rwandan and South African contexts, this paper argues that how we remember is more important than what we remember if the process of remembering is to contribute positively to the recovery process. Memory making has taken place through memorials, monuments, ceremonies, education, the media and social discourse since the end of Apartheid in South Africa and the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. These processes will be analysed in the context of Nigel Hunt’s psycho-social framework of personal and collective memory. Further, Miroslav Volf’s suggestions as to how to remember well, in a way that brings healing and reconciliation, will be applied to the contexts of Rwanda and South Africa. The argument will be made that integrating all the conflicting and contending narratives after a traumatic event and remembering together is key in terms of how to remember.