Art from Trauma

Genocide and Healing beyond Rwanda

Rangira Béa Gallimore, Gerise Herndon

• Publisher: University of Nebraska Press
• Year: 2019
• ISBN:
  9781496215796
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Black Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

What is the role of aesthetic expression in responding to discrimination, tragedy, violence, even genocide? How does gender shape responses to both literal and structural violence, including implicit linguistic, familial, and cultural violence? How might writing or other works of art contribute to healing? Art from Trauma: Genocide and Healing beyond Rwanda explores the possibility of art as therapeutic, capable of implementation by mental health practitioners crafting mental health policy in Rwanda. This anthology ofscholarly, personal, and hybrid essays was inspired by scholar and activistChantal Kalisa (1965–2015).At the commemoration of the nineteenth anniversary of the genocide in Rwanda, organized by the Rwandan Embassy in Washington DC, Kalisagave a presentation, "Who Speaks for the Survivors of the Genocide against Tutsi?" Kalisa devoted her energy to giving expression to those whose voices had been distorted or silenced.The essaysin this anthology address how the production and experience of visual, dramatic, cinematic, and musical arts, in addition to literary arts, contribute to healing from the trauma of mass violence, offering preliminary responses to questions like Kalisa's and honoring her by continuing the dialogue in which she participated with such passion, sharing the work of scholars and colleagues in genocide studies, gender studies, and francophone literatures.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Frontispiece
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Illustrations
• Foreword
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Part 1
• 1. Baby Steps
• 2. Speaking Nearby Genocide
• 3. Chantal’s Voice
• 4. Bittersweet Realities
• 5. Memory, Language, and Healing
• Part 2
• 6. Theater and the Rwandan Genocide
• 7. Ingoma Nshya
• Part 3
• 8. The Films of Kivu Ruhorahoza
• 9. Héla Ammar
• 10. Filming with Orphans of the Genocide
• 11. Art for Teaching and Art for Surviving
• Part 4
• 12. Gender-Based Violence in Monique Ilboudo’s Fiction
• 13. Narrating Itsembabwoko and the Quest for Empathy
• 14. “Lay Down Body, Lay Down”
• Part 5
• 15. Women’s Friendship in Exile
• 16. Preserving Memories, Celebrating Lives
• List of Contributors
• Index
• About Rangira Béa Gallimore
• About Gerise Herndon