Disposition of Grief and Apprehending Pain

Rwandan Citizenship Prescribed by the State and People's Morality

Abstract

This study examined how people tried to rebuild their morality after the 1994 Rwandan genocide through systems established by the Rwandan state, such as genocide commemoration forums and the Survivors' Fund. Although these systems have been expected to subsume those divided by the genocide and those who should be classified as "Rwandan," the nation's history has recognized Tutsi as a "survivor," namely, "full citizen," and Hutu as a "perpetrator," or "second-class citizen." However, most people in villages were threatened during the genocide and caught in the "gray zone" in which one was unable to distinguish right from wrong. People could receive others' pain by observing their affect, which was brought about by memories that cannot be controlled or spoken of. The affect can cause the development of the imagination around these personal memories and the accompanying suffering. By apprehending the pain of others, it is possible to overcome the system based on politics of recognition that produces the divide between citizens.