Presentations and Papers

Hey class,

Please leave questions and queries relating to the presentation and paper... Please read the guidelines carefully. I will be around during Spring Break so can respond to any concerns.

Enjoy break, people!
A

Rwanda

Dear class,

Please cut and paste the following links into your browser and read the article and power point relating to the Rwandan genocide.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1288230.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3594187.stm

Hotel Rwanda portrays the enormous suffering which can flow when people identify strongly with an identity-position. Indeed, it was the firm belief in difference which led to the massacre of 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsis.

As you read through the material and consider the film, think about the following questions and leave your thoughts in the comments section.

1) Rwandan society is divided into two different groups - the Hutus and the Tutsis - is this a natural division? If not, how was this division created?

2) Why did the Belgian colonial power create this difference?

3) How is difference marked? (consider the first article you read on the Croat and Serb who separate their identities through cultural symbols - such as a cigarette.

4) In the film, we view the importance of media processes in helping to create the classification, describe how meanings were being attached to each identity through this system of representation (consider the radio broadcasts and how the Tutsis were described).

5) Think about how identity ideologies led to both the genocide, and also in terms of how the West reacted (or didn't react). For instance, ideological meanings about the Tutsis contributed to how the Hutu people perceived the Tutsi people... Also, Western ideologies about Africans affected the response of Western nations.

Finally, feel free to reflect on the film... It is certainly a difficult and harrowing film to view.