Fabricius-Rahbek, Hans

Herforth, Jonas El Aoula

Kjældmand, Julie

Sørensen, Rebecca Mary Buron

Tumwesigye, Ida

The purpose of this paper is to examine the understandings of ethnicity in Rwanda through the scientific literature before and after the genocide in 1994. The paper uses the historical method and will include an account for the history of Rwanda and eugenics as a means of identifying and classifying the rwandan population in relation to the term ‘divide and rule’. Furthermore, an analysis will be made of certain types of literature chosen on the basis of their views on ethnicity. These views will then be compared and discussed in order to uncover their differences and similarities. As a conclusion, the paper indicates a change in the uderstanding of ethnicity from a discourse of power relations determinating the ethnicity of a group and less of a focus on the colonization of Rwanda as the main influence on ethnic identification. The literature published after the genocide insinuates, in contrast to the above, a discourse about ethnicity being a non-essentiel category for identification.The purpose of this paper is to examine the understandings of ethnicity in Rwanda through the scientific literature before and after the genocide in 1994. The paper uses the historical method and will include an account for the history of Rwanda and eugenics as a means of identifying and classifying the rwandan population in relation to the term ‘divide and rule’. Furthermore, an analysis will be made of certain types of literature chosen on the basis of their views on ethnicity. These views will then be compared and discussed in order to uncover their differences and similarities. As a conclusion, the paper indicates a change in the uderstanding of ethnicity from a discourse of power relations determinating the ethnicity of a group and less of a focus on the colonization of Rwanda as the main influence on ethnic identification. The literature published after the genocide insinuates, in contrast to the above, a discourse about ethnicity being a non-essentiel category for identification

Cultural Encounters - Colonization: The Perception of Ethnicity in Rwanda

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