Volume 7, Issue 4, August 2014, Pages 1444–1457
Liberata Gahongayire1 and Anne Marie Nyiracumi2
1 Researcher on Genocide studies and prevention, National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG), Kigali, Rwanda
2 Researcher on Genocide studies and prevention, National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG), Kigali, Rwanda
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
This study explored the individual experiences based on more than 1000 records collected from the 2012 visitors' books of Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, 872 of which were analyzed through the lens of gender. There serve as memory which is a component of transitional justice in post-genocide Rwanda. The main method is the content analysis. The study used also quantitative technique in data entries and classification of themes. The analysis has pointed out who are the visitors, interpretation of their messages and their addressees. The emerged themes of comments are: prayers, lessons, recommendations, remorse and emotions of grief, healing and sympathy. Furthermore, gender and continent of origin have influenced the content of the messages. Based on these findings, the study identifies the need for further research in the field of memory transmitted by genocide memorial sites.
Author Keywords: addressee, Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, memory, individual experiences, visitors' book.
Liberata Gahongayire1 and Anne Marie Nyiracumi2
1 Researcher on Genocide studies and prevention, National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG), Kigali, Rwanda
2 Researcher on Genocide studies and prevention, National Commission for the fight against Genocide (CNLG), Kigali, Rwanda
Original language: English
Copyright © 2014 ISSR Journals. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
This study explored the individual experiences based on more than 1000 records collected from the 2012 visitors' books of Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, 872 of which were analyzed through the lens of gender. There serve as memory which is a component of transitional justice in post-genocide Rwanda. The main method is the content analysis. The study used also quantitative technique in data entries and classification of themes. The analysis has pointed out who are the visitors, interpretation of their messages and their addressees. The emerged themes of comments are: prayers, lessons, recommendations, remorse and emotions of grief, healing and sympathy. Furthermore, gender and continent of origin have influenced the content of the messages. Based on these findings, the study identifies the need for further research in the field of memory transmitted by genocide memorial sites.
Author Keywords: addressee, Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, memory, individual experiences, visitors' book.
How to Cite this Article
Liberata Gahongayire and Anne Marie Nyiracumi, “Breaking silence: Documenting individual experiences based on visitors 'book of Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, Rwanda,” International Journal of Innovation and Applied Studies, vol. 7, no. 4, pp. 1444–1457, August 2014.
