Balorda, Jasna (2020) The Role of Past Victimisation in Genocidal Mythologies: Bosnian and Rwandan Experiences. In: Genocide and Victimology. Routledge, pp. 151-167.
Full text not available from this repository. (Request a copy)Abstract
Within social sciences, the study of genocide is often dominated by research which, in line with the principles set out by international law, reproduces the idea of clear-cut, pure definitions of ‘victims’ and ‘killers.’ Some more recent studies (Baumeister, Smeulers, and Mamdani) are, however, in agreement that the distinction between these two categories can be somewhat blurred, although case studies exemplifying this are often lacking.
In order to contribute to more complexity within the field and encourage a detailed deconstruction of key categories, this chapter will utilise two recent case studies, the Bosnian and Rwandan genocides from the 90s, in order to showcase the role of past victimisation in genocidal mythologies. An analysis of two national myths, the myth of the battle of Kosovo and the Hamitic myth, both of which are placed at the very core of the respective genocidal ideologies, will show the processes in which an experience of group victimisation by a colonial power becomes situated at the very heart of a group’s national project and is later used to create animosities, trigger violence, and establish the conditions necessary for the emergence of genocide and other violent crimes.
Genocide itself therefore appears here as an attempt to redefine a traumatic colonial experience in order to create a utopian society, a nostalgic revival of an imagined pre-colonial idyll, making victimisation an absolutely crucial element for any valid study of genocide.
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| Faculty / Department: | Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Social Sciences |
| Depositing User: | Jasna Balorda |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jan 2025 16:27 |
| Last Modified: | 20 Jan 2025 16:27 |
| URI: | https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/4554 |
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