Africana Periodical Literature 
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| Title: | Representations of ethnicity in the search for peace: Ituri, Democratic Republic of Congo |
| Author: | Pottier, Johan |
| Year: | 2010 |
| Periodical: | African Affairs: The Journal of the Royal African Society |
| Volume: | 109 |
| Issue: | 434 |
| Pages: | 23-50 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | Congo (Democratic Republic of) |
| Subjects: | ethnicity Hima Lendu stereotypes history |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/40388445 |
| Abstract: | This article scrutinizes writings on ethnicity with reference to the Hema and Lendu, the main protagonists in the Ituri conflict (1999-2007) in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. First, it reviews ethnic representations during the conflict: Hema leaders portrayed Lendu as 'wild and untameable', 'génocidaires', and 'incapable of governance', while Lendu leaders portrayed Hema as 'driven by an innate desire for political and economic control', a 'self-appointed elite' whose legitimacy must be questioned. Next, the article turns to the origins of these (mis)representations by considering how Hema and Lendu have been viewed over the course of the twentieth century - by anthropologists, colonial administrators, missionaries, and explorers. It traces the origins of these representations to the early decades of Belgian colonial rule and demonstrates the persistent emotive power of racist discourses. It challenges received wisdom about precolonial and early colonial interactions between Hema and Lendu, thus shedding light on a critical phase of history that remains insufficiently understood, and supporting the argument that a re-crafting of the dominant discourse on Ituri history is a challenge that is central to the current peace process. Notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract] |
