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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Paranoia, 'chosen trauma' and forgiveness in Leah Chishugi's 'A long way from paradise'
Author:Tembo, Nick Mdika
Year:2015
Periodical:The English Academy Review (ISSN 1753-5360)
Volume:32
Issue:2
Pages:70-87
Language:English
Geographic term:Rwanda
Subjects:novels
genocide
About person:Leah ChishugiISNI
External link:https://doi.org/10.1080/10131752.2015.1086159
Abstract:This article reads Leah Chishugi's 'A long way from paradise' (2010. London:Virago) in the light of its portrayal of the traumatic aftermath of the Rwandan genocide, and how this genocide almost irreparably damaged the traumatized survivors' personalities. Of particular interest is Chishugi's heightened sense of suspicion of her adopted environs as being full of 'human landmines' (a euphemism for the insensate interahamwe Hutu militia who mercilessly carried out the 1994 genocide in Rwanda) and, therefore, as places not safe to stay in. The article argues that a sense of insecurity, and one's inability to cope with a traumatic past, often reinforce such paranoia. It also argues that the path to genuine reconciliation and true reconstruction in the contested world of post-genocide Rwanda requires all Rwandans to deal with such paranoia and related ethnic (post)memories. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract]
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