Constructing identity through commemoration: Kwibuka and the rise of survivor nationalism in post-conflict Rwanda

Abstract

In the years following Rwanda's civil war, the country has remembered those killed in the 1994 genocide with 100 days of official commemoration, known as Kwibuka. The temporary commemoration period is characterised by an explicit acknowledgement and public discussion of ethnic identity, which stands in puzzling contrast to the state's policy of ethnic non-recognition, enforced during the rest of the year in hopes of achieving national homogeneity (Ndi Umunyarwanda). Thus, one observes seemingly diametrically opposed practices of legally erasing identity groups because of their link to conflict and a unique, three month-long saturation of reminders in the form of public speeches, memorial programming and burials, and commemorative signage. A blurring of 'Tutsi' with 'survivor' and the deliberate passing down of survivor identity to Tutsi youth have created, over time, conditions for a 'survivor nationalism', which exacerbates social tensions and risks sustainable peace in the long term.