Gukora and Itsembatsemba

The ““Ordinary Killers”” in Jean Hatzfeld's Machete Season

Bibliographic Data

ID9251071
AuthorsHron Hron (Wilfrid Laurier University, corresponding author)
Year2011
Volume42
Issue2
Pages125
Publication date2011-01-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueResearch in African Literatures (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0034-5210 • E-ISSN: 1527-2044
PublisherIndiana University Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.2979/reseafrilite.42.2.125
OpenAlexW2004397481
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited12

This article examines Jean Hatzfeld’s Machete Season: The Killers in Rwanda Speak, a collection of testimonials by perpetrators of the genocide in Rwanda. While surveying popular representations of killers in Rwanda, circulating theories about the 1994 genocide and the veracity of these killers’ accounts, this article also investigates the production, edition, and translation of these killers’ interviews. In particular, it focuses on Jean Hatzfeld’s role as editor of these killers’ testimonies and Innocent Rwililiza’s position as translator-interviewer. Contextualizing elements missing from these interviews—namely, concepts from Rwandan language, history, and culture, as well as broader psychosocial dimensions both pre- and post-genocide—this article problematizes Hatzfeld’s depiction of these “ordinary killers.”

Art · Depiction · Genocide · Humanities · Literature · Sociology · Theology · History · Middle East and Rwanda Conflicts · Philosophy

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