GENOCIDE AND TRAUMA IN JOE USHIE’S ECLIPSE IN RWANDA AND TAYEB BOUAZID’S MEMORIES FROM THE BLACK DECADE

Abstract

Abstract

This dissertation discusses genocide and trauma in Joe Ushie’s Eclipse in Rwanda and Tayeb Bouazid’s Memories from The Black Decade. These two poignant poems vividly portray the traumatic experiences and enduring psychological impact of mass violence on individuals and societies after the Biafra civil war and the Algerian black decade. As such, the main purpose of the present dissertation is to investigate the psychological impact brought upon individuals, as well as the traumatic experiences reflected in the poems. With a specific focus on the concepts of historical trauma and postmemory, this research employs trauma theory so as to examine how poets portray the aftermath of years of fear and violence on the people. To conclude, the civil wars in Algeria and Nigeria both had severe and long-lasting traumatizing repercussions on individuals and societies, despite their different historical contexts.