French Literature Reviews - 2026
Z. Soumaré, Le Génocide rwandais dans la littérature africaine francophone
Francophone and Oral Literatures
Zakaria Soumaré, Le Génocide rwandais dans la littérature africaine francophone
Paris: L'Harmattan, coll. "Critiques littéraires", 2013.
238 p.
EAN 9782343011561 (EAN ebook format PDF: 9782336334325)
24.00 EUR (digital version: 18.00 EUR)
Publisher's overview:
In Rwanda in 1994, nearly one million Tutsis perished. Four years after the genocide, in 1998, a group of writers traveled to the country as part of the project "Rwanda: Writing out of a duty to remember." Thus, the literature of the Tutsi genocide was born. This book analyzes the works resulting from this project, focusing in particular on the various narrative techniques employed.
Zakaria Soumaré studied at the University of Nouakchott and subsequently in Senegal, where he earned a postgraduate master's degree (DEA) in Francophone African literature. He defended his doctoral dissertation in 2010 at the University of Limoges. Today, he is a teacher of modern literature in the Versailles Academy and an associate researcher at FRED (Francophonie, Éducation et Diversité) at the University of Limoges.
The 1994 genocide in Rwanda, in which nearly one million Tutsis perished, led to the emergence of a body of literature dedicated to the memory of the tragedy. This literary movement was catalyzed by the 1998 project Rwanda: Writing out of a duty to remember, which brought together various authors to document the events. Readers interested in the development of post-genocide aesthetics in Francophone literature may find this analysis of narrative strategies relevant.
The study is situated within the field of Francophone African literature, a domain that frequently engages with the complexities of post-colonial history and collective memory. The book analyzes works resulting from the 1998 project, focusing on the various narrative techniques employed by the authors. This approach reflects a wider scholarly interest in how literature functions as a medium for bearing witness to historical catastrophes and shaping the public understanding of such events.