Écrire l'histoire d'une controverse : les relations entre l'Église catholique rwandaise et le génocide des Tutsi au travers de la presse rwandaise (1994-2003)

Korman, Rémi

Avril 2021

20210401

Écrire l'histoire d'une controverse : les relations entre l'Église catholique rwandaise et le génocide des Tutsi au travers de la presse rwandaise (1994-2003)

n° 2, 2021, Sources de la violence: 45–140.

KormanEgliseCatholiqueGenocideDansPresseRwandaise2021.pdf

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Sources

https://www.sources-journal.org/431?file=1

Article de revue

FR

The history and memory of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda have been the subject of much controversy since 1994. In order to study it, academics gather various sources: interviews, public and private archives, and press sources. Each of these sources has its specificities that must be considered. Although it is not much mobilized, the press is an essential primary source to write a history of post-genocide debates. In a context of still limited access to the public and private Rwandan archives, the press indeed allows us to establish a fine chronology and to identify the actors, their networks, and the circulation of their productions. However, these sources raise practical and methodological questions: where can they be found? What specific biases do they produce? For this article, I chose to revisit the controversy that has surrounded the responsibility of the Catholic Church in the genocide against the Tutsi. The Rwandan Catholic Church has had a particular role in the intellectual and political history of the country since the colonial era, but also in the history of the media, as clergymen were behind many magazines and newspapers. After 1994, the new Rwandan authorities accused the Catholic Church of being responsible for the genocide against the Tutsi. Specific criticism targeted Catholic missionaries. Starting from a corpus of articles published in 1998-1999, I wish to shed light on the richness of the Rwandan press sources for the study of this controversy. I also aim to show how it can be used within an approach that mainly relates to the history of intellectuals. Such a methodological approach could be extended to other controversies and more broadly to the contemporary history of Rwanda.

https://francegenocidetutsi.fr/fgtshow.php?num=29712