Narratives & discourses of Rwandan former refugees & genocide survivors in the USC-Shoah Archive & Western (US, UK, Italy, Canada) newspapers

This dissertation study examines the sensemaking and resilience expressions of Rwandan former refugees' and genocide survivors' (FRGSs') life-stories, as well as the characteristics of Western journalists' and media commentators' retellings and discussion of those life-stories. This topic is of interest to genocide survivor associations; international, national government and non-government institutions and organizations; social workers; and immigration and asylum lawyers, among other stake-holders. The primary research questions are 1) How is sensemaking and resilience expressed in the narratives and discourses of Rwandan former refugees and genocide survivors? 2) What are the differences between the ways Rwandan former refugees and genocide survivors (FRGS) tell their own stories, and the way other commentators tell or talk about their stories in the media? Narrative and discourse analysis methods were used to investigate the answers to those questions over a period of two years. The key findings suggest that Rwandan FRGSs express sensemaking and resilience in three main ways, namely: 1) locating personal experiences within or outside of the generally known/accepted historical narrative of the Rwandan genocide, 2) the provision of thematic narratives of lived personal experiences, and 3) recounting of specific details via time and place, description of past thoughts and states of being, and evaluations or interpretations. On the other hand, Western journalists and mass media commentators retell Rwandan FRGS life-stories by 1) simplifying the cause of the genocide as enmity between Tutsis and Hutus, with inadequate credit given to other responsible factors, 2) frequently covering and emphasizing stories of reconciliation between victims and perpetrators, and the resilience and survival of Rwandan survivors and the society-at-large, and 3) deliberately highlighting and using de-facto (unintended) interpretations of the commonality between the Rwandan and other genocides and mass conflicts.