Invektiven im Genozid. Zu Zeugnissen von überlebenden Tutsi
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Anne D. Peiter
Abstract
Drawing on testimonies from Rwandan survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi, this paper undertakes to understand the appellative nature of insults and their relationship to the nationwide systematic killings that became a reality in 1994. The animalisation of the Tutsi, particularly through the words "snake", "beetle", and "cockroach" and the "socio-zoological scale" implicit in them, functioned because the descriptive meaning of humiliating terms was supplemented by the prescriptive meaning of terms that could be described not only as "invective" but also as an "appeal to kill by word". On the one hand, this article traces the survivors' attempts to make the interplay of physical and linguistic violence conceivable; on the other hand, it also examines the role that invectives played in the cohesion of the perpetrators and the suppression of possible dissenting voices. From a theoretical point of view, I refer to Fritz Hermann's reflections on the action context of language.
Abstract
Drawing on testimonies from Rwandan survivors of the genocide against the Tutsi, this paper undertakes to understand the appellative nature of insults and their relationship to the nationwide systematic killings that became a reality in 1994. The animalisation of the Tutsi, particularly through the words "snake", "beetle", and "cockroach" and the "socio-zoological scale" implicit in them, functioned because the descriptive meaning of humiliating terms was supplemented by the prescriptive meaning of terms that could be described not only as "invective" but also as an "appeal to kill by word". On the one hand, this article traces the survivors' attempts to make the interplay of physical and linguistic violence conceivable; on the other hand, it also examines the role that invectives played in the cohesion of the perpetrators and the suppression of possible dissenting voices. From a theoretical point of view, I refer to Fritz Hermann's reflections on the action context of language.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: Discourse Analysis and Invectivity 1
- Notes on Invectivity and Metainvectivity 11
- Intentionalität vs. Normierung. Zu einem systematischen Aspekt des Diskriminierungsbegriffs 27
- who called them, Sunday *Indians or Shwannaks, that is, white people, the most opprobrious name they could invent. Powerful Constructions in the Service of Verbal Devaluation 45
- Unfreiwillige Publikumsinvektive und metainvektive Resonanz 71
- The Gammler as Invective Social Figure. A Proposal for Narrative Discourse Analysis 93
- „Politik den Profis überlassen“? Konstellationen des Invektiven im Kontext von Demonstrationen und Bürgerbeteiligung 115
- „Der Draht ist gut, hält uns ab vom dummen Leben“ 129
- Invektiven im Genozid. Zu Zeugnissen von überlebenden Tutsi 149
- Mention and Use. Invective and Metainvective Discourse Among Football Fans 177
- Vernetzung der Diskurse in der Invektive. Der Fall Silvia Romano 199
- Index 231
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction: Discourse Analysis and Invectivity 1
- Notes on Invectivity and Metainvectivity 11
- Intentionalität vs. Normierung. Zu einem systematischen Aspekt des Diskriminierungsbegriffs 27
- who called them, Sunday *Indians or Shwannaks, that is, white people, the most opprobrious name they could invent. Powerful Constructions in the Service of Verbal Devaluation 45
- Unfreiwillige Publikumsinvektive und metainvektive Resonanz 71
- The Gammler as Invective Social Figure. A Proposal for Narrative Discourse Analysis 93
- „Politik den Profis überlassen“? Konstellationen des Invektiven im Kontext von Demonstrationen und Bürgerbeteiligung 115
- „Der Draht ist gut, hält uns ab vom dummen Leben“ 129
- Invektiven im Genozid. Zu Zeugnissen von überlebenden Tutsi 149
- Mention and Use. Invective and Metainvective Discourse Among Football Fans 177
- Vernetzung der Diskurse in der Invektive. Der Fall Silvia Romano 199
- Index 231
