| dc.description.abstract | Studies on genocide testimonial literature highlight the impact of violence and horrifying experiences on survivors’ psyche. Years after atrocities, shadows continue to linger in the minds of survivors like embers of fire presenting with nightmares. Such psychological scars continue to beleaguer many generations as evident in testimonial literature. Clearly, genocide in its very nature present survivors with extremities of helplessness and terror which have the ability to cause severe traumatic responses. This study examined testimonial literature on the 1994 Rwandan genocide from a psychoanalytic perspective of the violence and its aftermath as recreated in selected texts. The study demonstrated that repression and dissociation during such atrocities lead to traumatic responses while religious beliefs and practices play a key role in distancing the self from horror. Experiences of horror inspire the poetic spirit prompting survivors to testify in the aftermath, thus growth of testimonial literature. The objectives of the study were to; interrogate the representation of survivor character in the texts, evaluate the place of silence in narrativization of trauma, and examine the re-enactment of violence and trauma in testimonial literature. The study was guided by Sigmund Freud’s psychoanalytic theory. Analytical research design was adopted. The population of the study comprised of thirteen texts based on survivors’ accounts. Purposive sampling was used to identify texts with diverse perspectives on trauma. Data collection method involved close reading. Qualitative data was analyzed and interpreted through thematic analysis. The findings of the study were; the ambiguity of survivor characters, multifaceted nature of silence, survivor characters’ displacement strategies which betray re-enactment. This findings were discussed and presented in prose in chapters. Chapter one introduces the study while chapter two reviews relevant literature. The third chapter looks into methodology and chapter four discusses the representation of the enigmatic survivor character in genocidal violence as fifth chapter examines the place of silence in narrativizing trauma. Chapter six examines re-enactment of violence and trauma while chapter seven summarizes and concludes the study. The findings of the study are expected to make scholarly contribution to the growing field of psychoanalytic and trauma literature. | en_US |