Reclassification and negation of difference through language policy in post-genocidal Rwanda (F04 (ehem.B02))

• Subject Area: General and Comparative Linguistics, Experimental Linguistics, Typology, Non-European Languages ; African, American and Oceania Studies
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 442261292

The project examines language policy and language-related reclassifications in post-genocidal Rwanda since 1994. After returnees from Ugandan exile came to power, the country was reorganized socially, politically and linguistically: English replaced French as the official language and local Kinyarwanda varieties were suppressed. The project examines the creation of ‘uniform’ citizens through linguistic standardization and the official abolition of ethnic categories. It also examines how language was used to construct new differences between returnees and former residents, victims and perpetrators, and what role acts of violence played in this process. It also analyses how this policy was transferred to today’s conflict scenario in eastern Congo and how it shapes current re-ethnicized conflict dynamics there.

• DFG Programme: Collaborative Research Centres
• Subproject of: SFB 1482: Studies in Human Differentiation
• Applicant Institution: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz
• Project Head: Professor Dr. Nico Nassenstein