A Thematic Analysis Exploring the Narratives of Growing Up as a Second-Generation Survivor of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda and the Presence of Generative Commitment

Authors

Victor Mpore, University of Nebraska-LincolnFollow

First Advisor

Dr. Lindsay Hastings

Date of this Version

Summer 8-2023

Comments

A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Graduate College at the University of Nebraska In Partial Fulfillment of Requirements For the Degree of Master of Science, Major: Leadership Education, Under the Supervision of Professor Lindsay Hastings. Lincoln, Nebraska: August, 2023

Copyright © 2023 Victor Mpore

Abstract

The scientific analysis of narratives from survivors of a genocide like the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi has provided an understanding on the survivors experiences during and after the genocide. Most narrative research on the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi has however primarily focused on the survivors and not their children. This study focuses on the second-generation survivors as a significant portion of the Rwandan population was born after the genocide. Drawing on the narrative approach, this study thematically analyzed narratives the second-generation survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi have about: a) their childhood and young adulthood in the post-genocide education system, b) narratives they have of their parents’ lives before and during the genocide, and c) narratives they have about growing up in a nation committed to rebuilding through national unity and reconciliation finding that the post-genocide education policies, stories shared in family, and national unity and reconciliation efforts have shaped the participants’ experiences and their relationship to post-genocide Rwanda. This study also examined whether second-generation survivors of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi showed narrative themes of generative commitment in constructing their life stories. Despite not fulfilling the requirements of The Commitment Story the participants in this current study added non-Western and unique narratives to four of the five commitment themes. The study thematically examined the narratives of participants who grew up in the Republic of Rwanda who were attending a large Midwestern University in the United States of America at the time of the study in relation to their past, present, and future.

Advisor: Lindsay Hastings