Rwandan literature is

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

both oral and written in

Kinyarwanda Kinyarwanda, Rwandan or Rwanda, officially known as Ikinyarwanda, is a Bantu language and a dialect of the Rwanda-Rundi language that is spoken in Rwanda and adjacent parts of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda (where t ...

, or French, particularly by citizens of Rwanda.

Background

Rwanda's literary history is largely an oral one. The traditional texts were classed in two main categories: more formal, royal documents, which are described as 'official tradition', and the non-formal, popular literature. The distinction between these categories is based on whether or not the literature was controlled officially, rather than denoting any sort of value judgment regarding the content. To this day, storytelling and public speaking are much admired, and good storytellers are respected in society. Very little literature has been written in ''Kinyarwanda'' (the native language of the country), but there are a number of books written in French. The clergyman and historian

Alexis Kagame Alexis Kagame (15 May 1912 – 2 December 1981) was a Rwandan philosopher, linguist, historian, poet and Catholic priest. His main contributions were in the fields of ethnohistory and "ethnophilosophy" (the study of indigenous philosophical sys ...

(1912–81) researched the oral history of Rwanda and published a number of volumes of poetry and Rwandan mythology. Saverio Naigiziki wrote an autobiography, '' Escapade rwandaise'' (''Rwandan Adventure'') and a novel, '' L'Optimiste'' (''The Optimist''), about the marriage of a

Hutu The Hutu (), also known as the Abahutu, are a Bantu ethnic or social group which is native to the African Great Lakes region. They mainly live in Rwanda, Burundi and the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, where they form one of the p ...

man and a

Tutsi The Tutsi (), or Abatutsi (), are an ethnic group of the African Great Lakes region. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group and the second largest of three main ethnic groups in Rwanda and Burundi (the other two being the largest Bantu ethnic ...

woman. In the aftermath of the 1994

genocide Genocide is the intentional destruction of a people—usually defined as an ethnic, national, racial, or religious group—in whole or in part. Raphael Lemkin coined the term in 1944, combining the Greek word (, "race, people") with the Lat ...

, Benjamin Sehene (b.1959) wrote '' Le Piège ethnique'' (''The Ethnic Trap'') (1999), a study of what led to the genocide. He also wrote '' Le Feu sous la soutane'' (''Fire under the Cassock'') (2005), an historical novel focusing on the true story of a

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the Holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in layman's terms ''priest'' refers only ...

, Father Stanislas, who offered protection to Tutsi refugees in his church before sexually exploiting the women and participating in massacres.

Rwandan writers and dramatists

Scholastique Mukasonga - salon du livre Genève 2012

Scholastique Mukasonga Scholastique Mukasonga (born 1956) is a French- Rwandan author born in the former Gikongoro province of Rwanda. In 2012, She won the prix Renaudot and the prix Ahmadou-Kourouma for her book '' Our Lady of the Nile.'' In addition to being a fi ...

* Saverio Naigiki * Benjamin Sehene

Works

* '' Our Lady of the Nile''

References

{{Authority control

Background

Rwandan writers and dramatists

Works

See also

References