Relevance of the Rite of Passage in the Reconstruction of the Social Bond in Rwanda
Type de matériel :
62
This article tries to explore the problem of the reconstruction of the social bond using the tool of the cultural metaphors. In Rwanda, the rites have always been (whatever the adopted forms) a way to ban evil and scourges of various natures. With colonization, the rites have been displaced and dispersed: Rwandese society was deritualized. However, consecutive to the genocide and the massacres of 1994, the questions on the meaning of life (why have I survived?) come back strongly and challenge all the active forces of the country. During the genocide, the victims did not cry; there was no time to. Today, the victims hide their own psychological death and the death of the members of their families and their friends. I interpret this suffering as an impossibility to get over a stage of the rite of passage. The concept of “revisited” rite of passage, through mourning rituals by the patients and the members of the community, allows a new negotiation to remobilize a specific space/time.
Réseaux sociaux