Performing Trauma in Central Africa: Shadows of Empire (African Expressive Cultures)

What are the stakes of cultural production in a time of war? How is artistic expression prone to manipulation by the state and international humanitarian organizations? In the charged political terrain of post-genocide Rwanda, post-civil war Uganda, and recent violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Laura Edmondson explores performance through the lens of empire. Instead of celebrating theatre productions as expression of cultural agency and resilience, Edmondson traces their humanitarian imperatives to a place where global narratives of violence take precedence over local traditions and audiences. Working at the intersection of performance and trauma, Edmondson reveals how artists and cultural workers manipulate narratives in the shadow of empire and how empire, in turn, infiltrates creative capacities. What are the stakes of performance in a time of war? How is artistic expression prone to manipulation by the state and international humanitarian organizations? From the standpoint of empire, Laura Edmondson explores cultural production that responds to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, the twenty-year civil war in northern Uganda, and regional conflict in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. She examines memorial ceremonies, plays, indigenous performance, NGO media campaigns, and contemporary dance to reveal how artists and cultural workers challenge state and humanitarian narratives in the shadow of empire and how empire, in turn, infiltrates creative capacities. Carefully contextualizing these narratives within the charged political terrain of the Great Lakes Region, Edmondson deepens our understanding of the role of creative expression and cultural agency in conflict and postconflict zones Cover PERFORMING TRAUMA IN CENTRAL AFRICA Title Copyright Dedication CONTENTS Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Introduction 1 Competitive Memory in the Great Lakes: Touring Genocide 2 Marketing Trauma and the Theatre of War in Northern Uganda 3 Trauma, Inc. in Postgenocide Rwanda 4 Repetition, Rupture, and Ruined: Narratives from the Congo 5 Gifted by Trauma: The Branding of Postconflict Northern Uganda 6 Confessions of a Failed Theatre Activist Afterword: Faustin Linyekula and the Labors of Hope References Index About the Author