Beyond Despair - (Thinking from Elsewhere) by Hélène Dumas (Paperback)

About the Book

A bracing look at the Rwanda Genocide against the Tutsi through the eyes of children.

Book Synopsis

Winner, Prix Pierre Lafue
Winner, Prix lycéen du livre d'histoire des Rendez-vous de l'histoire de Blois

In the archives of the main institution in charge of the history and memory of the genocide in Rwanda, several bundles of fragile little school notebooks contain, in the silence of accumulated dust, the stories of around a hundred surviving children. Written in 2006 at the initiative of a Rwandan survivors' association, as a testimonial and psychological catharsis, these accounts by children who have since become young men and women tell the story of their experience of the genocide, as well as of "life before" and "life after."

The words of these children, the cruel realism of the scenes they describe, the power of the emotions they express, provide the historian with an unparalleled insight into the subjectivities of the survivors, and also enable us to take on board the murderous discourse and gestures of those who eradicated their world of childhood forever. Far from abstract postulates on the "unspeakable," Beyond Despair offers a reflection on the conditions that make audible such an experience of dereliction in the twilight of the twentieth century.

This work received support for excellence in publication and translation from Albertine Translation, a program created by Villa Albertine and funded by FACE Foundation.

From the Back Cover

"Beyond Despair is shattering. The book constitutes a restrained, low-pitched, and controlled exposition. Dumas's restraint comes from profound empathy and understanding of an event that is unbearable to contemplate. The story--of human evil--bursts out from these children's lives and overwhelms us. I can't recall a reading a book in ten or twenty years that has affected me so deeply."--Jan T. Gross, Princeton University

"It is a testament to Hélène Dumas's integrity as a historian that she does not instrumentalize, and thereby distort, the children's accounts on behalf of her own grand take-away. Instead she fills in the elements of the scenes that the children leave out, and explains the common themes, so that the full force of the children's experiences hits readers all the harder, and more directly."--Louisa Lombard, from the Foreword

Winner, Prix Pierre Lafue
Winner, Prix lycéen du livre d'histoire des Rendez-vous de l'histoire de Blois

In the archives of the main institution in charge of the history and memory of the genocide in Rwanda, several bundles of fragile little school notebooks contain, in the silence of accumulated dust, the stories of around a hundred surviving children. Written in 2006 at the initiative of a Rwandan survivors' association, as a testimonial and psychological catharsis, these accounts by children who have since become young men and women tell the story of their experience of the genocide, as well as of "life before" and "life after."

The words of these children, the cruel realism of the scenes they describe, the power of the emotions they express, provide the historian with an unparalleled insight into the subjectivities of the survivors, and also enable us to take on board the murderous discourse and gestures of those who eradicated their world of childhood forever. Far from abstract postulates on the "unspeakable," Beyond Despair offers a reflection on the conditions that make audible such an experience of dereliction in the twilight of the twentieth century.

Hélène Dumas is a research fellow in history at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the Raymond Aron Center for sociological and political studies at the EHESS, Paris.

Review Quotes

Beyond Despair is shattering. The book constitutes a restrained, low-pitched, and controlled exposition. Dumas's restraint comes from profound empathy and understanding of an event that is unbearable to contemplate. The story--of human evil--bursts out from these children's lives and overwhelms us. I can't recall a reading a book in ten or twenty years that has affected me so deeply.---Jan T. Gross, Princeton University

It is a testament to Hélène Dumas's integrity as a historian that she does not instrumentalize, and thereby distort, the children's accounts on behalf of her own grand take-away. Instead she fills in the elements of the scenes that the children leave out, and explains the common themes, so that the full force of the children's experiences hits readers all the harder, and more directly.---Louisa Lombard, from the Foreword

About the Author

Hélène Dumas (Author)
Hélène Dumas is a research fellow in history at the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), affiliated with the Raymond Aron Center for sociological and political studies at the EHESS, Paris. She is the author of Le Génocide au village: Le massacre des Tutsi au Rwanda.

Louisa Lombard (Foreword By)
Louisa Lombard is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Yale University. She is the author of State of Rebellion: Violence and Intervention in the Central African Republic.

Catherine Porter (Translator)
Catherine Porter is Professor of French Emerita at the State University of New York at Cortland and former president of the Modern Language Association. She has translated more than fifty books, including Bruno Latour's Down to Earth and Elisabeth Roudinesco's The Sovereign Self.