Conclusion: The Danger of a Single Story

Abstract

The narratives analyzed in the preceding chapters clearly demonstrate that despite the existence of a pervasive official history in post-genocide Rwanda, the Rwandan people still make sense of their nation’s past and present in diverse ways. Competing accounts exist surrounding every major period in Rwanda’s history, from the pre-colonial era to the present. In bringing these competing narratives into conversation, critical tensions become apparent between the RPF’s ambitions for the New Rwanda and the needs of ordinary civilians. These tensions have significant ramifications for Rwandan’s future. Not only is the RPF’s official narrative only genuinely perceived as accurate and appropriate by a minority of Rwandans, but its existence is widely interpreted as a coercive presence in civilians’ everyday lives. As such, the RPF’s official narrative repeats many of the same mistakes made by previous regimes, contributing to the maintenance of a powerful reservoir of ethnic, political, and social tensions that, if left unchecked, could threaten long-term political stability.