In the present, deogratias is a broken man teetering on the brink of sanity, addicted to the alcohol and virtually soulless. Although the slaughter of 800,000 in 100 days is a statistic of immense power, its still. This is 1994 the year when around a million tutsi people were murdered with. A tale of rwanda, a fictional graphic novel following the title character through his lives in the pre and postgenocide landscapes. A tale of rwanda authored by jeanphillipe stassen, this graphic novel is the story of deogratias, a young hutu boy whose madness is precipitated by the events surrounding the 1994 rwandan genocide. Deogratias, a tale of rwanda by stassen, jeanphilippe. It shows the life of deogratias, a young hutu man who has been driven mad by the.
The graphic novel has been translated into english by alexis siegel and follows the story of a little boy in rwanda. The book was published in french in 2000 by dupuis and has appeared in a number of different translations. Deogratias, a teenager who gets trapped in the middle of the genocide tragedy that happened in rwanda, gets criticisms as the result of what he had done in the past. Tortured by the events of this racially motivated extermination of a whole group of people, deogratias goes on this graphic narrative follows a young boy named deogratias while he. Deogratias, a tale of rwanda book by jeanphilippe stassen.
A tale of rwanda is a graphic novel written and drawn by jeanphilippe stassen, published by first second books. Beata umubyeyi mairesse the 2000 winner of the goscinny prize for outstanding graphic novel script, this is the harrowing tale of the tutsi genocide in rwanda, as seen through the eyes of a boy named deogratias. The hutus began slaughtering the tutsi minority after the death of the president. Atale of rwanda, took place in late 1994 to early 1995 in the small, densely populated east african nation of rwanda. Stassen published by first second first published 2006. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. The 2000 winner of the goscinny prize for outstanding graphic novel script, this is the harrowing tale of the tutsi genocide in rwanda, as seen through the eyes of a boy named deogratias. Deogratias and the representation of the rwandan genocide. Much of the arts use of dark tones and little contrast is, somewhat reversely, very striking to the eye. Rwanda based stassen pens a tale of that countrys 1994 genocide, as told in flashbacks from the perspective of deogratias, a teenage boy driven to madness by the tragedy. He loved a tutsi woman and had a hard time dealing with a rapidly deteriorating situation. In 1994, rwanda was the site of a swift and gruesome genocide. A tale of rwanda is a graphic novel written and drawn by jean philippe stassen, published by first second books.
A tale of rwanda has made people argue whether to throw out their sympathy or not. Deogratias means thanks be to god, and its the name of a boy coming of age in rwanda in 1994. In the introduction to his graphic novel, stassen outlines the brief history of rwanda, and in greater detail, the several years leading up to the 1994 civil wargenocide between the tutsis and the hutus. The 2000 winner of the goscinny prize for outstanding graphic novel script, this is the harrowing tale of the tutsi genocide in rwanda, as seen through the e. A tale of rwanda is the dabook club book pick this month. Stassens tale takes us back and forth in time, showing only before and after the killingsand inexorably revealing the grip of madness they had on one boy and his country. When we read about horrific events like the rwandan genocide in 1994, its almost impossible to truly fathom what impact it had. The 2000 winner of the goscinny prize for outstanding graphic novel script, this is the harrowing tale of the tutsi genocide in rwanda, as seen through the eyes. He goes to school with two girls who belong to the tutsi group, and ends up dating one of them. Unlike paul rusesabaginas experience, deogratias is unable to protect himself against the awful reality of his situation.
Deogratias is a graphic novel that depicts the tutsi genocide in rwanda, as seen through the eyes of a boy named deogratias. I dont think theres any other word to stassdn communicate what this book is like. In the era before the genocide, he is depicted as a normal young man. In the introduction to his graphic novel, stassen outlines the brief history of rwanda. Alexis siegel the 2000 winner of the goscinny prize for outstanding graphic novel script, this is the harrowing tale of the tutsi genocide in rwanda, as seen through the eyes of a boy named deogratias. Stassen the story told in deogratias is set in rwanda in 1994 and 1995. In 2005, more than a decade later, the world is still coming to terms with how the events of rwanda could possibly have been allowed to happen the way they did. Stassen this heartbreaking look at the rwandan genocide focuses on one character, a teenaged hutu named deogratias. The the harrowing tale of the tutsi genocide in rwanda unfolds, as seen through the eyes of a boy named deogratias. The 2000 winner of the goscinny prize for outstanding. Deogratias is a boy who belongs to the hutu ethnic group. As we see in the above panel, deogratias, a hutu participant in the genocide, is victimized as he is plagued by the memory of his barbaric acts. He is the main character, and stazsen his intentions are not always pure, his actions are understandable. By the end of the tale, we learn that deogratias was once a typical, hormonedriven kid.
Deogratias, a hutu boy, desperately clings to his humanity and his love for benina, a tutsi girl, in this unsettling graphic novel depicting the. Description of the book deogratias, a tale of rwanda. What exactly happened to him before and after the genocide is slowly revealed through an oscillating series of flashbacks and presentday revelations. A tale of rwanda, jeanphillipe stassen reveals the difficulties of reconciliation for postgenocide rwanda. A tale of rwanda stassen first second paperback 96 pages may 2006. Deogratias, a tale of rwanda by jeanphilippe stassen. Deogratias documents the story of a young man tragically affected by the rwandan genocide, which resulted. The country was then reeling in the aftermaths of a horrific genocide, which claimed about 800,000.