EXPOUNDING THE NAMA - HERERO GENOCIDE OF 1904-1908: A COGNITIVE METAPHOR APPROACH

Abstract

This study examined four Namibian Nama-Herero literary texts about the genocide in Namibia through the application of the cognitive stylistics theory as a framework for analysis. These are, namely, Lauri Kubuitsile’s The Scattering (2016), Jaspar D. Utley’s Lie of the Land (2017), Rukee Tjingaete’s The Weeping Graves of our Ancestors (2017) and Zirk van den Berg’s Parts Unknown (2018). The four novels were chosen because they present the Nama-Herero genocide, which took place from 1904-1908, where over 65,000 Ovaherero and 10,000 Nama people died in what is known as the first genocide of the twentieth century. The study promotes new discourses on cognitive stylistics studies of Namibian literary works. The study is significant to researchers and readers as it is a useful reference tool for students, politicians and researchers conducting studies in the field of cognitive stylistics. Cognitive linguistics argues that a particular situation in a literary text can be interpreted in different ways. Observations from nuanced readings of the texts indicated that themes in the selected texts largely centre on the natives’ experiences of the genocide during this period of colonial occupation and encounter. This was achieved through the examination of literary creativity through the use of cognitive metaphor, genocidal trauma, and mental and physical oppression. It was concluded that reading, analysing and schematising genocidal fictional works can reflect a negative past for current world citizens to understand and adopt ways that can be used to prevent genocide.