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Violence and Memory: The Mulele “Rebellion” in Post-colonial D. R. Congo Emery Masua Kalema Student Number: 723307 A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (History) Supervising committee: Professor Achille Mbembe Professor Eric Worby Dr Catherine Burns Dr Maria Suriano Johannesburg, February 2017 © Emery Masua Kalema Abstract Between 1963 and 1968, Pierre Mulele, previously Minister of National Education in the first post-colonial government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, led a rebellion in Kwilu province against the Congolese government. Strongly opposed to the new form of colonialism expressed in the “Belgo-Congolese dream,” Mulele took up arms to change the order of things. This thesis is about the suffering caused by this rebellion, the reproduction of this suffering across time, and its inscription in the imaginary of the survivors and, indirectly, the Congolese state and various political regimes in power in Kinshasa from the 1960s to the present. It is the overall question of the “imaginaries of suffering” that drives the analysis: suffering as what people experienced in the concrete conditions of existence during the rebellion; suffering experienced by the body during the rebellion; suffering as what the “body” remembers because it carries visible marks, recognizable by the self and others; and suffering as what leaves marks in the minds of the suffering subjects. The thesis is also about power, its meaning, and the complex interplay of forces between power, memory, and suffering. It draws on evidence from archival materials, oral testimonies, and debates from philosophy, history, anthropology, literary studies, and medical humanities published over the last thirty years by scholars from Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa. Keywords: Mulele, rebellion, suffering, imagination, reproduction, body, power, memory, Congo, Zaire. Declaration I declare that this thesis is my own unaided work. It is submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. It has not been submitted before for any other degree or examination at any other university. _______________________ Emery Masua Kalema On the 24th day of February, 2017 Dedication To my parents, for reminding me that knowledge is freedom. Acknowledgements This dissertation is the result of four years of work and endeavours. Its completion would not have become reality without the support, supervision, and encouragements of a great number of people and institutions, both at the time of research and writing. My thanks go in the first place to my supervisors Achille Mbembe, Catherine Burns, Eric Worby, and Maria Suriano for their time, patience, support, generosity, and rigorous intellectual guidance. I have been fortunate to benefit from their scholarship and intellectual example. I would also like to thank my professors at the Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research (WiSER) who supported me intellectually during these years: Sarah Nuttall, Keith Breckenridge, Pamila Gupta, Hlonipha Mokoena, Belinda Bozzoli, Liz Gunner, Shireen Hassim, and Jonathan Klaaren. I am grateful to my peers Ruth Sacks, Christi Kruger, Natasha Vally, Mwenya Kabwe, Ellison Tjirera, Faeeza Ballim, Candice Jansen, Sinethemba Makanya, Robyn Bloch, and Renée van der Wiel for their comments during our PhD reading group meetings. Ernest Kiangu, Jean-Marie Mutamba, Jérôme Mumbanza, Isidore Ndaywell, Charles Sikitele, Rombault Mimbu, and Nancy Rose Hunt have been supportive since the beginning of this project. I am grateful to them. Joshua Walker, Marie-Claude Haince, Tim Wright, Pedro Monaville, Isabelle de Rezende, Guillaume Lachenal, and Thomas Lessaffre read some pieces of this dissertation as I was writing. I thank them for their time and comments. I am grateful to the Ford Foundation, Wits Faculty of Humanities, and WiSER for their financial support. I would not have made it without them. Zoé Groves, Sarah Duff, Adila Deshmukh, Najibha Deshmukh, David Murdock, Caroline Jeannerat, Sharad Chari, Nathalie Jara, Stacey Sommerdek, Daria Trentini, and Nazeema Mohamed have been there for me during all these years. I am thankful to them. Zenon Mibamba, Lucie Muyenzi, Atum Pascal, Pablo Pakasa, Etienne Sopete, Frade Zunga Zunga, Patrice Kasanda, Felix Mupatu, Baudouin Matalatala, Matondo Mundele, Ruphin Kibari, Hégé Bwenia, Anne Mulema, Jean-René Mulema, Ngobila, Gabriel Kunonga, Godé Kulemfuka, Rachidy Bwalankay, Cédrick Bukasa, Joshua Kiluba, Ebenezer Kiluba, Ornélie Mangungu, Mamy Dema, Christine Akwety, Paulette Akwety, vii Benjamine Akwety, Cathy Akwety, Maclé Akwety, and Marie-Jeanne Akwety helped me tremendously during my stay in Kinshasa, Kikwit, Idiofa, and Gungu for fieldwork. I am truly grateful to all of them. My aunt Anne-Marie Akwety looked after me all these years. My parents have been there for me. My sister Esther Masua, her husband Jean-Paul Kabaka, and all my other siblings have been checking up on me. I am thankful to them. Finally I would like to thank all my interviewees for their time and their memories. This dissertation would not have been possible without their voices. Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................................... VI LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................................... X ABBREVIATIONS .................................................................................................................................... XI INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................................ 1 OVERTURE ................................................................................................................................................. 1 EVIDENCE, METHODS, THEORIES, AND APPROACHES .................................................................................. 5 A SHORT INTELLECTUAL TRAJECTORY ....................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER ONE – SPACE, MOBILITY, AND DISPLACEMENT ..................................................... 11 ON TERRITORIAL OCCUPATION AND THE REGULATION OF MOVEMENTS ................................................... 11 FLEEING THE CONFLICT: “SCHIZOPHRENIA,” DREAMS, IMAGINATION, AND “BESTIALITY” ....................... 31 PERIPHERY AS A FRICTION ZONE ............................................................................................................... 45 “REFUGEE CAMP” AS A SITE OF EXCLUSION .............................................................................................. 60 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 72 CHAPTER TWO – BODILY PAIN AND THE POLITICS OF DEATH ............................................ 73 PUTTING TO DEATH .................................................................................................................................. 73 CROWD AND TORTURE .............................................................................................................................. 84 THE DEATH OF THE CORPSE AND THE RETURN OF THE DEAD ..................................................................... 92 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 101 CHAPTER THREE – SCARS, MARKED BODIES, AND SUFFERING .......................................... 103 LIVING WITH SCARS: SELF, IMAGE, OTHERS, AND SUFFERING ................................................................. 104 BODILY DISRUPTIONS, TEMPORALITY, AND SUFFERING .......................................................................... 116 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 130 CHAPTER FOUR – THE POLITICS OF FORGETTING ................................................................. 131 END OF THE REBELLION: IMBROGLIO AND TIGHT CONTROL OF PEOPLE................................................... 132 THE “RE-INCARNATION” OF MULELE: MOURNING, GHOST, AND FORGETTING ........................................ 151 THE RE-INVENTION OF MULELE: FACTS, FRICTION AND SUFFERING ....................................................... 160 CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................................................... 169 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................................................................ 171 SUMMARY OF ARGUMENTS ..................................................................................................................... 171 CHALLENGES, CONTRIBUTIONS, AND PERSPECTIVES FOR THE FUTURE ................................................... 173 BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................................... 176 ARCHIVES ............................................................................................................................................... 176 Hoover Institution
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