De la religion subie au modernisme refusé : « théophagie », ancêtres clandestins et résistance populaire au Rwanda /From Undergone Religion to Rejected Modernity : « Theophagy », Secret Ancestor Worship and Popular Resistance in Rwanda

Abstract

The economic imperatives of capitalism were responsible for the cultural uprooting of the peasantry in Europe aswell as Africa. In France, for example, the school system opposed the languages spoken by national minorities. In Africa the deculturation of the peasantry was brought about through the destruction of the native religions. Rwanda provides an exemplary case in point. Catholicism was so successful there that ancestor worship seemed to disappear completely. This brilliant success is explained by an analysis of the Belgian colonial policy which was based on the preservation of the traditional feudal authority, but the representatives of that authority forced their subordinates to convert. However, the conversion was merely superficial : the peasantry continued to practise the rituels of the Rwanda religion in secret. During the decade following Independence the new rulers of Rwanda mode their loyalty to Catholicism an essential characteristic of their policy. For this reason the traditional religion remained secret. But the failure of development programmes and the loss of prestige suffered by the authorities led to a growing awareness among the peasantry of State oppression. They are beginning to refuse to follow injunctions emanating front the authorities, notably in religious matters. Ancestor worship is coming back into the open and with it there is overt criticism of the Church and government.