Disruption of Social Settings in Selected Narratives of Genocide

Abstract

Social settings are what characterise each society hence they vary from one society to the other. If these social settings are disturbed by any force internally or externally, chaos becomes inexorable. Between 1904-1908 at the dawning of the 20th century, a genocide happened where Herero and Nama people of the then German South West Africa (present day Namibia) were nearly completely exterminated by German soldiers. Through the selected narratives of genocide: Parts Unknown (2018) by Zirk Van Den Burg, The Lie of the Land (2017) by David Jasper Utley, The Weeping Graves of Our Ancestors (2017) by Rukee Tjingaete, The Scattering (2016) Lauri Kubuitsile, and Mama Namibia (2013) by Mari Serebrov, this paper explores the disruption of social settings as represented in the selected texts. Founded within the disruption of social settings of the Herero and Nama people are three key issues namely: interference with family set ups; discounting religion, culture and tradition; and violation of revered places. The article concludes that the presence of the Germans brought with it a miserable overhaul to the indigenous people’s lives.