By 2006, when this research was completed, these three countries were undergoing fragile peace processes and trying to rebuild themsleves. Freed in the letters from journalistic conventions that would obscure her presence as a witness, Emcke probes the abyss of violence and explores the scars it leaves on landscapes external and internal. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, in1998, certain newspapers took to inciting ethnic hatred and violence towards some Congolese citizens. Before such violence subsided in 1967, up to 20,000 Tutsi were massacred and 300,000 were forced to flee (Prunier, 1995 Prunier G (1995) The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide (New York: Columbia University Press) Google Scholar, p 62), creating one of the first major refugee crises in Africa. First published in 2004 to great acclaim, Echoes of Violence in 2005 was named German political book of the year and was a finalist for the international Lettre-Ulysses award for the art of reportage.Ĭombining narrative with philosophic reflection, Emcke describes wars and human rights abuses around the world - the suffering of civilians caught between warring factions in Colombia, the heartbreaking plight of homeless orphans in Romania, and the near-slavery of garment workers in Nicaragua. Eventually, writing a letter became a ritual Emcke performed following her return from each nightmare she experienced. Echoes of Violence: Letters from a War Reporter (Human Rights and Crimes against Humanity, 1) Emcke, Carolin on. She began writing to overcome her speechlessness about the horrors of war and her own sense of failure as a reporter. Originally addressing only a small group of friends, Carolin Emcke started the first letter after returning from Kosovo, where she saw the aftermath of ethnic cleansing in 1999. But over and over again people have asked me: ‘Will you write this down?’ “ - Echoes of ViolenceĮchoes of Violence is an award-winning collection of personal letters to friends from a foreign correspondent who is trying to understand what she witnessed during the iconic human disasters of our time - in Iraq, Lebanon, Afghanistan, and New York City on September 11th, among many other places. “Nobody I ever met on my assignments … asked me for direct, practical help….
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