Historical Narratives and the Politics of Identity: A Comparative Analysis of Hotel Rwanda, Shooting Dogs and Sometimes in April
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Shooting DogsAbstract
Identity is a contested construct grounded in various narratives such as history. As a result of that, it appears to have stable and fixed borders. However, characters with multiple identities cross their borders in different contexts to co-exist, hence disavowing the assumed fixity. The study used exploratory research design to explain its findings. Data analysis and presentation was guided by tenets of the theory of nationalism: primordialism; instrumentalism and constructivism by Ernest Gellner (1964) and structuralist film theory by Leo Kuleshov (1920). This study concluded that history is among the multiple narratives that can be used to mark identity. However, identity is a fluid construct that keeps refashioning in different contexts.
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