Núrel Bahí Reitz

I am inter­ested in interpretations of historical po­litical violence in post­colonial contexts.

Within my re­search, I am con­cerned with pro­cesses of attributing meaning to his­torical vio­lence and specif­ically with the circum­stances and con­sequences of inter­pretations of violence in post­colonial relation­ships. I examine re­presentations, narratives, and forms of political and civic engage­ment in relation to the colonial atroci­ties committed by the co­lonial govern­ment during the genocide in former German South­west Africa (1904-08) and the Majimaji War in former German East Africa (1905-07). I am inter­ested in sim­ilarities and differences in the inter­pretation of these crimes and what role this plays in the dif­ferent local and inter­national approaches to historical events. Further­more, I focus on the role of civil society and po­litical actors and their in­fluence on the specific pat­terns of inter­pretation.

Research Area Interpretations: 3.1 Interpretation of Violence