Springende Metaphern und Sport. Der ruandische Hochsprung im Kontext von Kolonialismus, Genozid und post-genozidaler ‘Versöhnung

Abstract

The perception of the Rwandan landscape by German and Belgian colonialists was accompanied by parallel metaphors of ‘high’ and ‘low’ in relation to the three population groups — the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa — which in turn promoted their artificial ethnicisation. The complex traditions of the Gusimbuka-Urukiramende high jump became photographic icons, simultaneously revealing the ambivalence of European admiration for the physical mastery of the Tutsi. It was widely claimed that Rwandan jumpers used termite mounds as a springboard. The desire to ‘europeanise‘ or ‘sportify‘ the cultural practices of foreign countries was often counterbalanced by a tendency towards ‘naturalisation‘. The Rwandan Ministry of Sport’s attempt to revive the high jump in response to the 1994 genocide is equally ambivalent. On the one hand, the former attributions from Europe are being adopted through an orientation towards Olympic values. On the other hand, the aim is to revalue practices that fell into disuse due to mass violence.