Dear Editor, In reference to an article published titled, “Rwanda’s choices should be based on national interests,” (The New Times, November 17),” the intellectual history of Rwanda should not be neglected-the Francophone tradition of the last 100 years that belongs to this country although you share a common mother tongue.
Dear Editor,
In reference to an article published titled, "Rwanda’s choices should be based on national interests,” (The New Times, November 17),” the intellectual history of Rwanda should not be neglected—the Francophone tradition of the last 100 years that belongs to this country although you share a common mother tongue.
It is unimaginable that you simply drop this kind of collective memory because it is not written in Kinyarwanda or in English. We have a similar problem in Germany where many historical documents are written in Latin and French. And we would not separate them from our German-speaking tradition.
Besides we should also discuss the concept of a nation. Who are you and who are the others?
A nation is always established by differences, not by homogeneous structures. A nation is more than a tribe. It is rather a composition of tribes, an opening of dispersed regions to the world. The concept of a nation, as described by Ernest Renan, is always driven by the idea of inter-nationalism.
Kian-Harald Karimi