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Rape Warfare: The Hidden Genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Croatia
Allen (Italian, French, women studies, comparative literature, Syracuse U.) learned about rape/death camps through a former student who supplied her with accounts from survivors in Bosnia and Croatia. This volume is a response in which she examines the regional complexities of identity, and the syst
200 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1996
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 2, 2021
The mood of this book is a little on the liberal side. I wasn't sure if the author was yelling at me at times or not. On the positive, gives information on the different divisions in Bosnia to include ethnic groups, religious groups, geopolitical and geoethnic groups. The most interesting thing I learned from the book is the pastoral cultural of the Balkans and the view of the knife. How the knife is a weapon/tool of great significant value and is very dear to the Balkan people.
January 5, 2024
a very difficult, but necessary read, especially considering that wars and genocides are an ongoing reality, and the realities of rape warfare explained in this book must also be ongoing.
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October 5, 2007brief note (my original review is below)-- in the intro the author notes that she grew up in First Covenant CHurch, Oakland, my family's church-- so no wonder my parent's got her book! I'll have to find out more about who she is.
Found this on my parents' shelf, actually. It is about the use of "genocidal rape" in the Balkan conflict-- a weird term, maybe, but in the context of a misogynistic and medieval view of human reproduction which sees the female body as merely an incubator which contributes nothing genetically to the child, it makes a twisted sense, basically replacing the genetic heritage of your enemies with your own-- which I suppose could be explained a la evolutionary psychology, though that's a field I don't know much about. Doesn't excuse any of this of course-- I would argue that being able to explain something does not necessarily, or even often, mean excusing something-- though it is obviously helpful for reminding us of the humanity which we share with the offenders and victims alike. And of course, there is a very similar sort of thing going on in Volundarkvida, an ON poem I'm particularly interested in.
The first place I heard about the issue of rape in connection with the Balkan war was actually in an Old Norse class with Carol Clover on revenge, honor and bloodfeud (which is what she always teaches on, incidentally-- and it's a productive topic in ON lit). I don't know if her info came from this book at all, but she pointed out that women who had been victims in a mass rape during the war told their interviewers that they had been aware that their attackers weren't actually raping them, but raping their men, their husbands, brothers, and fathers. Which I say not to diminish what was done to the women, but just to clarify part of the psychology of rape in these cases-- we see it in ON lit too, often explicitly. It is as though only the men are the real players (for example, honor is typically exchanged between those of the same sex and social position, at least when speaking of honor on the level of the individual, not the family, so it is the upper class men who take center stage)-- and since one of the worst insults is the sexual use of a man, making a man play the feminine role in a sexual relationship, or accusing him of that (okay, I would probably need more space to explain how all this works in ON lit and don't have time now), then gaining sexual access to a man's woman is a way of feminizing him-- Carol spoke of the woman in the sagas as being the hole that can't be plugged and through which the family's honor may be lost, which is why people get so upset in the sagas about men who sexually court a man's daughters without intending to marry her-- seduction and rape are prosecuted the same way, I believe.
Normally I wouldn't like to read something like this-- it feels like it's already too much to just know that this horror exists in the real world-- but I want to try and open myself to that pain and try to understand what is going on in the world better-- it may not lead to an immediate practical result, but I think that learning about and understanding this sort of thing, letting the world's brokenness touch me, is an important step towards gaining an appropriate and motivating sympathy. Well, I hope that makes sense. I don't know if I'm even going to find the time to read this, but we'll see.
Found this on my parents' shelf, actually. It is about the use of "genocidal rape" in the Balkan conflict-- a weird term, maybe, but in the context of a misogynistic and medieval view of human reproduction which sees the female body as merely an incubator which contributes nothing genetically to the child, it makes a twisted sense, basically replacing the genetic heritage of your enemies with your own-- which I suppose could be explained a la evolutionary psychology, though that's a field I don't know much about. Doesn't excuse any of this of course-- I would argue that being able to explain something does not necessarily, or even often, mean excusing something-- though it is obviously helpful for reminding us of the humanity which we share with the offenders and victims alike. And of course, there is a very similar sort of thing going on in Volundarkvida, an ON poem I'm particularly interested in.
The first place I heard about the issue of rape in connection with the Balkan war was actually in an Old Norse class with Carol Clover on revenge, honor and bloodfeud (which is what she always teaches on, incidentally-- and it's a productive topic in ON lit). I don't know if her info came from this book at all, but she pointed out that women who had been victims in a mass rape during the war told their interviewers that they had been aware that their attackers weren't actually raping them, but raping their men, their husbands, brothers, and fathers. Which I say not to diminish what was done to the women, but just to clarify part of the psychology of rape in these cases-- we see it in ON lit too, often explicitly. It is as though only the men are the real players (for example, honor is typically exchanged between those of the same sex and social position, at least when speaking of honor on the level of the individual, not the family, so it is the upper class men who take center stage)-- and since one of the worst insults is the sexual use of a man, making a man play the feminine role in a sexual relationship, or accusing him of that (okay, I would probably need more space to explain how all this works in ON lit and don't have time now), then gaining sexual access to a man's woman is a way of feminizing him-- Carol spoke of the woman in the sagas as being the hole that can't be plugged and through which the family's honor may be lost, which is why people get so upset in the sagas about men who sexually court a man's daughters without intending to marry her-- seduction and rape are prosecuted the same way, I believe.
Normally I wouldn't like to read something like this-- it feels like it's already too much to just know that this horror exists in the real world-- but I want to try and open myself to that pain and try to understand what is going on in the world better-- it may not lead to an immediate practical result, but I think that learning about and understanding this sort of thing, letting the world's brokenness touch me, is an important step towards gaining an appropriate and motivating sympathy. Well, I hope that makes sense. I don't know if I'm even going to find the time to read this, but we'll see.
June 19, 2014
Hearing the word 'rape' usually brings in mind a meek women forced for sexual favors by a powerful man. Rape is acknowledged as a crime, however, only if it is recognized as rape. It has been quite difficult to define rape due to its multiple dimensions. Is it gender based? Concerns sexuality? Greater sexual needs? Power dynamics? Beverly Allen explores all these questions in a deep meaningful way. This, in turn, sets the basis for the topic in hand: Rape genocide.
Rape genocide is a portentous crime; so atrocious that no narrative of the act is required. This is what I loved about this book. Beverly Allen is able to bring to attention the horridness of the crime without parting any gory details. The author not only identifies the cause of the Bosnian & Croatian rape warfare (ethnic cleansing), but sheds light on the future implication of such a crime. A very interesting read recommended to anyone who is willing to delve further into the topic.
Rape genocide is a portentous crime; so atrocious that no narrative of the act is required. This is what I loved about this book. Beverly Allen is able to bring to attention the horridness of the crime without parting any gory details. The author not only identifies the cause of the Bosnian & Croatian rape warfare (ethnic cleansing), but sheds light on the future implication of such a crime. A very interesting read recommended to anyone who is willing to delve further into the topic.
July 21, 2009
Very interesting book. It talks about the Rape/Death camps in which forced pregnancy was imposed on Bosian/Croat women. I believe Beverly Allen makes two valid points. When you try to "breed out a population", it's essentially genocide. Also, if you are able to spread disease through sperm, you are basically a biological weapon.
July 10, 2008
An educational quick read. Reminds me of reading a thesis.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews