Absurdity in Genocide

In class for the past month or two, we have been reading White Noise, a satire of American culture in the late twentieth century by Don DeLillo. As a satire, it makes great use of absurdity. For my Junior Theme research, I read a book called "A Problem From Hell:" America and the Age of Genocide by Samantha Power which examines U.S. actions and (more often) inaction during genocides. While certainly not a cheery book, "A Problem from Hell" has its fair share of absurdity. 

One of the more notable parallels between the two was those in power's lack of basic knowledge about their subject. Jack, the main character in White Noise, is the founder and head of the Hitler Studies Department at his college. Logically, the department requires "a minimum of one year of German" for those majoring in the department (30). Yet Jack himself "could not speak or read it [German], could not understand the spoken word or begin to put the simplest sentence of paper" (30). This knowledge is would seem to be a basic requirement for his study. Without being able to speak German, Jack cannot understand the many videos of Hitler speeches he plays in his class or read the original version of Mein Kampf. Although they are less dramatic than DeLillo's, Power has some examples of the same phenomenon. During her discussion of the Cambodian genocide under the Khmer Rouge, Samantha Power introduces Charles Twining, who was posted to the U.S. embassy in Bangkok. He spent a year learning Khmer "to the bemusement of his State Department colleagues" (115). Khmer is the language of the neighboring Cambodia, which was under the strict rule of the Khmer Rouge at the time. Cambodia was completely closed off from the outside world, but it was clear to those who knew about it that the government was not being kind to its citizens (to say the least). While at the embassy, Twining's first assignment was to go interview refugees from Cambodia on the Thai-Cambodian border. Obviously, knowing Khmer was of great use to Twining. One would think that it would actually be required for at least some of the officials at the U.S. embassy in Thailand to know Khmer, given its proximity to Cambodia and the fact that they could not have direct contact with Cambodia. And yet to Twining's colleagues, his work to learn the language was amusing and unnecessary. Their idea of how to conduct diplomacy mirrors Jack's idea of how to study Hitler.

A similar failure of authorities to know the basic underpinnings of their work occurs later in the book, during the discussion of the Rwandan genocide.  Lieutenant General Wesley Clark, the "director of strategic plans and policy for the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon" recalls that after the plane crash that killed the presidents of Burundi and Rwanda, which started the genocide, many Pentagon officials were asking "Is it Hutu and Tutsi or Tutu and Hutsi?" (330). He also recalls that he was unable to find someone who could explain the ethnic dimensions of the events in Rwanda.  Although it would not be expected for all of the staff of the Joint Chiefs to know the two ethnic groups in Rwanda, one would expect at least most of them to, given that the United States was involved in a peace process in Rwanda between the two groups.

While Jack's lack of seemingly basic information about his field in White Noise is funny, the ineptitude of many of the people in "A Problem From Hell" is more tragic. Government officials never bothered to learn the language of or understand the culture of people who their decisions will directly impact. They spend all their time focused on translations of the people, which fail to produce real understanding. The "experts" on Cambodia couldn't speak Khmer. The facade of knowledge present in Jack from White Noise is also found in many officials in "A Problem From Hell."