Abstract
The chapter examines how the arts, specifically drama, have articulated the influence of religion in view of peacebuilding and development in post-conflict Northern Uganda. The arts encompass performative cultural and individual dimensions of transitional processes and include drama, theatre, poetry, folklore, music, dance, film, body art, museums, photography, and other kinds of artistic installations. The case study for this chapter is a drama, Silent Voices (2019), by a Ugandan playwright Adong Judith. The chapter, therefore, uses play-text analysis to examine how the play speaks to the influence of religion in peacebuilding in the context of the conflict in Northern Uganda. During the conflict, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), a rebel group commanded by Joseph Kony, against the Government of Uganda (GoU), used Christian ideologies in the form of Biblical allusions to indoctrinate abductees into terrorizing locals, under the guise of fulfilling the Lord’s command to liberate Uganda from the government. In the aftermath of the conflict, the GoU and religious institutions employed Christian ideologies to foster peace. The play underscores the contradiction in using religion for violence and peace alike, and enables an understanding that the contradiction is detrimental to sustainable development. The chapter concludes that the arts can be used as blueprints to understand lived-experiences and concerns of victims of conflict in the quest for peace and sustainable development, particularly Sustainable Development Goal 16 on Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions.
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Notes
- 1.
Uganda is an East African country. It shares its borders with South Sudan to the north, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to the west, Kenya to the east, and Tanzania and Rwanda to the south.
- 2.
- 3.
Atkinson notes that the peace talks formally began on 14 July 2006 (2010, p. 214).
- 4.
The play also features Mato Oput, a local peace-making ritual of the Acholi people, which this chapter does not address.
- 5.
Other recent Ugandan unpublished plays about the same conflict include Forgotten World (2009) by Asiimwe Deborah Kawe, Forged in Fire (2010) by Sam Okello Kelo, and MidNight Hour (2009) by Charles Mulekwa. A radio play River Yei Junction (2007/2008) explored the questions of good governance and the rule of law during the war. A television drama series, Yat Madit (2017), addressed reconciliation and forgiveness among survivors in the war’s aftermath. Theatre for Development (TfD) projects were also conducted (Edmondson, 2005).
- 6.
One girl out of the four children is not killed for a reason unrelated to this study. I do not delve into her story.
- 7.
The chapter recognizes the GoU put in place recovery projects such as the Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) (2007–2010), whose overall goal was to consolidate peace and security and to lay the ground for recovery and development in Northern Uganda. Here https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Uganda_PRDP-2007.pdf
- 8.
Matthew 5: 43–48.
- 9.
Matthew 6: 12, 15.
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Karungi, V. (2023). Arts, Religion, Peacebuilding and Development in Post-conflict Northern Uganda. In: Kilonzo, S.M., Chitando, E., Tarusarira, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Religion, Peacebuilding, and Development in Africa. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-36829-5_44
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