The browser you are using is not supported by this website. All versions of Internet Explorer are no longer supported, either by us or Microsoft (read more here: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/windows/end-of-ie-support).

Please use a modern browser to fully experience our website, such as the newest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox or Safari etc.

Maria S

Maria Småberg

Researcher

Maria S

Witness Reporting as Resistance and Recovery–The Swedish Missionary Alma Johansson and the 1915 Armenian Genocide

Author

  • Maria Småberg

Summary, in English

Western missionaries became important eyewitnesses of the 1915 Armenian genocide, and many reported on the events. This article analyses witness reporting from a biographical and gendered perspective, taking into account the significance of studying local activism and transnational networks in a humanitarian setting. Taking the witness accounts of the Swedish missionary Alma Johansson as an example, I discuss the conditions and strategies for women to reach out and form opinions in a transnational setting. I also analyse how gender shaped the humanitarian message. Using a narrative analysis, the article further explores the dual motives of the witness accounts of Alma Johansson—the aims of public resistance and private recovery. She wanted to protest openly against the violence and the perceived silence of the world concerning the genocide, at the same time as having to work on her personal trauma. The article assumes that witness narratives can be a catalyst of change, and that these two motives, resistance and recovery, were deeply connected.

Department/s

  • Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies (CMES)
  • MECW: The Middle East in the Contemporary World
  • Department of Political Science
  • History

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Publication/Series

British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Taylor & Francis

Topic

  • History

Status

Epub

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 1353-0194