Investigating the Intergenerational Impact of Trauma on the Survivors of the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi on Language

Language is more than a cognitive skill; it is a central medium through which individuals express emotions, construct meaning, and connect socially. Both direct and indirect trauma exposure can shape neural pathways related to language processing, emotional expression, and narrative structure, potentially altering how trauma survivors and their children understand, produce, and use language (Vasterling et al., 2002; De Bellis et al., 2009).This research explores how trauma experienced by one generation, particularly the large scale collective trauma of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, may influence linguistic processing in their descendants. In the Rwandan context, the 1994 genocide against Tutsi not only caused immense psychological suffering but also disrupted cultural and linguistic continuity. Many survivors adapted their communication styles, often avoiding certain topics, suppressing emotional expression, or changing vocabulary patterns that may be transmitted to subsequent generations through both neurobiological mechanisms and social learning. Studies have documented difficulties with lexical access, word finding, and verbal fluency in tasks requiring active retrieval and articulation (McFarlane, 2010; Twamley et al., 2009). Language can be affected by retrieval processes, as demonstrated in The effect of retrieval on recall of information in individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (Bomyea et al., 2012). This study aims to examine how PTSD affects linguistic abilities such as lexical access, verbal fluency, and expressive language in survivors and their descendants. By exploring these cognitive-linguistic patterns, the research seeks to understand whether and how trauma-related alterations in neural and communicative systems are transmitted across generations.