The civil war in Sierra Leone has been over for more than a decade, but changes are needed if thousands of survivors, and the nation itself, are to move beyond the conflict, according to a new book by Dr. Ernest Cole of the 换妻社区 English faculty.
Cole, who was born, raised and began his teaching career in Sierra Leone, explores the practice and aftermath of punitive amputation during the 1991-2002 war in 鈥淭heorizing the Disfigured Body: Mutilation, Amputation, and Disability Culture in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone,鈥� published earlier this year by Africa World Press of Trenton, New Jersey.
An estimated 5,000 civilians鈥攎en, women and children--had arms, legs or hands amputated by anti-government rebels during the war, which saw neighbor pitted against neighbor. Most are now isolated and ostracized, Cole says, their injuries having become their primary identity and with it the perception that they have nothing to contribute.
鈥淎s I argue, predominantly, the crucial issue in post-conflict Sierra Leone is that of image and function that confronts amputees,鈥� said Cole, an associate professor of English and Towsley Research Scholar at Hope, where he has taught since 2008.
鈥淲e must begin to imagine disability in a new light if amputees are to be accepted into society again. How do we provide the opportunities for them to reclaim their humanity, to reclaim their identity and to lead productive lives?鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow the amputee addresses this new image in order to negotiate a new sense of self and function is crucial to healing, forgiveness and reconciliation.鈥�
Cole has been conducting research on the topic for the past five years, including through multiple trips back to Sierra Leone since 2009 to conduct interviews with scores of amputees and others. In addition to the book, his work has included creating a series of video-based interdisciplinary learning modules in the college鈥檚 New Media studio with students in the digital humanities and in the Mellon Scholars program at Hope.
His interest in the topic began in February 2000, as he watched a CNN documentary about the war that conveyed the brutality.
鈥淚 was captivated by the scenes of amputation, and the choice of the human body as a course of punishment was fascinating to me,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat motivated that choice became the impetus for investigating the logic of punitive amputation and the relationship between the victim and the perpetrator.鈥�
鈥淚t is a deliberate, calculated, and cruel decision of a victimizer to inflict bodily harm as punishment on another person,鈥� Cole said. 鈥淚n its epistemologies of power, control, domination, abuse and cruelty, punitive amputation proffers a different psychological reality to the individual, and his relationship to his body and his society is anchored in feelings of resentment to the victimizer and pain at the loss of the limb.鈥�
Cole noted that amputees face particularly strong social stigma in Sierra Leone, where even a common greeting references physical well-being.
鈥淚n the culture of Sierra Leone, the body assumes a psycho-social dimension in everyday life,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n Krio, the lingua franca in Sierra Leone, Sierra Leoneans greet one another by saying 鈥極w de bodi?鈥� Loosely translated, it means 鈥榟ow is the body?鈥� However, in the cultural context of Sierra Leone, 鈥極w de bodi?鈥� goes way beyond an inquiry into the physical state of the individual. It is an inquiry into the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual state of the person. It is about 鈥榮halom,鈥� the overall state of harmony of being, and the working together of body, mind, and spirit. It is about man in relation to himself, others, and his environment.鈥�
鈥淭herefore, when the body is mutilated or amputated, it is both an individual destruction of mind and body, a total emasculation of self, and a rupture of kinship or community ties with the perpetrator,鈥� he said.
He noted that re-engagement and purpose for the amputees can take many forms. More than 350 young men, for example, participate in the Single Leg Amputee Sports Club, with some even traveling abroad to compete and to help teach amputee soccer to others.
鈥淚t becomes evident that amputation is not disability and that far from handicap and stigma, the players are well respected and productive members of their communities engaged in the highly reputable and worthy enterprise of peace building, non-violence and reconciliation through soccer,鈥� Cole said.
Cole completed his bachelor鈥檚 and master鈥檚 degrees in Sierra Leone, and began his career conducting research and teaching English at Fourah Bay College. At the outbreak of the civil war, he left for The Gambia, where he taught at The Gambia College for a number of years. He subsequently pursued a doctorate at the University of Connecticut; he completed the degree in 2008, the same year that he joined the Hope faculty.
In 2012, he was one of 15 scholars nationwide chosen to participate in that year鈥檚 Lilly Fellows Program Summer Seminar for College and University Teachers, 鈥淭eaching Peace and Reconciliation: Theory and Practice in Northern Ireland.鈥� Hope named him a 鈥淭owsley Research Scholar鈥� in 2011 in support of his research. He discussed his work during the college鈥檚 Winter Happening event in February 2011, presenting the seminar 鈥淣egotiating Amputation, Forgiveness and Reconciliation,鈥� and was among the presenters during the college鈥檚 September 2012 Critical Issues Symposium, which examined 鈥淩econciliation: Hope in a Divided World.鈥�
Paperback copies of 鈥淭heorizing the Disfigured Body: Mutilation, Amputation, and Disability Culture in Post-Conflict Sierra Leone鈥� are available for $24.95 at the college鈥檚 Hope-Geneva Bookstore. The Hope-Geneva Bookstore is located on the ground level of the DeWitt Center, 141 E. 12th St., and can be called at 800-946-4673 or (616) 395-7833 or emailed at bookstore@hope.edu.