When the subaltern speaks: citizen journalism and genocide ‘victims’’ voices online

Using qualitative data drawn from newzimbabwe.com and a listserv comprising mostly Ndebele-speaking people of Zimbabwe, this article investigates how the Web 2.0 era has given subaltern voices platforms to discuss issues rendered taboo in authoritarian contexts. The study is anchored on the concept of the subaltern public sphere and the metaphor of the ‘voice’ in cyberspace. The subaltern, as used here, refers to those people who perceive themselves as excluded from mainstream power and economic activities. The study uses online observation and critical discourse analysis (CDA) to examine how ‘Ndebeles’ discuss the 1980s genocide and how citizen journalism has generally revolutionised their participation in debates silenced by the ruling elite. What strongly comes out from the discussants’ interactions is that the genocide, which has not been addressed since it ‘ended’ with the signing of the Unity Accord in 1987, remains contentious as victims have not found closure. The study concludes that Web 2.0 has reconfigured subaltern communities’ engagements with the traumatic genocide.