Témoigner malgré toutLes récits des victimes du génocide des Arméniens face aux violences sexuées

In the last twenty years, a gendered approach to the study of genocides has renewed the field's questions and methods. Researches on the Armenian Genocide have looked at the specific violence committed against women. Scholars from different disciplines have demonstrated that “gender ideology” was central to the Armenian Genocide from the outset with the initial targeting and slaughtering of men. For their part, women were victims of rape, abduction, sexual slavery and forced conversion to Islam. These forms of violence are part of a larger genocidal program known as “biological assimilation”. Combining historical and linguistic approaches, this paper analyzes witness accounts of the Armenian genocide in connection with the sexual violence perpetrated against the victims. It focuses on the narrative procedures and rhetorical devices used by these witnesses. Using state-of-the-art computer tools in discourse analysis, we looked at testimonies delivered and published at the heart of the event