Ramon- Week 6: Sarajevo, Bosnia

This week, we look at two works that investigate or portray genocide in our lifetime (including us students). Whenever I hear the word ‘dehumanize’, I immediately think of the relationship between the hunter and the hunted. One of the opening scene of Welcome to Sarajevo and in the characterization of Kenan in The Cellist of Sarajevo, the audience is introduced to the idea of running. Kenan runs through tunnels, hiding in every nook he can find, and traveling across Sarajevo to have a small amount of water readily available for his family. We see this same situation in Welcome to Sarajevo, when a man is running through trenches with gas cans (probably water inside). If this were just the norm modern-day Bosnian recreational activity, the Olympics can count on Bosnia as a sure favorite in the medal count. However, this running is sparked by Serbs shooting at anybody and everybody who is in the streets; this is dehumanization.

What is the hunter-hunted relationship, and where is it applicable here? A deer hunter, or a hunter of any wild game at that, goes through the same routine in a hunt. The hunter sits and waits for the game to come into sights. When the deer comes into the range of the hunter, he fires. Other deer around the area may flee, and run. The deer know to not go into that area again, or else they will be hunted. In Bosnia, the people of Sarajevo were the hunted. The Serbs would sit on rooftops or any other place they could seize control of, and wait for the people to run.

We have many defining factors that make humans and animals different. This could spark another conversation of “are humans really at the top of the food chain.” However, one difference between humans and animals is our ability to stand still. Humans were not designed to run, especially if they were meant to be atop of the food chain. So, when humans are forced to run wherever he or she must go, his or her humanization is removed.

To close, I would like to say that we should remember that this conflict was not too long ago. A good friend of mine was four years old when this conflict began and eight years old at its end. He recounts numerous stories of rocket-propelled grenades flying over his head, mortar shells crashing, and bullets constantly within his range. He recounts how his father would have to risk his life running through tunnels to get bread and water for his family. His father was threatened at and shot at, but still lives today to tell the story to his first generation.