“Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, and Exile” by Anne Marie Hacht Article Analysis Essay

The article “Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, and Exile” by Anne Marie Hacht highlights the consequences of war that affects cultures and other ethnic groups and how this theme is found throughout literature and recounts of ethnic cleansing. Hacht starts the article by recounting the events found in the book “The Problem From Hell”: America and the Age of Genocide, the summary of which helps define genocide to the reader and transitions into explaining to the reader the difference between genocide and ethnic cleansing. The difference is that ethnic cleansing is the removal of an ethnic group from a territory and that genocide is the most extreme way by which ethnic cleansing occurs, Hacht also mentions the much less extreme option which is exile. Hacht then transitions into more examples of personal accounts and autobiographies such as “The Diary of a Young Girl”, and “Night” both of which recount two examples of ethnic cleansing in the Holocaust due to their religion. Hacht continues to show examples of ethnic cleansing in the stories of “Under the Sun”, and “A Summer Without Dawn: An Armenian Epic” which both showcase ethnic cleansing but this time due to the protagonist's race. The stories don’t follow the Holocaust instead retelling the lesser-known stories of ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia and Turkey respectively. The author showcases these stories to push their message supporting how ethnic cleansing can hurt cultures and other ethnic groups and how literature can bring attention to the damage ethnic cleansing can cause. In addition, Hacht explains the use of ethnic cleansing in politics. Hacht explains how the practice is used in places all over the world and continues to show how novels can share this like in “The Dew Breaker” which shares the experiences faced with the tyrannical rule found in Haiti during the time in which it was written.  Finally, Hacht concludes the article with the outlook of how ethnic cleansing can be used to expand one culture but ultimately does more damage to others with the practices found within such as genocide.

The article reflects the notion that war can call attention to the value of humanity by showcasing examples of the loss of humanity. Hacht uses autobiographies to assert this notion such as “Night”, and “The Diary of a Young Girl”. Both of these texts fit this idea being that they show very personal examples of how the attack on culture and loss of life can bring attention to the value of humanity. Hacht also uses more general examples such as the Armenian genocide and the holocaust, both of which also bring attention to the value of life and how attacks on culture go against the importance of maintaining humanity. The article takes a more general view of this notion, presenting the idea of the value of humanity at a larger scale and giving the message behind the article more of an impact. The larger scale that the article provides would work well in an essay to establish a message that defends the notion that war can call attention to the value of humanity. This can also be used to show the more personal relationships established in novels such as “Night”. In addition, the article focuses on ideas outside of world war I which allows for more perspectives outside of the ones explored in “All Quiet on the Western Front”  such as the previously mentioned Armenian genocide which explores the value of humanity in many different ways. The article “Ethnic Cleansing, Genocide, and Exile” is a great way to defend the notion that war can call attention to the value of humanity and Hacht can amplify this message with literature and historical events.