Policy & Practice: A Development Education Review 1 | Page The Search for Meaning in Memory in the Aftermath of Genocide: The Construction of Êzîdî Identity Mairéad Smith Abstract: The 2014 Êzîdî Genocide caused a rupture in the social fabric of the Iraqi ethno-religious Êzîdî minority as a whole, disrupting a sense of self on an individual level and identity on a collective level. A search for meaning in the aftermath of such violence has caused a group of poets, which I label memory makers, to understand the causes of the event by partaking in memory work through the composition of Arabic prose poetry. A narrative analysis has been used on a selection of poems written and semi-structured interviews conducted with five poets, and I investigate their trauma process through adopting the theory of a cultural trauma, viewing ‘trauma’ from a social constructivist point of view in an attempt to advance and challenge trauma theory and position the importance of investigating memory in terms of collective healing after violence. With a focus on the nature of the suffering, the nature of the victim, and the attribution of responsibility which this theoretical lens provides, I attempt to move past narratives of ‘victimhood’ which often pervade after violence, and definitions of trauma as event-based which lend to obscure the understanding of those who have not experienced the event. The poets write in sharp and defiant words choosing not to become passive victims of genocide, but instead use poetry as a means for repairing the social fabric of their community through reconfiguring a collective Êzîdî identity while advocating for justice in order to heal the wounds of the present through engagement with their memories of contemporary violence. I view memory work as serving a similar role to development education in its power to address the issues which have led to suffering and advocate the utility of exploring cultural production as an avenue for further learning in development education.