Making Rhetorical History in a Time of Transition: The Occasion, Constitution, and Representation of South African Reconciliation

Abstract

South Africa's turn to reconciliation did not begin with the formation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. This essay examines the role of reconciliation in South Africa's transition from apartheid to constitutional democracy. It contends that reconciliation is a mode of rhetorical history-making, a complex set of inventional practices that both open time for speech and employ speech to make time. Viewed closely, this middle voice of reconciliation illustrates precise ways that institutions and citizens can craft the potential for future dialogue from within historical justifications for violence.

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