Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Associate Professor of Psychology at UCT, has published a new book, ‘MEMORY, NARRATIVE AND FORGIVENESS: Perspectives on the Unfinished Journeys of the Past’, with Cambridge Scholars Publishing, along with her co-editor, Chris van der Merwe, Associate Professor of Afrikaans and Dutch Literature, at UCT.  Here is a brief summary, from the publisher’s release:

“The United Nations’ declaration of 2009 as the International Year of Reconciliation is testimony to the growing use of historical commissions as instruments of reconciliation in post-conflict societies. Since the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has had a profound impact on international efforts to deal with the aftermath of mass violence and societal conflict, this is an appropriate time for scholars to debate and reflect on the work of the TRC and the wide-ranging scholarship it has inspired across disciplines. With a foreword by Harvard Law Professor Martha Minow, Memory, Narrative, and Forgiveness: Perspectives on the Unfinished Journeys of the Past offers readers a front-row seat where a team of scholars draw on both theoretical analysis and case studies from around the world to explore the themes of memory, narrative, forgiveness and apology, and how these themes often interact in either mutually supportive or unsettling ways. The book is a vibrant discussion by scholars in philosophy, psychology, psychoanalytic theory, history, literary theory, and Holocaust studies.”