Forgiveness is the Wrong Word: Trauma Testimonies as Public Narrative and Reparative Action
Professor Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela, Stellenbosch University

Truth commissions provide an environment that allows victims to break their silence, transforming the wordless speech of trauma into publicly communicated speech acts.

Drawing insights from primary research and from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) of South Africa, this talk explores the narrative framework of trauma testimonies and illustrates the complexity of the dialogic encounters between victims and perpetrators on and off the public stage of the TRC.

Pumla Gobodo-Madikizela argues that forgiveness is the “wrong word” to describe the goal of these encounters, and that “reparative humanism” is a concept that best captures the transformative moments that unfold when victims encounter perpetrators.

WHERE: UNSW ART & DESIGN, EG02 LECTURE THEATRE
ADDRESS: CNR OF OXFORD ST & GREENS RD, PADDINGTON NSW 2021

This event is organised by the Australian Human Rights Institute and the National Institute for Experimental Arts, hosted at UNSW Art & Design.