Source: (2003) Research in African Literatures. 34(1): 11-30.
The nature and work of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in South Africa were unique, writes Shane Graham, noting especially the TRC’s emphases on amnesty in exchange for recovery of truth and on truth as the means to reconciliation. While the reality of the TRC results often fell short of the rhetoric of the TRC, one effect has been the restoration of narrative as a chief tool for reconstructing South African society and its people. As evidence Graham points to the outpouring of post-apartheid literature to help South African society come to terms with its past. With all of this in mind, Graham examines two theater pieces related to the work of the TRC and a written memoir of the TRC. According to Graham, these texts invent new forms of narrative and new ways of dealing with questions of agency, representation, and truth.
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