Dramas of Reconciliation

Political apologies have been described as modern political rites. However, the scholarship has failed so far to take the ritualistic elements in apologies seriously. This book addresses this lacuna. Contrary to linguistic approaches that locate the transformative power of apologies in correct wording, this book grounds the force of apologies in ritual performances. Drawing on ritual theory the book reveals how apology performances bear characteristics of rites of transitions. This book lays down the ritual features that enwrap apologies, demonstrates how apologizing agents activate sacred symbols in apology ceremonies, and how rites as a distinct mode of social communication may create extra-ordinary moments of transition. Based on a discourse analytical methodology, the study analyses several apology performances for historic crimes and discloses the potentials and the limits of rituals of apologies.