Tag Archives: apology
Theatre of Regret Now Available in Paperback
The Theatre of Regret: Literature, Art, and the Politics of Reconciliation in Canada is now available in paperback via UBC Press. Some of the chapters were developed out of writing that I first shared on this blog. For instance the post “Reconciliation: ‘Like an Echo Turned Inside Out’” is the basis of the book’s conclusion, […]
The Theatre of Regret: Establishing the Politics of Reconciliation after World War II
An immense wave of anti-colonial and anti-imperial activity, thought, and revision has overtaken the massive edifice of Western empire, challenging it, to use Gramsci’s vivid metaphor, in a mutual siege. For the first time Westerners have been required to confront themselves not simply as the Raj but as representatives of a culture and even a […]
“Sorry, Sorry, Sorry, Sorry”: Canadian Political Apologies and Compulsive Repetition
Regret is not linear. A sorry is not a straight line. Reconciliation is a system of cyclical movements across, between, and within a shifting landscape of subjectivities. Consider the idea of apology. Not as means to an end, but as a means unto itself–a perpetual motion engine. Jacques Lacan’s notion of the drive is instructive […]
The Deconstructed Sorry: Post-Structural Ethics of Apology in the Wake of World War II
At this present moment it must be recognized that “apology” has been reformulated in Canada’s political discourse as a means to control narrative and protect the interests of the status quo. In this post, I would like to offer a brief critique of what might be called the “deconstructive” or “postmodern” approach to apology, which […]
Apology’s Worth It: How Canada Profits from Apology
We live in an “Age of Apology“. In a way that was unimaginable during the Cold War, “sorry” is now a primary element of intra-state politics. Some label the post-Cold War shift out of realpolitik as an indication of “the new international morality,” but apology is also a means for Nation States to recuperate and monetize “sorry”. The […]
“The Climax of Reconciliation”: Transgression, Apology, Forgiveness and the Body in Conflict Resolution
Originally published in The Journal of Bioethical Enquiry 1.1 (2010). An Interdisciplinary forum for ethical and legal debate. Click here for the full article.