Abstract
As the twentieth century draws to a close, much academic work is focused on the legacies of the last 100 years. How do state systems, political parties, civil society and ordinary people remember the past? Is it possible to come to terms with our past? Is it possible to have a collective memory of traumatic events? Do we, as some scholars note, have a crisis of memory? Coming to terms with the past has emerged as the grand narrative of the late twentieth and early twentyfirst centuries. Individuals and entire nations are seeking to overcome their traumatic legacies and move forward: the past in that sense needs to be ‘got over’ and perhaps more importantly needs to be seen to be ‘got over’.
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© 2000 Kenneth Christie
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Christie, K. (2000). Introduction. In: The South African Truth Commission. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983140_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780333983140_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-40133-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-333-98314-0
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