Unravelling trauma : the journey towards recovery in J.M. Coetzee’s disgrace

• Main Author: Zahira Hayati Mohamed Amin
• Other Authors: Bede Tregear Scott
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Humanities::Literature::English
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/49609
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

The apartheid regime that reigned over South Africa from 1948 to 1994 left many individuals traumatised. Crimes against human rights plagued South Africa during those 47 years and after its abolition, the facts of those violations need to be told and reconciliation is to be achieved. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was set up to do exactly that, elicit the truth from the perpetrators and survivors and promote their reconciliation. This is needed to achieve a new non-sexist, non-racial and democratic South Africa. In this light, with close reference to J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace, this paper explores the procedures of the TRC and its effectiveness in promoting the recovery of the survivors, to purge their suffering and eventually lead to a new united South Africa. To thoroughly do this, is to examine the nature of truth and sincerity in confessions and its contribution to the healing process of the survivors. Ultimately, this paper attempts to answer these questions: Has anything healed? If not, will anything ever heal? Is the recovery of its people strictly necessary for the restructuring of the nation? Not all of these questions can be answered but it is still worth it to consider them.