Item Details

title

RE(CONCEAL)IATION: THE FANTASY OF HEALING AND THE POWER OF FORGETTING IN THE GREENSBORO TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION

author

Graham, Noah

abstract

This thesis examines the rhetoric that scaffolds the Greensboro Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a institution that was formed twenty years after the Greensboro massacre in an attempt to “heal” the community from a history of racially motivated violence. Starting at the intersection between memory, apologia, and dialogue this thesis investigates the aspirations and limitations that defined GTRC and its conclusions. Specifically, I investigate the testimony given to the commission from several groups including the Communist Party, the Klan, and the police. I intervene in rhetorical conceptions of reconciliation, and what it means to recuperate the past at the behest of a community that requires forgiveness. I argue that the venue of the truth commission requires certain conciliatory moves from the speakers in order to make the final product legible to publics defined by liberalism.

subject

Deliberation

Memory

Rhetoric

contributor

French, T. Nathaniel (advisor)

Cunningham, Phillip (committee member)

Von Burg, Alessandra (committee member)

date

2024-05-23T08:36:13Z (accessioned)

2024-05-23T08:36:13Z (available)

2024 (issued)

degree

Communication (discipline)

identifier

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/109419 (uri)

language

en (iso)

publisher

Wake Forest University

type

Thesis