Reconciliation through Estrangement (Review of Politics) (original) (raw)

In this paper, I explore the ways in which reconciliation can be furthered through estrangement. While it is often assumed that reconciliation culminates in the comprehensive resolution of conflict between deeply alienated parties, the paper argues that reconciliation can in fact only be envisaged through complex processes of estrangement that reveal alternative vistas for collective renewal. To establish this claim, I start with a conception of reconciliation, inspired by Andrew Schaap’s seminal work, that rejects the image of recovering a moral community and insists on the agonistic character of political reconciliation. In the moment of enunciating and enacting a radically new beginning, former enemies need to learn to see each other in a different light, without forsaking their own identity. Art can perform an important role in this process, especially through the employment of estrangement devices. The paper theorizes estrangement as both an artistic and a political technique that can have world-disclosing, rather than alienating effects on its audience. I then try to tease out the implications of this insight by examining the South African theatre piece Ubu or the Truth Commission. The play demonstrates how estrangement for, rather than from, the world can concretely contribute to political reconciliation: by subverting audience identification, yet triggering emotional contagion, Ubu or the Truth Commission imaginatively opens up the possibility of a common world in which agonistic relations are productively negotiated, rather than fully suppressed.