Absurdity of reconciliation.

Demaine Solomons

doi:10.17570/stj.2020.v6n4.a18

Abstract

The quest for reconciliation in South Africa is an exercise in the absurd. To say it is an exercise for the absurd might also have some merit. Like Sisyphus, the figure in Greek mythology, those engaged in the quest for reconciliation are condemned to repeat forever the same, in some cases, meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain only to see it roll down again. This is amid the human propensity to forever search for meaning irrespective of the incongruity of the ideal and the absurdity that defines our existence. The illogicality of apartheid and the subsequent pain and alienation continues to be a defining feature of a country trying to come to terms not what it ought to be, but what it is – chaotic, irrational and sometimes meaningless. In this context, Rustenburg is a symbol of the audacity to dream of something beyond the absurd. Moreover, invoking a theology of reconciliation to achieve something extraordinary amid an uncertain future.

Highlights

As a philosophical premise, determinism leads one to believe that every event, including human cognition and behaviour, is causally determined by previously existing causes or an unbroken chain of events
Like Sisyphus, the figure in Greek mythology, those engaged in the quest for reconciliation are condemned to repeat forever the same, in some cases, meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain only to see it roll down again
Camus compares the absurdity of life with the situation of Sisyphus, a figure of Greek mythology who is condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll back down again – a metaphorical loop that continues indefinitely into the realms of eternity

Summary

Introduction

Determinism leads one to believe that every event, including human cognition and behaviour, is causally determined by previously existing causes or an unbroken chain of events. It is in a state of flux, constantly gravitating towards an ideal; in a search for meaning in a world riddled with contradictions and obscurities This is what the French existentialist philosopher Albert Camus grapples with when he writes about the “absurd” in his famous essay The Myth of Sisyphus (1942).[1] For Camus, the “absurd” centres on the notion that life is inherently devoid of meaning, the reference to the absurdity of our existence. As a counterbalance to such illogicality, religious leaders at the now-famous Rustenburg Conference embarked on a journey to shift the trajectory of their country This was a romantic pursuit – a search for a new way of being in the aftermath of the absurdity of apartheid.

Setting the scene

Reconciliation as a national initiative

Jonker as a disruptive force

The absurdity of reconciliation