Conditional Tense: Memory and vocabulary after the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Abstract

Since the publication in 1998 of Country of My Skull, Antjie Krog has established herself internationally as the foremost journalistic commentator on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In this new book, Krog has collected together a number of published pieces written since Country of My Skull. Many readers will already have seen most of these, but anthologized together here they make clear why Krog is such an important interpreter of South Africa, to audiences both at home and abroad. The volume accurately reflects the preoccupations of Krog's writing and provides an excellent introduction to the uninitiated reader. Included alongside versions of published texts are framing notes, and in some cases Krog has revised the texts in order to provide a context. Whereas readers new to her work are given a useful overview, readers familiar with her work will be surprised by the new perspectives provided in the way the material is presented.