The debate on truth and reconciliation: A survey of literature on the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission

This article gives an overview of a large part of contemporary TRC literature. Hundreds of publications have appeared on the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. With a view to proper academic reflection it would be useful to classify this literature. Various classificatory criteria could be used. In this text a topical perspective is taken, so the TRC literature is subdivided on the basis of the thematic focus of the author. Perspectives on the SA Truth Commission have many different thematic interests, such as legal, religious, political, psychological, anthropological and linguistic. This paper tries to bring some cohesion and meaningful organization to this multitude of books, articles and dissertations. Within each thematic category representative examples are pointed out. Finally, reference is made to some lacunae and overlaps which are evident from looking at the body of TRC literature. As a result, this article can be seen as an investigation into the characterizing features of the debate on the TRC.