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Voices silenced, voices rediscovered: victims of violence and the reclamation of language in transitional societies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 September 2007

Kirk Simpson
Kirk Simpson*
Affiliation:
Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster
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Abstract

In this article, I argue that the reclamation of language and the rediscovery of victims’ voices in post-conflict contexts are vital to the realisation of full human rights for all citizens, and necessary preludes to processes of truth recovery. Allowing and encouraging victims to engage in dialogue and public storytelling constitutes a crucial part of the transitional legal and political process. However, as a consequence of campaigns of political murder, torture and detention by oppressive regimes many victims of violence have been returned to a ‘pre-language’ state, in which the articulation of coherent individual and group histories has become increasingly difficult. I contend that enabling victims to reclaim language and narrate their stories is a crucial aspect of the legal, social and political ‘rebalancing project’ necessary in transitional societies to right the wrongs of the past.

Type
Research Article
Information
International Journal of Law in Context , Volume 3 , Issue 2 , June 2007 , pp. 89 - 103
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2007

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