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“این یک عنوان است”

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Reza Hoshamand

“The Path to Reconciliation; From Dictatorship to Democracy” is a book written by Desmond Tutu, which examines the victory of black South Africans over the apartheid system and the events that followed. Recently, this book has been translated into Persian by Bahman Ahmadi Amouee and has been released in the market. Unlike most social and political books that are accompanied by cold and harsh content, “The Path to Reconciliation” starts with a gentle and intimate description of April 27, 1994, the day of victory over apartheid, and gradually takes the reader through the conditions and events of that time, allowing them to better imagine themselves in the circumstances of that day – the dangers present throughout South Africa and the threats from right-wing extremists – and become familiar with the conditions of those days in Africa.

Desmond Tutu, the Archbishop of Desmond, is the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize and one of the key and influential figures in the establishment of human rights in South Africa. He was appointed by Nelson Mandela to lead the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a commission that paved the way for the forgiveness of individuals who had violated human rights during the apartheid regime.

At the beginning of this book, the translator introduces the reader to the direction and content of the work with a strong introduction, but does not reveal the writing style and substance in order to keep the reader curious about the book. In the introduction, we read: “South Africa has gone through an experience that is useful and important for many countries to examine from two aspects: first, the creation and consolidation of democracy (democratization), and second, how to confront the dark, harsh, and thought-provoking past that needs to be clarified. Despite all the negative predictions, South Africa has successfully passed through these two stages peacefully…”

The Path of Reconciliation, except for the first chapter which is an introduction and a short appendix at the end, has ten chapters: “The Nuremberg Trials and Public Amnesia? The Third Way”, “In the Best of Times”, “What Becomes of Justice”, “Rising and Running”, “Listening to a Victim”, “We Want to Forgive, But We Don’t Know Who to Forgive”, “This is My Brother, I Know His Shoes”, “My God! Why Do I Do Such a Thankless Job”, “We Didn’t Know” and “Truly, Without Forgiveness, There is No Future”. As the titles of the chapters suggest, one can discover the intimacy present in the text of the book.

In the inner sections of the book “The Path of Reconciliation”, the reader is faced with many memories of damaged, suffering, righteous, and other individuals. In addition to getting familiar with the people’s spirits during those days in South Africa, those memories also evoke various emotions such as fear, disgust, cruelty, etc. This causes the reader to not only look at the events from a higher perspective, but also have an emotional reaction to those incidents and circumstances.

The question arises as to why an Iranian should study the book “The Path to Reconciliation”? Considering that South Africa has successfully moved towards democracy and achieved victory over the apartheid regime under the leadership of Nelson Mandela, we too can use the experiences of countries that have suffered from oppression and human rights violations in the past by studying books related to them. This can help us pave the way for freedom in our own country and move forward at a faster pace.

Book Name: The Path of Reconciliation; From Tyranny to Democracy

Author: Desmond Tutu

Translator: Bahman Ahmadi Amoui

Publication Date: 1396

Publisher: Parsa Book