"Shattered Voices explores the benefits and problems inherent when a fragile country seeks to heal its victims without risking its own future." "In developing a theory about the role of language in retribution, Teresa Godwin Phelps takes an interdisciplinary approach, delving into sources from Greek tragedy to Hamlet, from Kant to contemporary theories about retribution, from the Babylonian law codes to the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report. She argues that, given the historical and psychological evidence about revenge, starting afresh by drawing a bright line between past crimes and a new government is both unrealistic and unwise." "When grievous harm happens, a rebalancing is bound to occur, whether it is orderly and lawful or disorderly and unlawful. Shattered Voices contends that language is requisite to any adequate balancing and that a solution is viable only if it provides an atmosphere in which storytelling and subsequent dialogue can flourish in the developing culture of ubiquitous truth reports. Phelps argues that we must become attentive to the form these reports take - the narrative structure, the use of victims' stories, and the way a political message is conveyed to the citizens of the emerging democracy." "By looking concretely at the work and responsibilities of truth commissions, Shattered Voices offers an important analysis of the efficacy of the ways human rights abuses are addressed."--BOOK JACKET.