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The author examines community-focused apologies within international affairs. Specifically, he argues that this form of rhetoric functions as a rhetorical first step to healing relationships that have been hurt by the transgressions one group committed against another. In international affairs, transnational actors, typically nation-states through their political leaders, articulate community-focused apologia to mend relations between peoples, which may serve build a common path toward peace and deepen relationships between these actors. To illustrate this idea, he uses Japanese Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama's Citation1995 apology for crimes Japan committed during its wartime past. Murayama's apology was an important step in mending relations between Japan and its neighbors. This article provides a better understanding as to the motives and options rhetors may use in apologizing for past injustices and serves to broaden the way we conceptualize the rhetorical genre of apologia.
I thank Stephen Braden, David Cheshier, Kris Curry, Mary Stuckey, and the anonymous reviewers and editor for their invaluable suggestions in improving this manuscript. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 2004 Southern States Communication Association Conference, Tampa, FL.
Notes
1. Examples of these apologies within the United States include Bill Clinton's apology to Hawaiians for America's imperialism in the 1890s. Additionally, Clinton apologized to African-Americans for the Tuskegee Syphillis Experiment (see Gordon & Crenshaw, Citation2004; Harter, Stephens & Japp, Citation2000). Internationally, organizations were apologizing to communities within their own nations for transgressions they allowed to occur. One particular example was the Argentine Catholic Church's apology to the people of Argentina for not doing more to stop Argentina's program of suppression during its “dirty little war”, 1976–1982 (Heredia, Citation2000).
2. Other examples of public apologies by political leaders include Bill Clinton's international apologia to Africans for the slave trade, to Rwandans for the inaction of the international community during the genocide, and to Nicaraguans for U.S. action in its civil war in 1990s. Kofi Annan also apologized to Rwanda for the United Nations' inaction and his personal culpability. One apology was in 1998 and the other one was in 2004 at the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. British Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized in 1997 to the Irish for British inaction during the potato famine. Finally, Pope John Paul II apologized to a global audience for the past transgressions of the Catholic Church in 2000 (see Edwards, Citation2004 Citation2003 Citation2002). These are merely a few examples. For a comprehensive list of apologies, look to the list collected by the University of Pennsylvania National Commission on Society, Culture and Community http://www/upenn.edu/pnc under “Resources.”
3. Michael Hester (Citation2003) offered an insightful analysis of Bill Clinton's attempt at international apologia in his 1998 speech in Rwanda.
4. A good discursive community has sustained and reasoned deliberation on communal and cultural issues. This community creates and sustains an environment that is inclusive of varying boundaries, and has a commitment among the groups within the community to continue discussion of issues even when disagreement arises between these groups (Steinberg, Citation2003). A good deal of information about building discursive communities can be found in the research surrounding the public sphere.
5. The translation I used for Murayama's speech was acquired online. I then proceeded to crosscheck that translation with three other versions that I was able to find, two of which were from Japanese educational organizations. The translations of all four, save for grammatical differences, were the same.
6. An individual rhetor, usually some form of community leader, acts as an authoritative voice for the collective and makes the apology.
7. The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment was conducted in the United States from the early 1930s up until the 1970s. The U.S. government conspired to conduct a research experiment on untreated syphilis among the black male population in Macon County, Alabama. Once this experiment was discovered, a good deal of distrust was an attempt to create a bridge of trust between communities (see Gordon & Crenshaw, Citation2004; Harter, Stephens & Japp, Citation2000; Koersten & Rowland, Citation2004).
8. Most of the examples I found involving international apologia were by state leaders for wrongdoing committed years, sometimes decades, earlier. This, however, does not exclude other communities from apologizing for transnational injustices.
9. There is controversy as to whether Murayama's apology can be judged as an “official” government statement because the Japanese Diet did not authorize the prime minister to make such an explicit statement. Some nation-states (i.e., South Korea) still want an explicit “official” apology sanctioned by the Japanese Diet. In my view this does not diminish the fact that Murayama's apology, at the time, was the most explicit statement ever made by a Japanese official. Furthermore, his statement set the standard for future expressions of contrition by Japanese leaders. Therefore, it is a remarkable piece of rhetorical discourse.
10. While Murayama's apology did receive cautious praise, this does not mean that Japan does not have a long path to trek in reestablishing and strengthening relationships among its neighbors. South Korea, for example, has continued to great Japanese apologies with continued distrust (Lind, Citation2004). Murayama, as well as other Japanese leaders since then, have not fully, “remembered” the crimes they committed against countries within the Asian-Pacific region. The lack of full remembrance will continue to be a constraint Japan has to deal with in its relations with its neighbors.
11. The Japanese government continues to express remorse over its actions during World War II. The latest incident that I could find was in 2001 when Japanese Foreign Minister Makiko Tanaka apologized to those affected by Japanese war crimes. Tanaka was speaking at a ceremony that marked the fiftieth anniversary of a treaty signed between the United States and Japan officially marking an end to the war. For details of the speech look to: Japan apologizes to WW II victims (2001, September 9). BBC News http://news.bbc.co.uk/i/hi/world/asia-pacific/1533436.htm. (Accessed July 26, 2004). For a transcript of her speech look to www.gainfo.org/SFPT/news/20010908aSpeech.htm. (Accessed July 26, 2004).