Metaphor and Reconciliation: The Discourse Dynamics of Empathy in Post-Conflict Conversations

Sixteen years after her father was killed by an IRA bomb, Jo Berry had her first conversation with the man responsible. She had made a long journey, ‘walking the footsteps of the bombers’ as she put it, determined not to give in to anger and revenge but to try to understand his motivations and perspective. Her preparedness to meet Pat Magee opened up a path to empathy that developed through their conversations over the following years. This book studies their growing understandings of each ...