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Description:
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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 other by focusing on
the rich networks of metaphors that appear in their conversations, and how
these evolve in the process of reconciliation. The innovative research
method, reported in a rigorous but accessible style, together with the rich and
often poignant data, make this book a valuable addition to the study of
metaphor and discourse. In uncovering the development of empathy between
these two extraordinary people, Cameron illuminates the moral necessity, and
the potential rewards, in trying to imagine the world and mind of the Other.
Implications are drawn for how mediators in reconciliation contexts might
make positive use of metaphor in supporting the dynamics of empathy.
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