State apology: The simultaneously hegemonic and brittle ritual

Readers will inevitably have first-hand experience of how apology operates in the interpersonal domain: the penitent admits they have done wrong and requests forgiveness from the victim. It is then the victim’s turn to reply, either accepting or rejecting the apology. There are good reasons why people can be reluctant to apologise: admitting sin involves acknowledging one’s own inadequacies or moral failings and lowering oneself before the wronged. There is a further relinquishing of authority in that the apologiser risks their utterance being rejected by the wronged. But there is something to be gained: the ritual, when successful, can restore harmony to once fractured relations and can be pivotal in reviving the offender’s tarnished image.