Mea Culpa: A Sociology of Apology and Reconciliation

by Nicholas Tavuchis

What is apology? What are its functions and its essential and variable elements? How do apologies differ from excuses, disclaimers, and justifications? What form does apology take in our own culture and in other cultures such as Japan? These are some of the major questions addressed in this attempt to shed light on a familiar but neglected dimension of social life. "Mea Culpa is an important book. Tavuchis considers apologies between individuals, individuals and groups, and between groups ... His analysis is broad and interdisciplinary, drawing from sociology, philosophy, sociolinguistics, social psychology, anthropology, philology, law, and religion ... Tavuchis utilizes verbatim texts (from newspapers, novels, letters, press conferences) to develop his theory. He is particularly brilliant on the work of Erving Goffman ... Mea Culpa is a valuable contribution to social science."—American Journal of Sociology

180 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Lily · Rating 2 out of 5]

Woof. This was... a text.

So this isn't so much a "book" (well, I mean it is, obviously) as it is a thesis of academic writing. Which.... isn't bad per se. But just definitely not what I was looking to pick up in my free time. This definitely has the air of a professor who wrote the textbook for a class. Which... I have my own thoughts about.

The book itself wasn't terrible, although a bit dry and difficult to follow for me. I was hoping to learn a bit more about the actual formulation of apologies and what reconciliation looks like. But it was mostly political examples.

For the topic, I found Sorry, Sorry, Sorry (alternatively titled Getting to Sorry) by Marjorie Ingall to be more interesting.