ABSTRACT
The third axiom of the historical imagination is that we should identify and explore the factors that accompany healing in a wounded social structure. Pushkin, Shelley, and other great writers have seen a prophetic role for literature that works through gradual cultural transformation. In the light of literary examples, it is possible to describe several indicators of ‘a gradual crossing from one world to another’ in the domain of society and civilisation. These indicators are typical of the religious perspective on human experience. They include respect for nature, due hesitation before the enormity of certain choices (Heuristik der Furcht), humility, gratuitous generosity, a gradual approach, and finding unity in the presence of difference. A deeper perspective on the characteristics of social change informs our judgement as to the efficacy of different forms of political and diplomatic action. Humility or religious reverence leads us to respond with mercy to the vulnerability of others and to acknowledge the ‘given’ character of peace and happiness. Our ten themes or indicators are presented as panels in a broad composition to which the reader is invited to add. In enabling peaceful transformation, nothing is more important than the role of the courageous individual who perceives the underlying truth of situations and brings this to attention. The chapter concludes with a contemporary case study. Ken Saro-Wiwa separated truth from falsehood and took a stand for justice in the face of seemingly invincible social forces.
