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Gedagtes oor J.M. Coetzee se etiek van skryf
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20156282 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Willem Anker (0000-0002-2158-0169, Stellenbosch University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2006 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 113-137 |
| Publication date | 2006-06-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Literary Studies (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0256-4718 • E-ISSN: 1753-5387 |
| Publisher | Unisa Press (PUBLISHER • ZA) |
| DOI | 10.1080/02564710608530393 |
| OpenAlex | W2041039364 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 14 |
In two of J.M. Coetzee's early works, Life & Times of Michael K ([1983]1987aj and Foe ([1986]1987b), two voiceless, unessentialised figures are portrayed. These figures are not only manifestations of the Other, but also idiot‐figures, ignorant consciousnesses with a restricted language ability ‐ radical outsiders. This article is a study of how Coetzee portrays these subjectivities in an ethical way in his writings. Firstly it is argued that the construction of a centralised subjectivity is a technique of subjection of the modern State. The article then shows how the two characters escape the processes of interpretation of the power structures. Furthermore it analyses how as an effect of Coetzee's ambiguous style it appears as if the characters also escape the attempts of the narrator to interpret them or give them a voice. It will become clear that reader engagement is effected despite the detached way in which the characters are portrayed. This is exactly because their irreducible being cannot be essentialised by the text. In the end the article argues for an ethical position where the equation of the narrator's voice with that of the Other is relinquished, so that the texts are portrayals and linguistic expressions of a refusal to speak on behalf of an unknown and unknowable subjectivity
Art · Epistemology · Idiot · Linguistics · Literature · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Subjectivity · Hermeneutics and Narrative Identity · Legal Issues in South Africa · Philosophy · Psychology · South African History and Culture
The true confessions of an albino terrorist
Identity, Genealogy, History
Histoire de la sexualité, Tome I
Discipline and Punish
A Story of South Africa J. M. Coetzee’s Fiction in Context
The possibility of ethical action
Literature and the Labour of Negation
The Lives of Animals
Discipline and Punish
Deleuze and Geophilosophy
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |