Difference and J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 20156535 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Neville James Smith (corresponding author), Neville Smith |
| Year | 2007 |
| Volume | 23 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 200-216 |
| Publication date | 2007-06-01 |
| 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 | 10.1080/02564710701423418 |
| OpenAlex | W2055889555 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 14 |
In this essay, I would like to argue that Disgrace (1999) is part of a transition in South African writing,1 1Shared by Zakes Mda, Heart of Redness (2000); Breyten Breytenbach, Dog Heart (1999); and Andre Brink, Imaginings of Sand (1997) from the fictional representation of difference among people based on the biological notions of blood and genes to notions of difference based on culture and social origin. For South African writers after 1990, this shift signalled incorporation into the global order. Coetzee contemplates South Africa during its emergence from centuries of colonialism and settler racism and reflects on the notion of being in post-apartheid South Africa. As both an internationally recognised writer and a prominent South African academic, he inscribes a view of region and nation in his works that I would suggest is indebted to the cadastral gaze of Empire.2 2Ashcroft, Griffiths & Tiffen describe modern surveillance of imperial nation states, which implies a viewer with an elevated vantage point from which it objectifies and interpellates the colonised subject. Following Lacan, this gaze fixes the identification, objectification and subjection of a subject simultaneously within a system of power relations which confirms its subalterity and powerlessness (1998: 226). I suggest that the gaze of Empire, which views the world in a different way, has emerged. Since 1990 various forms of this media, history and political discourse have been reflecting the operation of the gaze of Empire no longer linked to the sovereignty of imperial nation states and colonies but to a cadastral network of surveillance which operates simultaneously across all borders. We have a deterritorialised compound eye of multinational corporations, nation states, the IMF, WTO and other institutions linked to the cybernetic chain of networks. In this novel, Coetzee's view is significantly marked by a postmodern appreciation of culture and society reflected in his extensive allusions to classical and modernist art and literature. In this essay I outline key shifts in postmodern racism and consider how a range of critics have responded to Disgrace. Following this I examine the way in which Coetzee circumvents typologies based on race by inscribing a more nuanced typology based on cultural difference and social history. Finally I look at how the violation of women and the consequences of such deeds are represented in this novel
Ancient history · British Empire · Colonialism · Empire · Gaze · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Sociology · Sovereignty · African cultural and philosophical studies · Gender Studies · History · Law · Postcolonial and Cultural Literary Studies · Psychology · South African History and Culture
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,04 |
| Citation span | 2003 - 2003 (1) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |