Unrepresentable Ethical Resistance in the Works of J.M. Coetzee’s
Date Issued
2015
Date
2015
Author(s)
Ian, Ieng
Abstract
Abstract This thesis seeks to examine two novels of J.M. Coetzee written during apartheid, Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) and Age of Iron (1990), investigating the unrepresentable characters in the novels and their ethical dimensions. This thesis deals with three perspectives: the first chapter will demonstrate through use of François Lyotard’s concept of différend how the historical condition of South Africa and Coetzee’s personal aesthetic pursuits underscore the urgency of a new novelistic form rather than the existing ones in South Africa literary history. In the light of work by Jacques Derrida, Emmanuel Levinas, and Maurice Blanchot, chapter two sets off to see how these unrepresentable characters, functioning as what Derrida dubs l’arrivant, compel the narrators to leave their homes (chez soi), and even to an extent to make sacrifice for the Other in becoming his/her hostage (l’otage). At the end, with recourse to Blanchot, the discussion reaches out to how literature can pursue the ethical. The last chapter talks about how readers can participate in the discovery of the Other while reading. Gayatri Spivak believes that “counterfocalization” will lead the readers to read against the hegemonic discourse of the narrator or focalizor, to “counterfocalize” the focalized narration. In addition, this thesis also hopes to argue for the singularity of literature in terms of its capability to retain and exhibit ambiguity, paving the way to the Other better than history and philosophy. Keywords: J.M. Coetzee, Ethics, Other, Self, Unrepresentable, Levinas, Derrida, Blanchot, Spivak
Subjects
J.M. Coetzee
Ethics
Other
Self
Unrepresentable
Levinas
Derrida
Blanchot
Spivak
Type
thesis
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