A Story of South Africa: J. M. Coetzee’s Fiction in Context

Susan VanZanten Gallagher

Published by Harvard University Press 1991

A Story of South Africa

J. M. Coetzee’s Fiction in Context

Susan VanZanten Gallagher

https://doi.org/10.4159/harvard.9780674281462

Overview
Contents

About this book

With the publication of Age of Iron--winner of Britain's richest fiction prize, the Sunday Express Book of the Year for 1990--J. M. Coetzee is now recognized as one of the foremost writers of our day. In this timely study of Coetzee's fiction, Susan Gallagher places his work in the context of South African history and politics. Her close historical readings of Coetzee's six major novels explore how he lays bare the "dense complicity between thought and language" in South Africa.

Following a penetrating description of the unique difficulties facing writers under apartheid, Gallagher recounts how history, language, and authority have been used to marginalize the majority of South Africa's people. Her story reaches from the beginnings of Afrikaner nationalism to the recent past: the Sharpeville massacre, the jailing of Nelson Mandela, and the Soweto uprising.

As a result of his rejection of liberal and socialist realism, Coetzee has been branded an escapist, but Gallagher ably defends him from this charge. Her cogent, convincingly argued examination of his novels demonstrates that Coetzee's fictional response is "apocalyptic in the most profound Biblical sense, obscurely pointing toward ineffable realities transcending discursive definition." Viewing Coetzee's fiction in this context, Gallagher describes a new kind of novel "that arises out of history, but also rivals history." This analysis reveals Coetzee's novels to be profound responses to their time and place as well as richly rewarding investigations of the storyteller's art.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
Preface Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	ix
Note on Diction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	xiii
1 History and the South African Writer Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
2 Naming the Other: History, Language, and Authority Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	23
3 The Master Myth of History: Dus glands Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	50
4 A Feminine Story: In the Heart of the Country Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	82
5 The Novelist and Torture: Waiting for the Barbarians Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	112
6 Apocalypse: Life & Times of Michael Κ Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	136
7 Writing for the Other: Foe Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	166
8 The Unquiet Dead: Age of Iron Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	193
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	213
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	217
Works Cited Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	235
Acknowledgments Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	252

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Edition: Reprint 2014
Audience: Professional and scholarly;
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 258
Keywords: Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Criticism and interpretation.; South Africa -- In literature.

eBook

Published: October 1, 2013
ISBN: 9780674281462

Hardcover

Published: February 5, 1991
ISBN: 9780674281455