J.M. Coetzee and the Novel: Writing and Politics after Beckett (Oxford English Monographs)

284 Pages·2010·1.08 MB·English

by  Patrick Hayes

J. M. COETZEE AND THE NOVEL
OXFORD ENGLISH MONOGRAPHS
GeneralEditors
helen barr david bradshaw paulina kewes
hermione lee sally mapstone david norbrook
fiona stafford
J. M. Coetzee and
the Novel
Writing and Politics After Beckett
by
PATRICK HAYES
1
3
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For my mother and father
Acknowledgements
AboveallIwouldliketothankPeterD.McDonald,whosupervised
my doctoral thesis on Coetzee: his example will remain for me the
model of what, at its best, doctoral supervision can be. I am also
extremelygratefultoDerekAttridge,DavidAttwell,RonBush,Sam
Durrant, and Hermione Lee, who advised on my work in detail.
My special thanks go to St John’s College, Oxford, who offered
mea‘LambandFlag’studentshipduringmydoctoralstudieswhen
otherfundingavenueswereclosed.Thissupportprovidedmewitha
yearoffull-timeresearchthatwascrucialtothedevelopmentofmy
work. I also thank the AHRC for funding the final stage of my
doctoral study.
It has been my pleasure and privilege over the past few years as a
tutorandlecturerinOxfordtospendtimewithanoutstandingand
diversegroupofstudents.Theirinsights,questions,andenthusiasms
have been a constant source of inspiration during this project.
My other debts are too extensive to be listed in full. I am
immensely grateful to Sarah for her patience and encouragement.
This book is dedicated to my mother and father, whose love and
support over the years have made everything possible.
Contents
Introduction 1
1. Writing and Politics: Contexts and Debates 7
2. Writing and Politics After Beckett 33
3. ‘Joey rules’: Telling the Truth in Life &
Times of Michael K 72
4. ‘An author I have not read’: Foe, Crime and Punishment
and the Problem of the Novel 106
5. Genre and Countergenre: Age of Iron, Pamela, and Don
Quixote 130
6. ‘Redemption’ or ‘Delegitimization’? The Artist on Trial in
The Master of Petersburg 165
7. ‘Is this the right image of our nation?’ Disgrace and the
Seriousness of the Novel 194
8. Cultural Criticism in the Australian Fiction 223
Select Bibliography 260
Index 271
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Introduction
‘Foranovelist[pause];forawriterworkinginthemediumof
thenovel...’
(J. M. Coetzee, describing himself, in interview with
Paul Bailey)1
Debate on Coetzee has focused on the vexed and complex question
of political responsibility, and the two most important studies of
his work have each tackled this question in different ways. In J. M.
Coetzee: South Africa and the Politics of Writing (1993), David
Attwell established Coetzee’s political seriousness by revealing the
extent of his engagement with the specificities of South African
political culture; in describing his work as ‘situational metafiction’,
Attwellemphasizedtheself-consciouslycriticalenergiesofCoetzee’s
writing.2 In J. M. Coetzee and the Ethics of Reading (2004), Derek
Attridge drew attention to the way in which Coetzee’s fiction
exploresthecomplexrelationshipbetweenpoliticsandethics,taking
his lead from the thought of Derrida and Levinas. Thanks to this
work,Coetzee’sreputationasaseriousandresponsiblewriterisnow
largelyuncontested,andthereisroomtoevaluatehissignificance—
including his significance as a political writer—in different ways.
Thisbookisanattempttodojustthat.FollowingCoetzee’sown
abiding concern with the origins, history, and ongoing cultural
1 ‘InterviewwithPaulBailey’,ThirdEar,BBCRadio3,18Dec.1990.
2 DavidAttwell,J.M.Coetzee:SouthAfricaandthePoliticsofWriting(Berkeley,
1993)18.