1st Edition

The Politics of Humiliation in the Novels of J.M. Coetzee

By Hania A.M. Nashef Copyright 2009
    218 Pages
    by Routledge

    218 Pages
    by Routledge

    In this volume, Nashef looks at J.M. Coetzee's concern with universal suffering and the inevitable humiliation of the human being as manifest in his novels. Though several theorists have referred to the theme of human degradation in Coetzee’s work, no detailed study has been made of this area of concern especially with respect to how pervasive it is across Coetzee’s literary output to date. This study examines what J.M. Coetzee's novels portray as the circumstances that contribute to the humiliation of the individual--namely the abuse of language, master and slave interplay, aging and senseless waiting--and how these conditions can lead to the alienation and marginalization of the individual.

    Introduction  1. In the Name of Truth  2. Words: Great Mercies  3. Chains that Bind: The Master and the Slave  4. "Ah for youth! Ah for Immorality"  5. At the Gate  6. Conclusion

    Biography

    Hania Nashef  received a PhD in Literature from University of Kent in 2008.