J. M. Coetzee and the Question of the Body

May, Brian

doi:10.1353/mfs.2001.0044

Cited by 12 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Yet, to all appearances, Coetzee's barbarian girl leaves Waiting for the Barbarian just as she enters it, devoid of discernible history, not just anonymous, but anonymously piecemeal, a mere list of body parts, attitudes, and gestures that might belong to any "stocky girl with a broad mouth and hair cut in a fringe across her forehead staring over [the Magistrate's] shoulder" (May, 2001, p. 391-392) May's concession to the Magistrate's representation of the barbarian girl affirms what Spivak highlights in any acts of epistemic violence -that such an act will signify a deeper level of subjugation of the subject "Other" and the perpetuation of their subaltern status. In a way, May's readily embrace of this metaphorical effacement of the barbarian girl's body renders such a subject truly anonymous and ahistorical, thus signifying the discourse -or the "heterogeneous project" -that only further subjugates the "Other(ed)" subject.…”

Section: Why Can't the Subaltern (Woman) Speak?mentioning

confidence: 99%

From Absence to Re(-)Presentation: A Reading of the Female Subaltern’s Body in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

Minh¹

2020

JFS

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This research paper explores an alternative mode of knowledge-production for the representation of the barbarian girl in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians. In light of Chandra Mohanty’s critique pertaining the prominent academic methodologies that subsume all Third World women as homogenous and ahistorical subject of academic investigation, the paper offers an epistemological production of the barbarian girl’s representation without committing the act of ‘epistemic violence’: perceived from the realm of the metatextual instead from that of the textual, the girl’s somatic representation via its ‘presence by absence’ is recalcitrant and unyielding against the violence of imperialism.

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Section: Why Can't the Subaltern (Woman) Speak?mentioning

confidence: 99%

From Absence to Re(-)Presentation: A Reading of the Female Subaltern’s Body in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

Minh¹

2020

JFS

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“…Particularly with the publication of Waiting for the Barbarians (2000), Coetzee tries to deconstruct falsified knowledge of African epistemologies as barbarous. While the novel has received a substantial amount of critical attention (Asempasah, 2013;May, 2001), the parallel between narrative perspective, female vulnerability and feminine barbarism are yet to be explored. Dominant literature on Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians has focused on the traitor trope functioning within the context of othered bodies, terror and resistance (Asempasah, 2013(Asempasah, , 2019Craps, 2007;Al-Badarneh, 2013) and the reconstitution of identities, sexual epistemologies and feminist politics (Madhok, 2016;Qassa, 2020;Boletsi, 2007;Salih & Janoory, 2019;May, 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the novel has received a substantial amount of critical attention (Asempasah, 2013;May, 2001), the parallel between narrative perspective, female vulnerability and feminine barbarism are yet to be explored. Dominant literature on Coetzee's Waiting for the Barbarians has focused on the traitor trope functioning within the context of othered bodies, terror and resistance (Asempasah, 2013(Asempasah, , 2019Craps, 2007;Al-Badarneh, 2013) and the reconstitution of identities, sexual epistemologies and feminist politics (Madhok, 2016;Qassa, 2020;Boletsi, 2007;Salih & Janoory, 2019;May, 2001). While these studies are important, they do not prioritize the parallel between the narrative perspective in the novel and how it succeeds in exposing female vulnerability through a postcolonial feminist lens.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Postcolonial Feminist Reading of J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (2000)

Sam

Bonsu²

2022

IJHS

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Literary texts and kinds of research have reframed postcolonial experiences to capture several issues in society. On that note, Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians has chalked many successes in gaining the attention of literary scholars to subject the text to interpretation using varied literary approaches, except postcolonial feminism. The postcolonial aspect of the feminist issues in the text is fundamental. The thrust of this paper is to analyse Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians using the postcolonial feminist theory. Guided by three objectives, the study uses the qualitative content analysis method to interpret the text. From the analysis, the study reported that, while objectification and ‘othering’ are characteristic of the representation of females in the text, violence against them is constructed through fear and torture and resisted mainly through silence. Also, the mode of narration influences the presentation of the narrative to readers. Finally, the study offers implications for further research using other literary theories or approaches.

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“…Para el crítico May (2001), el cuerpo está en el primer plano en la narrativa de Coetzee que parece profesarle una fascinación ética. El cuerpo tiene su propia fuerza, supremacía y poder.…”

Section: Introductionunclassified

Corpografías fronterizas en Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) de J.M. Coetzee

Pardo-Gamboa

Joliff

2020

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The study of corpography (corpographèse) in J.M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians establishes a symptomatology of the body -linked to the experiences of torture and eroticism- that associates the illness with somnolence in the fictional text and the parasitization of the represented historical text. The tortured and undesired bodies of the protagonists undergo a process of objectification that manifests the acceleration of the fall of the Empire and the fragmentation of its discursive body as well as reinforces the secrecy and illegibility of the text inscribed in the body of barbarism. This indecipherable text/body is defined by the paradox of the border labyrinth whose specularity gives rise to the illusion of control at the frontier between empire and barbarism. We will study, first of all, the writing of torture on the bodies, focusing on two organs - the eyes and the feet. Then, we will be interested in the erotic experience between the two protagonists. Finally, we will see how these vacuous bodies establish, at the border, a suspensive temporary bond with the historical and the memorial text.

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J. M. Coetzee and the Question of the Body

Cited by 12 publications

References 15 publications

From Absence to Re(-)Presentation: A Reading of the Female Subaltern’s Body in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

From Absence to Re(-)Presentation: A Reading of the Female Subaltern’s Body in Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians

A Postcolonial Feminist Reading of J. M. Coetzee’s Waiting for the Barbarians (2000)

Corpografías fronterizas en Waiting for the Barbarians (1980) de J.M. Coetzee

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