J. M. Coetzee: Countervoices Paperback

India

Carrol Clarkson

This book, now in paperback for the first time and with a new preface, pays sustained attention to the dynamic interaction between Coetzee's fiction and his critical writing, exploring the Nobel prize-winner's participation in, and contribution to, contemporary literary-philosophical debates. It considers the ethical and aesthetic implications of the writer's linguistic choices . What is ethically at stake in the decision to write in the third person, or in playing up the etymologies of words? In what ways do seemingly innocent linguistic decisions have ethical and aesthetic consequences for the position of the speaking or writing self in relation to those whom one addresses, or in relation to those on whose behalf one speaks, or in relation to a world one attempts to represent or create in writing? Questions such as these arise throughout Coetzee's oeuvre, especially in relation to further reflections on notions of the writer's authority and authorial commitments.

1137357339

9781137357335

English

Palgrave MacMillan

01 Oct 2013

230

Carrol Clarkson is Associate Professor in English at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. Her research interests are at the confluence of literature, philosophy and the visual arts; publications include Drawing the Line: Toward an Aesthetics of Transitional Justice (2013). In 2009 she received UCT's Distinguished Teacher Award.

Carrol Clarkson approaches the work of J.M. Coetzee in a highly original way, by combining linguistic issues with aesthetical and ethical lines of thought... Another novelty is the detailed look at names and etymologies in Coetzee's work; again, this has been addressed by others, but never in such a comprehensive and detailed manner... Altogether, Carrol Clarkson listens closely to the countervoices raised in the literary discourse of J.M. Coetzee, adding her insightful commentary to the multitude of voices. Her linguistic ANALYSIS includes references to a broad variety of linguistics and critics, namely Roman Jakobson, Ferdinand de Saussure, Emil Benveniste, ludwig Wittgenstein, Michail Bakhtin, Roland Barthes and Jacques Derrida.' - Routledge ABES June 2011 'Coetzee continues to interest critics from different schools and traditions. Clarkson is the first, however, to start from Coetzee?s preoccupation with linguistics and follow the repercussions of the exigencies of linguistics in questions of an ethical and aesthetic nature. Clarkson?s discussions are compelling and interesting and undoubtedly constitute a novel and important contribution to the growing field of Coetzee criticism...Clarkson?s arguments are carefully organised and coherently presented. One chapter links to the next, and Clarkson frequently makes interesting and illuminating references to discussions in other places in the book. Combined with the thorough investigation of Coetzee?s own theoretical references J.M. Coetzee: Countervoices emerges as a solid, interesting and apposite contribution to Coetzee criticism...In short, however, J.M. Coetzee: Countervoices presents a novel approach to Coetzee?s writing and opens up new and important perspectives on one of the world's most critically challenging authors.' - Kjetil Enstad, Nordic Journal of English Studies 'Carrol Clarkson's J.M. Coetzee: Countervoices offers an erudite and very engaging discussion of J.M. Coetzee's writing' - This Year's Work in English Studies XVII