J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace: Expression of Disgrace in Contemporary Post-Apartheid South-Africa

Pham Tran Thuy Anh 건국대학교 아시아·디아스포라 연구소 2020 International Journal of Diaspora&Cultural Critici Vol.10 No.2

From the perspective of a cultural researcher, it can be said this paper tries to unveil the meaning of the expression “disgrace” in the work Disgrace by J.M. Coetzee with the purpose of finding out how Coetzee depicts David Lurie’s disgrace in the entire novel, and what he does to gain his grace back. In addition, the approach of a New Historicism used in this article can help reflect something about Coetzee and his current society to today’s readers. Much more than that, at deeper level of research, it can be revealed that this novel is filled with both critique and judgment of the South African system, its moral standards as well as its citizens. And, it seems Coetzee is right when he says that he just depicts a factual state as he sees it because the entire novel is the description of a huge South African society.

J. M. 쿳시의『추락』: 인종주의 공간에서 서술되는 윤리적 딜레마의 수사학

김현아 한국중앙영어영문학회 2009 영어영문학연구 Vol.51 No.2

John Maxwell Coetzee(1940- ), one of the most influential writers of the Republic of South Africa, has attracted public attention in the world of English literature. The ethics of the Other that Coetzee’s novels coherently examine has something in common with the theories of Gayatri Spivak and Emmanuel Levinas. Spivak emphasizes ethical responsibility in the postcolonial discourse and constructs a comprehensive academic and practical sphere which includes imperial history and subaltern study beyond the European philosophical and literary tradition. Levinas, an ethicist who analyzed the structure of the ethical relations between the self and the Other, further focuses on how the egoistic self respects the Other and attempts to constitute ethical relations between them. The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the Rhetoric of Ethical Dilemma Narrated in the Racism Space in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace (1999). While white writers like Coetzee in South Africa are considered to be more objective concerning racial discrimination than black writers, they have collided with certain racial limitations as they are not entirely free from the cultural traditions of Europe. Furthermore, white authors’ writings like Coetzee are accused of conspiring with the white people’s segregated society concepts and their former political power. This paper deals with Disgrace that suggests the future prospect of South Africa be positive through ethical coexistence in the post-Apartheid period, when the confrontation between black and white remained unchanged and conflicts and deep wounds were still felt. To explore “re-awoken” main characters rewriting contemporary history toward a new reconciliation between white and black, this analyzes Lurie, a white professor, who is deprived of his social position due to having had a sexual intercourse with his colored female pupil, and his daughter, Lucy, who was raped by black men. Although Lurie lived apart from the reality of culture, history, and geopolitics, he challenges the old stereotype that black and white cannot coexist. This text reveals not only the violence Lurie and Lucy undergo but also the process of the exploration for “truth and reconciliation” by asking whether black and white can truly coexist and by recalling the need for ethical self-reflection for true coexistence. In the end, Lurie and Lucy are reborn as characters who rewrite the contemporary history in the post-apartheid era. In Disgrace Coetzee aims to lead his readers to reflect upon what is indispensable for a world of genuine coexistence and true reconciliation instead of simply showing them the terrible events of Lurie and Lucy’s lives.

쿳시의 『치욕』: 치욕이라는 은총

전소영 ( So Young Jun ) 한국현대영미소설학회 2010 현대영미소설 Vol.17 No.1

The human being and the animal being are already and always implicated. The attempt to divide them clearly is in itself violent to both of them. Although the animal has been sacrificed by way of constructing the concept of human subject, the concept is also continuously slid and transformed as it can`t be fixed. The human being has denied and suppressed his own animality but the sacrifice of animality itself makes the life of human being sustainable. Accordingly, the Other in the novel of Coetzee is not only the human other but also the animal other. And the animal is not sacrificed for the human subject. Although the abyss between the human and the animal maintained by many philosophers has been produced by various traditional institutions and anthropocentric discourses, Coetzee reveals that it is not original any longer. In Disgrace, David Lurie, who was selfish and autonomous, starts to sympathize with the Other after he has experienced the disgraceful event and the fatal suffering. And he finally realizes that the human and the animal both share the mortality of death and are exposed to their vulnerability. By means of Lurie`s animal becoming, Coetzee makes an transcendental trial to deconstruct a hard and fast line of demarcation between the human and the animal. Consequently, Lurie`s transformation by self-recognition becomes the precondition for the ethical relation with the Other. His falling into disgrace has turned into a kind of grace to him as well as others.

국치(일)투쟁의 전개와 그 의미

신운용 한국민족운동사학회 2011 한국민족운동사연구 Vol.0 No.66

100 Years ago, Japanese Imperialism made the deliberate attack on Korean territory with military force. For a century, there have come out resilient movements and struggle by Korean patriots for getting Korean peninsula independent against Japanese Imperialism. At this time, it is important to know how serious it would be to use historical term “Gangje-byeonghap(强制倂合, Forced annexation)”, for not only whose underlying meaning is drastically getting rid of Korea and Korean people forever but also it means “Korean voluntarily asked Japan to merge their mother territory and be the part of Japanese Empire”. Therefore if Korean people keep using this term “Byeonghap(倂合)”, the situation would contain decisive pitfalls: firstly, all the Korean independence fighters would be “terrorists” ruining the rule of Japanese imperialism. Secondly, what makes the situation becoming worse is Korea would be the new nation with the fall of The Empire of Japan, therefore Korea can never has the legal voice for the claim for compensation to Japan by the international law. Thirdly, that would be the reason that Japan keep insisting Korea illegally occupied Dokdo Island(독도). Like this, these main problems between Korea and Japan are sharing same context. This is the reason why we should deeply reconsider to use the term “Gangje-byeonghap”Japanese imperialism would use the term “Byeonghap” with much more enhanced meaning containing not just Japan and Korea were merged but Korea voluntarily asked to be involved in Japanese imperialism and be the part of The Empire of Japan, Japan generally accepted this asking for help. After that, Japan herself worked for Korean colony to be improved and civilized territory for Korean people wanted it to be. In those days right after being colonized, Korean Patriots and people refused to say “병합”. Instead, they rather used the term “Gukchi(國恥), National disgrace):the national disgrace” whose meaning is “Korean peninsula was illegally occupied by Japanese imperialism, they never wanted and asked to be the part of The Empire of Japan. Needless to say, it was illegal invasion by Japan Imperialism”. And these Korean Patriots stuck to their principle for good. A hundred years ago, the Japanese Empire attacked Korean Peninsula; there are various events in remembrance of this year, 2010. Anyhow, however, the term “Gangje-byeonghap” which was discouraged to use among Korean Patriots for decades would pop up everywhere now. It seems Korean historical consciousness is rather regressing compared to those days where Korean resilient independence fighters would struggle against Japanese imperialism. When it comes to the term “Gukchi”, this would contain the meaning and the theoretical basis for Korean struggle against Japanese Imperialism, plus, it is about winning recognition of Korea and Korean people who stood firmly with their beliefin spite of all the suffering and pain for losing their mother country. Therefore, keeping the term “Gangje-byeonghap” is not to know what is right and wrong and refuse to acknowledge the Korean historical legitimacy but allowing the Japanese illegal invasion and lawless territorial expansion.

수치의 젠더 정치학 : 존 쿳시의 『치욕』의 예

이정화 ( Lee Jung-hwa ) 조선대학교 인문학연구원 2018 인문학연구 Vol.0 No.56

브라이언 마수미와 이브 세즈윅은 권력관계의 장으로서의 문화와 사회적 의미화로부터 자유로운 정동 개념을 이론화함으로써 ‘정동적 전회’를 견인했다. 이 글은 정동의 자율성을 주장하는 마수미와 정동의 자유로운 이동성을 강조하는 세즈윅의 정동론으로부터 비판적 거리를 견지하면서 감정의 사회성과 공감의 한계를 환기시킨다. 이를 위해 이 글은 수치의 감정에 초점을 맞추어, 수치가 젠더에 따라 어떻게 달리 작동하는지 고찰한다. 남아프리카 공화국 출신의 백인 작가 쿳시의 『치욕』은 수치의 감정이 젠더화되어 있으며 타자와 감정적 동일시를 경험하는 우리의 공감 능력이 무한하지 않다는 점을 숙고하게 해주는 소설이다. 『치욕』에서 수치는 (마수미와 세즈윅이 믿는 것처럼) 자유로운 이동성과 무제한의 전염성을 가지고 이데올로기와 문화를 초월하지 못한다. 『치욕』은 우리의 감정이 무한정으로 자유롭고 유동적이며 개방적인 것이 아니라 사회·문화적 의미 속에서 작동하는 것임을 여실히 보여준다. 결국, 『치욕』이 제공하는 통찰은 공감 능력이 타인과의 경계를 허무는 데 필요한 전부가 아닐 수 있기 때문에 주체들이 감정과 맺는 관계에 차이를 만드는 사회·문화적 힘들을 세심히 살필 필요가 있다는 것이다. Brian Massumi and Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick significantly contributed to the 'affective turn,' which might be seen as a move from culture and epistemology to materiality and ontology. This article maintains a critical distance from Massumi's concept of affect as autonomous intensity and Sedgwick's emphasis on the free and contagious nature of affect. Responding to Clare Hemmings's call to "reject the contemporary fascination with affect as outside social meaning," I analyze shame as a gendered emotion by examining the different ways in which Lurie’s disgrace and Lucy’s shame function in J.M. Coetzee's Disgrace. The novel suggests that shame hardly transcends gender and our capacity for sympathy is limited. In Disgrace, shame, an exemplary emotion, is not infinitely free and autonomous; instead, it functions within the constraints of social and cultural meanings. Then, the insight that the novel offers us might be that we need to pay closer attention to the social and cultural forces that influence our varied relationships to feelings.

J. M. 쿳시의 『추락』: 루시와 루리가 경험한 감정의 역학과 윤리적 방향

박바로가 ( Park Baroga ) 대한영어영문학회 2023 영어영문학연구 Vol.49 No.2

This paper helps change dichotomous logic systems such as logocentric and phallologocentric into something multi-dynamic which has been through exploring the influence of four main emotions: disgust, shame, anger, and revenge. The socially engineered emotion of ‘disgust’ influences ‘shame’, which in turn affects ‘anger’ and then ‘revenge.’ The subsequent interplay between any social system emotions(SSE), could lead; e.g. disgust and shame to have a strongly positive corelation. Here, shame typically drives someone to the wall: while anger and resentment give rise to revenge. These four non-stop negative afflictions have damaged humanity and fueled the cycles of endless mental confusion. To help end this cycle, we could embrace Marther Nussbaum’s transition-anger philosophical world view. Central to achieving this would be these four negative emotions of doubting, questioning, and more clearly seeing. Finally, nurturing the positive relation between transition-anger and forgiveness, the world can move toward a new revolutionary paradigm of ethics. (Chonbuk National University)

Forgiveness as nonviolence in Disgrace

박바로가 대한영어영문학회 2020 영어영문학연구 Vol.46 No.4

Park, Baroga. “Forgiveness as nonviolence in Disgrace.” Studies in English Language & Literature 46.4 (2020): 39-58. To forgive others, we should deal with traumatic experiences and then freely choosing to stand up for ourselves, not being led by our perpetrators. To ask for forgiveness, we should prove to ourselves we’re guilty for the rest of our lives, showing our ultimate authenticity and truthful integrity, pleading for forgiveness. The daily practise of self-overcoming makes this happen, through Butler’s definition of nonviolence. By doing so, we’re been able to attain the realm of genuine forgiveness, potentially affecting other violent societies to be influenced by the principles of forgiveness. With the definition of J. Butler about nonviolence, daily practice of forgiveness is important even if it is hardly performed by self. (Chonbuk National University)

수치 감정의 프레임으로 본 쿳시의 『치욕』

김영미(Kim Youngmee),이명호(Lee Myungho) 한국외국어대학교 영미연구소 2016 영미연구 Vol.36 No.-

수치심은 우리 ‘존재의 깊은 차원’을 건드리는 ‘영혼의 병’으로 알려져 있는데, 그 가장 큰 특징은 자기 자신의 가치 부정이다. 본 연구는 수치감정의 프레임을 통해 그의 후기작에 속하는 『치욕』을 분석한다. 주인공 데이비드 루리의 내면 변화를 이해하기 위해서는 수치감정이 중요하다고 보는 것이다. 그의 수치 경험은 학생과의 섹스 스캔들로 대학에서 불명예 퇴출된 데 있지 않고 딸의 농장에서 일어난 강간사건과 그여파로 드러나듯, 딸을 지켜내지 못한 백인가부장의 무력감에 있다. 이 무력감이 아파르트헤이트 체제이후의 현실인 변화된 인종관계와 긴밀한 연관이 있다는 점에서 그의 수치심은 새로운 현실에 대한 그의 부정적 관점을 드러낸다. 그러나 관습적인 수치 프레임으로 여성의 강간을 바라보기를 거부하고, 변화한 흑백관계를 개인과 자아를 넘어서 역사적 관점에서 바라보는 딸, 병들고 쓸모없어 보이는 존재들도 위로와 사랑을 받을 권리가 있음을 보여주는수의사 베브를 통해 그는 소유와 특권을 넘어서는 삶의 방식, 사랑의 방식의 가치를 인식하게 된다. 그는 이 새로운 인식을 통해 수치심을 극복하고 주변의 삶을 긍정하게 한다. 이와 같은 주인공의 내면 변화와 삶의 긍정은 변화하는 남아공의 미래에 대한 작가의 긍정을 함축한다는 것이 이 논문의 결론이다. This study attempts, in the frame of shame, to analyze the experiences of David Lurie, a white intelligent man in a post-apartheid South African society, whose life J.M. Coetzee depicts as disgraceful in his Disgrace. The feeling of shame is regarded as very agitating and harmful to one’s ego states because it is based on self doubt and self degradation. In this frame of shame, it is possible to see Lurie’s inner changes more clearly. His shame is closely related with losing his own white patriarchal power in the post-apartheid South African reality. His most shameful experience is not his sexual scandal at his university but his daughter’s rape and her later decision to give birth to a mixed baby as its aftermath and become the third wife of Petrus, who came to be considered a new black patriarch in a new society. He suffers lots of shame in a changing racial relationship and undergoes powerlessness in this society. At the end of the novel, however, his feelings, attitudes, and viewpoints about himself, his daughter, and their new life are much changing. He is more positive, with his feeling of shame replaced by love. He comes to be beyond patriarchal right, ownership, and ego centric sexual desire, showing all attentions and kindness to other existences thanks to his daughter Lucy and other female character Bev.

인물 詠史詩를 통해 본 조선후기 對淸 복수 담론의 일국면

백진우 개신어문학회 2012 개신어문연구 Vol.0 No.36

The purpose of this thesis is to analyze the series of historical poems created in the latter Joseon period after the Manchu War of 1636 and reveal the relationship between the creation of these poems and the discussions of the time. In Joseon after the Manchu War of 1636, “a desire for revenge” was established as the national discourse in an effort to get revenge against the Qing Empire and cleanse itself from national disgrace. This type of discourse was influential in many aspects of Joseon society. There were also many literary creations which were based on the topic of “revenge.” Especially in the case of historical poems, which describe the lives of historical figures, the number of poems describing vengeful people rose rapidly compared to the previous period. Some of these historical figures are Wu Zixu(伍子胥), Ju Jian(句踐), Yu Rang(豫讓), Jing Ke(荊軻). The authors of these poems actively revealed the general desire for revenge against Qing at the time by praising these figures’ vengeful acts. One can say that these historical poems are the chemical fusion of history and literature, especially as seen through the authors’ historical points of view about the lives of historical figures. Accordingly, in this thesis, I seek to analyze the differences in the ways these figures were viewed compared to previous periods and discover what meanings these poems had by looking at them in their historical context.

시대착오적 방어와 자기기만으로서의 낭만주의

김현아(Hyunah Kim),이은빛(Eunbit Yi) 한국영미문학교육학회 2011 영미문학교육 Vol.15 No.1

This essay investigates the processes of change in J. M. Coetzee’s Disgrace as they are articulated through the degradation of the characters’ physical and social status, for which the sociopolitical shifts underway in post-Apartheid South Africa is largely responsible. Through David Lurie, the protagonist, Coetzee situates both the factors of romanticism and retrospective desire, which are betrayed in anachronistic self-deception and sentimental evocation. Romanticism, just like it had contributed to the mystification of the Colonialism, this time, is manipulated by Lurie as a means of justification. Disgrace has enjoyed numerous criticisms since it provokes festering debates on the racial history of The Republic of South Africa, providing critical perspectives on the influence of Romanticism upon general field of literature and Colonialism. When the issue of racial history is South Africa-exclusive, the one on romanticism is applicable to the world history which has maintained itself within the principle of colonialism, which romanticism endows with a fair justification. On the conduct of Lurie, critics point out that he displays the typical way of thinking as a white-descendant who reminds us of the colonial history of exploitation. Especially the anachronistic self-deception and sentimental evocation he shows in Disgrace distorts the core of romanticism in that his attitude toward the racial other and women is profoundly self-centered and equivocal. This suggests that Lurie be examined as a negative romanticist which adorns colonialism through mystification. Having gone through disgrace throughout the novel, Lurie and his daughter, Lucy come to realize the order of Eastern Cape, the area of the black, which they moved into, is governed by completely new order of post-Apartheid era. Lurie and Lucy, after finding themselves in the realm of others, respectively as a dog-man and a victim of rape, are forced to encounter the abjection. After the rude awakening of the circumstances surrounding them and a complete loss of the privilege once held by the white, they decided to accept the reality and proceed to the forthcoming new era.