The Duality Of J.M.Coetzee's Thought In The Post Colonial Context

J. M. Coetzee is the second Nobel Prize winner of literature in the history of South Africa. Besides fighting against apartheid, oppression and violence, His works care for the weak, sympathize with the marginalized groups and express his ultimate concern for the future and destiny of human. However, Through text reading, the author of this thesis has discovered that Coetzee in his novels also reveals a kind of double consciousnesses. The colonial mentality is intertwined with the anti-colonial consciousness; male and female consciousness are accompanied each other; the agreement and the negative for his South African identity and British identity are coexisting at the same time. This thesis probes into the reason and finds out that the formation of his dual consciousnesses are closely associated with his ethnic history, times, family, individual experiences and other backgrounds. Hence this paper will be based on his two autobiographical novels The Boy and The Youth to read his dual consciousnesses by using some post colonial and Western feminist, psychological theories. This thesis will be divided into three chapter.The first chapter is to illustrate his double consciousnesses of colonization and anti-colonization. In his texts of novel, there is a strong sense of anti-colonization and a vague colonial consciousness which discloses the hypocrisy and the savageness of the colonialism and imperialism, criticizes their evils and meanwhile reveals his Eurocentric tendencies. When he expresses his sympathy with those blacks and colors who have suffered a lot in South Africa of Apartheid, he reveals something of contempt. In fact, the limitation of Coetzee's colonial consciousness is the necessity of history. The Boer's complicated history in South Africa, the special background of times and his diasporas are the roots from which his consciousnesses of colonization and anti-colonization originate.The second chapter is to search Coetzee's duality of masculine and feminine consciousnesses. Because he has been affected by his mother and the Dutch South African's law and customs, etc, Coetzee's feminine consciousness is very clear. He has portrayed many female narrators in his novels and let them go into the center from the edge of the traditional phallus literature to destruct patriarchy discourse as well as to subvert the authority of masculine center. However, Coetzee is a member in the society of masculine power and was affected by all kinds of consciousnesses of masculine power from his childhood as well as he was limited by his own gender, therefore, his beyond over the gender is relative and he can not get out of the control of tradition of masculine power just as the other modern writers. His contempt for the female status and value all shows that he has obvious consciousness of masculine power. But it is very precious for him to have some distinctive female consciousness in the male society, which also expresses that he has deep concern for the future and destiny of human being. The third chapter is to research Coetzee's duality of his South African identity and British identity which is expressed very complicatedly in his novels. Coetzee's consciousnesses of South African identity and British identity revealed in his novels are changing from the perspective of literary identity in construction. Sometimes he thinks he is an English man or a South African and sometimes he does not acknowledge these. So these two consciousnesses alter in contrast with its opposite side and penetrate throughout his two novels. Actually his affirmation and approval for his South African or British identity only occupy a minimum part, while the negative for his above two identities are the strongest part. On one hand, he is not willing to acknowledge his South African identity. On the other hand, he can not make certain his British identity. Therefore that the pursuing is disillusioned becomes a theme of his novels and the cultural miscellany becomes the most obvious projection of his dual consciousnesses of identity. Of course, the formation of this kind of consciousness is linked with his dissatisfaction with society and his individual diaspora closely. His dual consciousnesses of identity arouse his anxiety for his agreement of identity and finally have his reputation settled.