The Images Of Intellectuals In Coetzee’s Novels

John Maxwell Coetzee，usually shortened as J.M. Coetzee, is the winner of2003Noble Prize in Literature whose oeuvre is well-known for its sophisticated intellectualchallenge to the violence, torture, and oppression in apartheid and post-apartheidSouth Africa, though, to some extent, it has long been seen as an oblique rather than adirect challenge. In addition, the extremely private and even mysterious Coetzeerarely gives interviews, and is reluctant to openly make his politics explicit, whichseems to have contradicted his role as a public intellectual according to Edward W.Said’s formulation. The most important point is that Coetzee resembles many of thefictional protagonists he portrays who are also some intellectuals. However, criticsand scholars are more apt to keep their eyes on the fates of the minor characters andoppressed ones rather than that of Coetzee’s intellectual protagonists. Actually, theintellectuals under Coetzee’s pen are often afflicted by the moral dilemma,predicament of artistic creation, alienated family relations, and the marginalized statusin exile. So their fates also deserve our concerns and discussion. In the light of thestudies on intellectual in the western world, Coetzee’s life experience and the socialbackground of South Africa, this thesis aims at decoding the images of threeintellectuals in Coetzee’s novels: the Magistrate in Waiting for the Barbarians,Professor David Lurie in Disgrace, and Coetzee’s younger self, John in Youth.This thesis falls into six parts. In the first part, there is a brief introduction toCoetzee and his works, and then it is followed by a literature review both from homeand abroad, critical perspectives on intellectuals, and the significance and objective ofthis research. Part Two reveals the two intellectuals the Magistrate’s and John’sdifferent reactions toward violence, injustice and oppression which are imposed bypower. Part Three expatiates on Lurie’s and John’s predicaments which theyencounter in their pursuit of art. Part Four focuses on analyzing Lurie’s and John’salienation from their families. Part Five mainly discusses the Magistrate’s, Lurie’s andJohn’s sufferings when they are in exile. In the final part, the thesis elucidates theconclusion that Coetzee not only shows his deep humanistic concern for the people inthe bottom，but also pays great attention to the life and writing status of South Africanintellectuals, especially the white intellectuals with conscience who are still strugglingto find their way out of their existential crisis. It is not to be doubted that Coetzee, as a white anti-apartheid writer, pins great hope on the intellectuals in South Africa, forthey can always regain strength to continue their fragmented life when they are on thepoint of sinking into despair. Furthermore, Coetzee still holds his utopian dream thatone day South Africa will become a rainbow country without a dominant color.