A Study Of The Quadruple Dialogic Relationships In Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons

John Maxwell Coetzee is one of the most outstanding writers in British ethnicliterature. His novels not only contain various experimental skills, but also reveal thepredicament of life in the modern society. In2003, J. M. Coetzee was awarded NobelPrize for literature and acclaimed by David Lodge as one of the few living “great”writers.Published in2003, Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons is the first novel ofCoetzee’s Australian trilogy. In the novel, Coetzee upsets the closed, monologicdiscourse reflected in traditional novel, constructing quadruple dialogic relationshipsamong the writer, characters and readers. In the collision of different voices, opposingideas are not only expressed and magnified, but also sustained openness,unfinalizability and indeterminacy. Through the quadruple dialogic relationships, thenovel inspires every participant of the dialogue—Coetzee, characters and readers—tomaximally reflect on their own ideas and actively examine the established truth.Based on Bakhtin’s dialogue theory, the thesis aims to explore the quadrupledialogic relationships and their features in Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons. Thethesis consists of five parts. The first chapter offers a brief introduction to the writerand target work, literature review, leading to the thesis statement. The second chapterintroduces Bakhtin’s dialogue theory and Coetzee’s practice on Bakhtinian dialogism.The third chapter examines the quadruple dialogic relationships among the writer,characters and readers in the novel. The fourth chapter explores the features of thequadruple dialogic relationships, revealing the openness, unfinalizability andindeterminacy reflected in Coetzee’s eight lessons. Finally, the thesis draws theconclusion that in Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons the quadruple dialogicrelationships embody Coetzee’s respect for other people’s subjectivity, rebellionagainst historical discourse, and reflection of globalization. Undoubtedly, thequadruple dialogic relationships in Elizabeth Costello: Eight Lessons not only makegreat contribution to the innovation of fiction writing, but also portray a blueprint forthe “dialogic utopia”.