| John Maxwell Coetzee also known as J. M. Coetzee, is a famous South African novelist,essayist, translator. He was awarded the Booker Prize for Life & Times of Michael K in 1983 and again for Disgrace in 1999, as the first writer to be awarded this prize twice. In 2003, J. M.Coetzee, with his well-crafted composition, pregnant dialogue and analytical brilliance, had been chosen as the recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature of that year, which makes him to be the second writer who got this prize in South Africa after Nadine Gordimer. Born in 1940, Coetzee has almost experienced the entire racial segregation era(1948-1994). A series of social problems that the racial Segregation has brought reflects incisively and vividly in Coetzee’s works.With the establishment and development of postcolonial ecocriticism theory at the end of the 20 th century, more and more people have focused on the destruction of environment and ecology in colonies by the colonial movement. In South Africa, colonial oppression has closely relationship with the development, the environment and animals, which is reflected in his works.The progress of development that the capitalism promoted in this novel, the gap among people and the conflict between people and animals all shows both ecological and social environment are not optimistic in South Africa. Although the author revealed the harsh reality, he did not lose faith in the future of South Africa. Through this book, he expressed his hopes to create a harmonious society between people and nature, people and people.This thesis, based on the researches done by previous scholars, explores the oppression of economy, status and ecology and the silent revolt and struggle of the oppressed from the perspective of postcolonial theory. And this thesis attempts to explore the ways that the author advocated to solve various contradictions in this novel.This thesis is made up of three parts: introduction, the contents and the conclusion.The first part is introduction which introduces J. M. Coetzee, the works, the novel the background of the writing and the theoretical basis briefly, then states the purpose and significance of this thesis. At last, the first part also gives the layout of the thesis. The following part is the main body of the thesis which consists of three chapters. Each of the chapter will focus on one specific aspect in field of postcolonial ecocriticism trying to reveal the oppression of rulers and the silent struggle of the ruled people with comparisons of different views of the two groups. In chapter one the author offers a detailed analysis of the different views of development in Life & Times of Michael K on the basis of the development in field of postcolonial ecocriticism, showing the oppression of rulers in economy. In chapter two the author discusses the relationship between the human, animalized human and animals in Life&Times of Michael K which shows the conflict between the human and the animals to reveal the oppression of the rulers towards the lower class. Besides, the writer also analyses the awakeningof self-consciousness of the protagonist to reveal the revolt and struggle of the ruled class. In chapter three the different attitudes toward the pastoral land in Life&Times of Michael K are discussed. The rulers regard the land as the materials of the development and the recognition of the status, family and the wealth. While the ruled regard the land as the last peace of the life. The different attitudes shows that the oppression in field of ecology. The last part is conclusion. The author gives a summary of contents discussed already. Then the author points out the sever problems in the novel in aspects of economy, social equality and ecology. In the deep sympathy toward the weak group, the author indicates the urgency to build a real harmonious society.Key Words: J. M Coetzee, Life&Times of Michael K, postcolonial ecocriticism,... |
PDF Full Text Request